Pramod Muralidharan

The trifecta of Cognizant, Microsoft and Informatica allows customers to make better use of data. One way of accomplishing this is simply about changing perspectives, as Pramod Muralidharan, Practice Head - Global Growth Markets for Data Modernisation, explains: “Traditionally, organisations have been building a data platform and expecting that to serve the decision. What we believe is critical for companies to make intelligent decisions is to put the outcomes first, instead.” 

Doing that requires foregrounding a number of different data signals. “We truly believe in the concept of the digital feedback loop,” says Najat Messaoud, Senior Director – Azure Business Lead. “At the centre of that digital feedback loop are the employees, the customers, the operations and the products. The challenge is synthesising the data that flows through all these different areas to improve all the business outcomes.”

In short, data modernisation is powering the data revolution, and real-world examples of its benefits are everywhere. “Our customers are doing everything from making scientific discoveries, making decisions about how to roll out healthcare policy, or improving the supply chain cycle in an enterprise setting,” explains Informatica’s Bob Markese, SVP, Cloud Modernisation. 

The acceleration that data brings has only become more apparent due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Companies that prove more resilient to the disruption are the ones that have adopted a data-driven strategy for their company. With that in place, they can see every interaction with their customers, every moving part of their supply chain and every financial transaction, anywhere in the world, in real-time. That allows these customers to react more quickly, mitigate threats and ultimately become more resilient.

Of course, solving business problems is also the preserve of Cognizant, Microsoft and Informatica, and the three come together to offer customers a holistic solution. 

“I call the Cognizant, Informatica, Microsoft partnership a golden triangle, which helps solve data democratisation initiatives and take our customers on their journeys,” says Muralidharan. “In terms of Cognizant, Informatica and Microsoft are able to cover end-to-end the stack of what we need to orchestrate a data solution.” 

Messaoud emphasises the importance of its partner ecosystem to unlocking value for its customers. “We bring trusted expertise to the table, but it's actually our partners that understand the customer’s business needs and can address the challenges that customers have that can be sold with technologies coming from us and also from the broad ecosystem long-standing relationships that we have, for example, with Informatica and Cognizant.”

Naturally, challenges remain in the way of reaching this future. “There’s an inability to respond to customers or business events in a very timely manner,” says Muralidharan. “Another aspect is cost. Many clients have significant legacy investments. It is also about governance and bringing people, practices and technology together.”

While customers really want to move forward with a modern data platform, often they don't want to be the first one to do so. They might ask who has already done it as they want to mitigate the risk. That's the biggest hurdle.

Despite these challenges, the future is bright for organisations seeking to make the most of data. “Every enterprise is striving to become a data-driven organisation that makes better and faster decisions,” says Muralidharan. “And that's not just the multi-billion dollar companies, that goes across the board. It’s not a fad and it's going to be here for quite a period of time.” No one is pretending the journey is easy, but it’s certainly one that’s worth making – as Markese explains. “Data modernisation is not easy. It's a multi-year journey and for most enterprises, it's hard. So you better pick the right partners who have been there before and have seen the potholes. That’s why Cognizant, Microsoft and Informatica can jointly get you to your data destination faster.”

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