Cognizant sets up center in Canada

CHENNAI: Cognizant, a provider of IT services, has announced that it has opened a Toronto-based Canadian Development Center to provide near-shore services to US clients and to serve as a domestic center for a growing list of Canadian customers.

Cognizant's Toronto center, the 18^th location in the company's network of delivery centers around the world, has been established to serve the needs of a growing number of clients in the United States and Canada who are requesting Canada-based delivery capability. Due to the low cost of operations and access to a strong talent pool, Cognizant's center in Canada will complement the Company's existing development centers around the globe.

"We see a growing need to provide IT services from a Canadian development center that can leverage Cognizant's global delivery capabilities," said Lakshmi Narayanan, President and CEO of Cognizant. "Demand is strong from both Canadian and US companies."

Forrester Research estimates that when compared with the US, Canadian firms spend a larger portion of their budgets on IT services. Forrester anticipates that Canadian companies will have spent 50 percent more of their budgets on outsourcing than US companies when final 2004 spending figures are reported.