Telstra and Cognizant sign five-year partnership for software engineering and IT boost

Telstra has signed a five-year deal with Cognizant as part of the telecommunication company’s software engineering and IT capability play, tapping into modern technologies like artificial intelligence (AI).

According to a statement from Cognizant, the partnership will see the global systems integrator provide Telstra with modern product engineering practices to improve its customer service and speed to market, as well as enabling more efficient software engineering and IT operations and decommission legacy systems.

Additionally, the employee experience is also anticipated to be supported by building a “superior engineering experience”.

Jane Livesey, head of Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) at Cognizant, claimed the partnership “signals a new era in professional services”.

“From the outset this arrangement was constructed with a focus on customer centricity and saw us depart from conventional contracting and delivery models that the industry has used for decades,” she said.

“We have worked closely with Telstra to build a strategic partnership framework that allows us to share in Telstra’s innovation goals, its risks and rewards. Through our shared accountability for outcomes and transformation, we are driven to improve operations, build efficient engineering teams and reinvent the way we work by using the best of modern technology.

“Cognizant has invested heavily in AI and cloud, so we are excited to start this transformation journey with Telstra.”

Kim Krogh Andersen, group executive for product and technology at Telstra, said the telco is on a journey of consolidation and simplification, with it streamlining its operations for sustainable growth, and choosing Cognizant as a strategic partner for its software engineering and IT capabilities was a “key part of that”.

“In today’s rapidly advancing technology environment, strategic partnerships are fundamental to achieve our shared ambitions, in this case, digital leadership and great customer experiences,” he added.