Giant IT company Cognizant has purchased privately-held itaas for an undisclosed amount, expanding its reach into the cable industry.
The company will keep its name, and will be known as itaas, a Cognizant Company. Operations will remain separate, according to an itaas spokesman, but itaas and Cognizant “will certainly take advantage of all the synergies of the two groups – particularly being able to scale quickly on large customer projects.” The three founders of itaas – Vibha Rustagi, Jatin Desai, and Jaspal Bhasin – will remain with the company.
Itaas should fit right in with the IT model of its new parent. The company provides development, testing, and other support services for many of the largest U.S. MSOs.
The company specializes in multi-screen delivery of authenticated live streaming and video services on digital platforms. It recently developed expertise in the RDK, and RDK Management has designated itaas as the support services provider for companies building products that conform to RDK specifications.
Itaas also works in broadcast, and telecommunications network environments and on consumer devices such as set-tops, tablets, and smartphones.
That will complement Cognizant’s existing broadcast business, which includes expertise in targeted content delivery, along with management of media and associated rights.
Cognizant said the acquisition will enable it “to capitalize on the growing demand for greater interactivity, higher personalization, and innovative content delivery in the multi-screen and video market.”
Cognizant also expects itaas expertise can be brought to bear to support other industries such as banking, retail, and healthcare, which are rolling out advanced customer and business platforms centered on video.
“We welcome itaas’ talented professionals to Cognizant,” said Rajeev Mehta, chief executive officer of IT Services at Cognizant. “This acquisition continues our long-standing strategy of acquiring sharply focused business capabilities that complement our existing offerings. The company’s strong client focus and deep business and technology insights into the entire video ecosystem, combined with Cognizant’s global consulting and delivery capabilities, will create greater value for our mutual clients. As multiplatform video becomes the new normal, new technologies create more empowered and savvy consumers, and more industry sectors look to harness the potential of video for customer interaction, this acquisition strengthens our ability to help enterprises challenge the status quo, and create new business models in response to market shifts and competitive pressures in their industry segments.”