Cognizant Technology Solutions
No. 31
Industry: IT Services
Sales: $2.8 billion
Net Income: $431 million
Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) seems to defy gravity. Nearly half of this Teaneck (N.J.) IT outsourcing specialist's sales are to the hard-hammered financial- services industry, yet it has managed to outperform many of its rivals. How does the company pull this off? One part is luck: JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Key Corp. (KEY)—two of its big banking customers—are faring better than many competitors. Another element is strategy: CEO Francisco D'Souza has appointed 700 relationship managers to work closely with the company's 500 clients, enabling Cognizant to track their needs and respond quickly to shifts in demand. As a result, 90% of the company's revenues come from repeat business, which keeps selling costs low. A new set of technologies called Cognizant 2.0 is improving collaboration among Cognizant's global staff of 60,000.
