Cognizant buys French Salesforce consultancy EI-Technologies
Within a week of acquiring Code Zero Consulting in the United States, Cognizant has also inorganically beefed up its footprint in Europe with the addition of French Salesforce services firm EI-Technologies.
In what is Cognizant’s fourth acquisition in the past twelve months, EI-Technologies adds a team of 350 professionals to the firm’s headcount in France across offices in Paris and Marseille. The operations of EI-Technologies in the Middle East – in Lebanon (Beirut) and the United Arab Emirates (Dubai) – are not part of the transaction.
Founded in 2008, EI-Technologies is a Salesforce Platinum Partner and its EI-Institut is one the largest Salesforce Authorised Training Delivery Partner centers in Europe. The company serves clients across sectors including manufacturing, energy & utilities, financial services and retail & luxury.
Alongside its sheer size, EI-Technologies adds a roster of credentials and recognitions to Cognizant’s palmers. In France, the firm won a Salesforce Award in 2016, 2017 and 2018, and internationally, the firm landed a Salesforce Award in Innovation for creating App Innovation, the first European Salesforce app development event.
Commenting on the acquisition, Brian Humphries, Cognizant CEO, said, “We’re determined to help our clients become fully digital, data-enabled, customer-centric businesses. EI-Technologies supports our effort to further scale our international business but also add Salesforce expertise and capabilities to our cloud management portfolio.”
EI-Technologies is not exclusively focused on Salesforce technology. The Paris-headquartered company also implements Microsoft-based systems, such as Microsoft Dynamics and Microsoft Office 365.
According to Béchara Raad, founder and CEO of EI-Technologies, the joining of forces with the globally active Cognizant (290,000 employees) will enable the firm to “address a wider range of client needs that are emerging in the digital economy, and to pursue projects on a larger scale.”
The deal is subject to consultation with works councils in France and subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms have not been disclosed.
Last year, Cognizant bought among others Contino in the UK and Zenith Technologies in the US. Last week’s acquisition of Code Zero Consulting was also in the US, in a move that saw 50 employees transfer.
The EI-Technologies however chiefly builds on the 2018 purchase of SaaSfocus, at the time with 350 consultants one of the largest Salesforce Platinum consulting partners in the Asia Pacific region. Today, Cognizant has dedicated Salesforce consultants in 25 countries.