TEANECK, New Jersey, October 11, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Cognizant , a leading provider of consulting, technology, and business process outsourcing services, announced today it has entered into a multiyear, multimillion-dollar agreement with 3M, a recognized global leader in research and development that produces thousands of innovative products for dozens of diverse markets. The agreement extends Cognizant's strategic relationship with 3M and encompasses a wide range of application development and related services to drive operational efficiencies and improve productivity.

As part of the engagement, Cognizant will leverage an innovative outcome-based, managed services engagement model with committed productivity benefits over the long-term. Cognizant will leverage its proprietary best practices and frameworks to reduce the total cost of ownership and ensure high quality and consistency across 3M's applications portfolio, including mission-critical software used in research and development, planning, sourcing and supply chain, manufacturing, sales and marketing, e-commerce, human resources, finance, and administration.

By enabling accelerated product innovation and time-to-market, Cognizant will help 3M realize its strategic business objectives, augment production capacity, enhance global capabilities, and rationalize costs. As a knowledge-intensive company that applies several distinct technology platforms to a wide array of customer needs in diverse markets, 3M will also benefit from Cognizant 2.0 - Cognizant's global knowledge-sharing, collaboration, program management and social computing platform - to optimize its strategic IT investments and leverage its knowledge assets to achieve newer levels of innovation and virtualization.

Cognizant's innovative outcome-based engagement model and proven applications and manufacturing industry expertise will help accelerate our efforts to drive cost efficiencies and further transform the relationship we began in 2001, said Ernie Park, Vice President and Chief Information Officer, 3M.

Cognizant's best practices will enhance decision-making, improve service-level predictability, reduce defects through applications testing and quality assurance services, and help us more efficiently and cost-effectively scale production up and down based on dynamic global market demands, said Janel Haider, Director, Applications Center of Excellence, 3M.

We are honored to support 3M in its efforts to drive business effectiveness, help 3M adapt to changing business needs, and further strengthen its innovation agenda to drive future growth, said Francisco D'Souza, President and CEO, Cognizant.

The transition to a managed services model represents a significant evolution in our relationship with 3M. Cognizant is bringing its global execution model, knowledge management, and innovation culture to enable this transformation and ensure continuing productivity and operational improvements, added Francisco D'Souza. With deep domain experience in the manufacturing industry and a focus on new delivery models, Cognizant will help 3M mine efficiencies from existing systems and leverage those savings to fund strategic initiatives.

About Cognizant

Cognizant is a leading provider of information technology, consulting, and business process outsourcing services. Cognizant's single-minded passion is to dedicate our global technology and innovation know-how, our industry expertise and worldwide resources to working together with clients to make their businesses stronger. With over 50 global delivery centers and approximately 88,700 employees as of June 30, 2010, we combine a unique global delivery model infused with a distinct culture of customer satisfaction. A member of the NASDAQ-100 Index and SP 500 Index, Cognizant is a Forbes Global 2000 company and a member of the Fortune 1000 and is ranked among the top information technology companies in BusinessWeek's Hot Growth and Top 50 Performers listings. Visit us online at http://www.cognizant.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes statements which may constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the accuracy of which are necessarily subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied include general economic conditions and the factors discussed in our most recent Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Cognizant undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

SOURCE: Cognizant

CONTACT: Media - Catherine Marenghi, Public Relations, +1-781-223-8673,catherine.marenghi@cognizant.com