ORLANDO, Florida, May 12 /PRNewswire/ --

- Companies Expand Collaborative Relationship and Global Footprint

Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH), a leading provider of global IT and business process outsourcing services, and SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced a global services partnership in an effort to deliver increased business value by streamlining their engagement and enabling both companies to respond quickly to the ever-changing needs of their customers. The announcement was made at SAPPHIRE(R) 2009, being held in Orlando, Florida, May 11-14.

The agreement was signed at SAPPHIRE by Francisco D'Souza, President and CEO of Cognizant, and Bill McDermott, President of Global Field Operations, SAP AG, and member of the SAP Executive Board. At the conference, Cognizant was honored with an SAP Pinnacle Award in recognition of its contribution toward expanding the SAP-focused ecosystem.

The agreement marks an important milestone in the relationship between the two companies, which have been working together to enable organizations to realize enhanced business results from their investments in SAP(R) solutions and become stronger businesses. The Cognizant SAP Touchstone Center, set up in 2008 at Cognizant's facility in Bangalore, India, is already working in coordination with SAP Co-Innovation Labs worldwide as the hub of development and innovation at Cognizant that support SAP solutions.

In keeping with the philosophy of collaborative innovation, the Touchstone Center and SAP Co-Innovation Labs help to deliver value-added SAP solutions across industries and domains, develop prototypes for various customer scenarios and proof of concepts, perform interoperability studies, and leverage service-oriented architecture (SOA), providing enhanced flexibility, agility and innovative efficiencies in enterprise applications. Through this extended relationship, Cognizant and SAP plan to expand their global reach.

Cognizant has consistently demonstrated close alignment with SAP, and its elevation to a global services partner marks a significant milestone in our relationship, said Zia Yusuf, Executive Vice President, Global Ecosystem and Partner Group, SAP AG. This expanded partnership is a testament to our collaborative relationship and an important part of our strategy to expand our ecosystem to drive continued customer success.

With this agreement, Cognizant joins a select group of companies that are a part of the SAP global services partnership program. As a new global services partner, Cognizant will continue to make ahead-of-the-curve investments in developing next-generation SAP platforms, enhancing its SAP consulting practice, creating dedicated SAP sales resources, and supporting marketing activities across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

The expanded partnership underscores our commitment to innovative SAP solutions in line with our vision of enabling businesses to meet the challenges of the new and changing global economy, said D'Souza. Cognizant's global services partnership with SAP is already enabling clients to not only benefit from greater operational efficiencies, but also transform their businesses. By leveraging the world's best SAP consulting talent, domain expertise and industry best practices, our clients can achieve innovative SAP implementations that deliver unique business value.

About Cognizant

Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH) is a leading provider of information technology, consulting, and business process outsourcing services. Recognized by Fortune Magazine as one of the World's Most Admired Companies, 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 50 global delivery centers and approximately 63,700 employees as of March 31, 2009, we combine a unique onsite/offshore delivery model infused by 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 www.cognizant.com.

SAPPHIRE(R) 2009 Orlando

More than 10,000 customers, partners and technical experts are convening at SAPPHIRE(R) 2009 to discover how SAP and its thriving partner ecosystem are delivering IT solutions that help today's best-run businesses achieve clarity in every area of their operations. SAP's premier educational and networking event, SAPPHIRE is the one occasion where senior executives, business managers, and decision-makers can come together every year to explore how innovative business solutions foster long-term, profitable growth. SAPPHIRE 2009 is being held in Orlando, Florida, May 11-14. For more information, please visit www.sap.com/sapphire. Join the conversation via Twitter at #sapphire09.

Based on the success of last year's events, SAP and the Americas' SAP Users' Group (ASUG) are co-locating their premier events in Orlando, where the 2009 ASUG Annual Conference takes place May 11-14.

In addition to SAPPHIRE 2009, SAP is also hosting SAP(R) World Tour 2009, a series of local events in more than 70 cities through Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. For more information, visit the SAP World Tour event page on sap.com.

About SAP

SAP is the world's leading provider of business software(*), offering applications and services that enable companies of all sizes and in more than 25 industries to become best-run businesses. With more than 86,000 customers in over 120 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE, under the symbol SAP.

The SAP(R) BusinessObjects(TM) portfolio transforms the way the world works by connecting people, information and businesses. With open solutions that work in heterogeneous environments in the areas of business intelligence; information management; enterprise performance management; and governance, risk and compliance, the SAP BusinessObjects portfolio enables organizations to close the gap between business strategy and execution.

For more information, visit www.sap.com.

(*) SAP defines business software as comprising enterprise resource planning and related applications.

Cognizant 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.

SAP Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as anticipate, believe, estimate, expect, forecast, intend, may, plan, project, predict, should and will and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

Copyright (c) 2009 SAP AG. All rights reserved.

SAP, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com, xApps, xApp, SAP NetWeaver and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in this document serve informational purposes only. National product specifications may vary.

For customers interested in learning more about SAP products: Global Customer Center: +49-180-534-34-24 United States Only: 1-800-872-1SAP (1-800-872-1727)

Catherine Marenghi, Corporate Marketing and Communications, Cognizant, +1-781-223-8673, catherine.marenghi@cognizant.com; or Torrey Fazen, Burson-Marsteller, for SAP, +1-415-572-8333, torrey.fazen@bm.com; During SAPPHIRE (from May 11 to 14), to speak with press contacts on site, please dial the SAP press room at +1-610-661-0469 / NOTE TO EDITORS: Webcasts, announcements, media roundtables, keynote presentations and podcasts from SAPPHIRE 2009 will be available in the event's virtual newsroom at: www.sap.com/about/newsroom/sapphire. To preview and download broadcast-standard stock footage and press photos digitally, please visit www.sap.com/photos. On this platform, you can find high-resolution material for your media channels. To view video stories on diverse topics, visit www.sap-tv.com. From this site, you can embed videos into your own Web pages, share video via e-mail links and subscribe to RSS feeds from SAP TV. During SAPPHIRE (from May 11 to 14), to speak with press contacts on site, please dial the SAP press room at +1-610-661-0469.