Cognizant creates ServiceNow giant through Thirdera acquisition

After its founding three years ago, ServiceNow provider Thirdera has sold to global technology consultancy Cognizant, which now welcomes a team of almost 950 specialists including members based in Australia.

Global technology consultancy Cognizant has transformed itself into one of the world’s largest ServiceNow providers through the acquisition of Thirdera, which adds almost 950 specialists to its practice around the world – including in Australia and New Zealand.

Based out of Colorado, Thirdera has been busy growing its business since its establishment in 2021, including through the addition of local outfit Service Line Solutions.

“We built Thirdera as the largest global pure-play partner to help clients achieve more value with ServiceNow,” stated CEO Jason Wojahn, who co-founded the firm after leading the platform offering for Accenture and previously Cloud Sherpas. Speaking with CRN, he continued; “It just became clearer and clearer to us that we needed more reach. We needed more scale, (while) Cognizant needed more depth. And so we come together in a really complementary way.”

The 2021 acquisition of Melbourne-based SLS saw Thirdera first gain a foothold in the region, with former Accenture and Cloud Sherpas managing director Uriah Jacobs recruited to lead the firm’s ongoing growth. Earlier this year, the ServiceNow elite partner expanded into New Zealand, and was recently recognised on CRN’s Fast50 list of the fastest-growing local IT companies for the second consecutive year, clocking 2022-23 growth in excess of 50 percent.

Now, the upstart will join global powerhouse Cognizant, creating a combined ServiceNow business group boasting 2,400 employees worldwide, many who arrived at the consultancy on the back of its earlier purchase of US provider Linium (which the firm acquired in 2021 alongside Australian digital consultancy Servian).The latest acquisition forms part of Cognizant and ServiceNow’s ambitions to build a $1 billion joint business focused on AI innovation.

“This acquisition represents our commitment to offer clients one of the most comprehensive experiences in the ServiceNow ecosystem, with robust capabilities in professional services across key ServiceNow workflows and emerging products including generative AI,” stated Jane Livesey, who was appointed as Cognizant’s Asia Pacific CEO at the end of last year and recently oversaw the launch of the firm’s new state-of-the-art office in Bangkok.

Now with a specialist workforce already holding some 14,000 ServiceNow certifications between them, the acquisition will also include training platform Thirdera University, but comes at a time when competitors such as Accenture and Deloitte are also jostling for talent and market share. Among recent local acquisitions are the latter’s purchase of Entrago, while Ernst & Young – which also has its sights on a $1 billion ServiceNow business – last year picked up Kiwi provider Red Moki.

Cognizant’s global chief Ravi Kumar S – who crossed from Infosys at the beginning of the year – sounded up for the challenge: “ServiceNow is leading a market shift toward customer, employee, and creator products. I believe the combination of Cognizant’s deep industry, AI, and platform expertise paired with Thirdera’s leading-edge offerings in enterprise transformation will position Cognizant at the forefront of innovation in the ServiceNow ecosystem.”