{"id":4734,"date":"2009-06-24T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-06-24T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/projects\/horsesforsources\/being-frank-about-global-sourcing-an-interview-with-cognizants-ceo-part-ii\/"},"modified":"2009-06-24T20:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-06-24T20:00:00","slug":"being-frank-about-global-sourcing-an-interview-with-cognizants-ceo-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/being-frank-about-global-sourcing-an-interview-with-cognizants-ceo-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Being Frank about Global Sourcing:  An interview with Cognizant&#8217;s CEO (Part II)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-family: Trebuchet MS; color: #111111;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: Trebuchet MS; color: #3b5738;\"><a style=\"float: left;\" onclick=\"window.open(this.href,'_blank','scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cognizant.com\/html\/aboutus\/executiveTeam.asp#franc\"><\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a style=\"float: left;\" onclick=\"window.open(this.href,'_blank','scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cognizant.com\/html\/aboutus\/executiveTeam.asp#franc\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8356fb76c69e20115705f3dac970c \" style=\"margin: 4px;\" title=\"Francisco D'Souza\" src=\"http:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/images\/6a00d8356fb76c69e20115705f3dac970c-800wi.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Francisco D'Souza\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-family: Trebuchet MS; color: #3b5738;\">Since<\/span> <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/being-frank-about-global-sourcing-an-interview-with-cognizants-ceo-part-i\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-family: Trebuchet MS; color: #0000ff;\"><em>Part I of the Francisco D&#8217;Souza interview<\/em><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Trebuchet MS; color: #3b5738;\"><em>, I&#8217;ve been assured Frank has improved his golf handicap.\u00a0Now he&#8217;ll discuss his views on how ITO service providers can differentiate themselves, the convergence of IT and BPO solutions&#8230; and a few other tidbits&#8230;<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><span style=\"font-family: Trebuchet MS; color: #0000ff;\">PF: How can ITO providers differentiate themselves in today\u2019s market? Is it by vertical focus, or other elements?<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>FD: Given the extraordinary pressure that clients are under, I think that the key to differentiation is to focus on how to make clients\u2019 businesses stronger. Rather than focusing on technology, process or methodology, I think providers need to really understand a client\u2019s business drivers and then sell and deliver solutions that further those business objectives. As I said before, clients are facing both cyclical and secular pressures. As a result, depending on the client, their objectives of outsourcing will be very different. Some clients seek to improve efficiency or effectiveness. Others are looking to use outsourcing as a enabler of innovation. Still others are looking at outsourcing as a tool to gain access to the best talent in the world \u2013 regardless of where that talent is located. And of course, given the significant secular changes we are seeing, many clients are looking to outsource as a way to enable agility and transformation within the organization.<\/p>\n<p><!-- pagebreak --><\/p>\n<p>Against this backdrop, I think providers can differentiate themselves in a number of ways. First, vertical knowledge is key \u2013 you have to understand your clients\u2019 business in more than a cursory way. Second, you need a world class, tightly integrated global delivery system \u2013 just having scattered delivery locations around the globe is no longer enough. Third, you need to have a full range of services and an organization that has the ability to put bundles of services together in creative ways to craft tailored solutions for clients \u2013 the old thinking of outsourcing \u201ctowers\u201d is somewhat limiting in that it tends to consider outsourcing as a series of silos. Finally, consultative relationships with your client are critical \u2013 in today\u2019s world, providers that rely on contracts and SLAs as opposed to consultative relationships don\u2019t find too much success.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong><span style=\"font-family: Trebuchet MS; color: #0000ff;\">PF: How about BPO \u2013 how do you see this market developing, and are you seeing the worlds of BPO\/IT coming closer together? Can you see more of the IT-centric service providers such as Cognizant developing more BPO-centric services?<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>FD: I think that the case of IT\/BPO coming together is extremely strong. In fact, I\u2019ll go as far as saying (maybe controversial) that BPO which is based solely on labor and process is not a sustainable model in the long run for most business process areas. The evidence of the synergies that can be unlocked when ITO and BPO are combined together is compelling. We have demonstrated this synergy in many cases and we continue to push the envelope on delivering IT\/BPO synergies through automation of processes and also through development of common tools and platforms that we can share across multiple customers.<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-family: Trebuchet MS; color: #0000ff;\"><strong>PF: And finally \u2013 you have had a very notable rise to prominence in the outsourcing industry over the last decade. What advice would you impart to ambitious executives today hoping to achieve success, especially in light of the economy?<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>FD: Focus, focus and focus. It\u2019s been the simple mantra at Cognizant from the start. First, we focus on doing a small number of things \u2013 and applying all available resource (talent, management, finances) against those things. Our strategic plan is as much about the things that we will NOT do as about the things that we WILL do. Second, we have a relentless focus on serving the customer. In our culture, the voice of the customer is always the \u201ctrue north\u201d. And finally, focus on execution \u2013 the best laid plans are no use if you can\u2019t execute against them\u2026<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Trebuchet MS; color: #0000ff;\"><strong><em>PF: Frank, thanks so much for sharing your views with us.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: Trebuchet MS; color: #0000ff;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3236 aligncenter\" title=\"Frank Part II\" src=\"http:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/Frank-Part-II.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"301\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Trebuchet MS; color: #3b5738;\"><span style=\"font-family: Trebuchet MS; color: #111111;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cognizant.com\/html\/aboutus\/executiveTeam.asp#franc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Francisco D&#8217;Souza<\/em><\/a><em> (pictured center, March 2007) is <span style=\"color: #000000;\">President and Chief Executive Officer<\/span><\/em><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Trebuchet MS; color: #111111;\"><em>\u00a0 of Cognizant Technology Solutions.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since Part I of the Francisco D&#8217;Souza interview, I&#8217;ve been assured Frank has improved his golf handicap.\u00a0Now he&#8217;ll discuss his&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,51,81,88,832,95],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[19],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Being Frank about Global Sourcing: An interview with Cognizant&#039;s CEO (Part II) - Horses for Sources | No Boundaries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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