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Norway’s Storebrand chooses Cognizant for digital transformation
Norwegian financial services firm becomes the latest Nordic-based organisation to sign a major IT outsourcing deal with an India-based supplier
Storebrand has signed a multi-year IT outsourcing contract with Cognizant as the Norwegian financial services firm drives digital transformation.
There is a current trend seeing organisations in the Nordic region outsource IT, with India-based firms winning large chunks of the business.
Norway-based Storebrand – which is a pensions, insurance, banking and asset management service provider across the Nordic region – will automate and modernise existing IT systems, re-engineer business processes and develop digital platforms as part of the deal.
It will also introduce a business process-as-a-service (BPaaS) model with support from Cognizant.
“By embarking on this strategic journey with Cognizant, we will be able to respond more effectively to changing market dynamics and customer behaviour,” said Heidi Skaaret, chief operating officer (COO) at Storebrand Group.
“This engagement will allow us to address key imperatives of our growth strategy: Become more cost-efficient, engage better with our customers, embrace newer opportunities created by digital technologies and collaboratively drive business outcomes.”
As part of the deal, Cognizant expanded its delivery and operations in Europe through a centre in Vilnius, Lithuania. This centre will be Cognizant’s technology centre of excellence for financial services in Europe.
Cognizant, which has most of its employees in India, is characterised as an Indian supplier despite being US-owned. The Nordic region is a growing area for this group of suppliers.
Read more about outsourcing in the Nordics
- Headlines about Indian IT service providers securing high-profile outsourcing deals in the Nordics have become commonplace.
- Norway’s Coop becomes the latest Nordic firm to outsource IT to an Indian company after the retailer penned a deal with Wipro.
- Around 600 Evry staff in the Nordics are to move to IBM in $1bn IT outsourcing deal that sees the firm hand over its IT infrastructure for the next 10 years.
For example, HCL recently acquired Volvo’s external IT services arm (Volvo IT) as part of a deal. The same supplier then announced a deal with Swedish power tool maker Husqvarna to provide IT infrastructure and application services.
HCL increased its footprint in the region through the Volvo acquisition, as well as delivery centres in Norway and nearby Estonia.
Another tier one Indian supplier, Wipro, is also cementing deals in the region. In November 2015, Norwegian supermarket group Coop signed a five-year infrastructure and managed services agreement with the supplier. Swedish lock manufacturer Assa Abloy is moving to a cloud-based service through Wipro.
