Cognizant 2.0: Take Collaboration to the Next Level
By Rajashree Natarajan
Cognizant 2.0 (C2) is a next-generation knowledge and project management
platform that takes teamwork to the next level. By enabling multiple organizations to
collaborate more effectively, it can boost productivity and simplify service delivery
across the full Information Technology (IT) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)
spectrum.
C2 offers a unique blend of collaboration, process management, and just-in-time
knowledge management. Leveraging Web 2.0 technologies document workspaces, it
creates a unified platform that connects stakeholders—service providers, customers
and partners—across multiple locations.
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Innovation and Cognizant 2.0
Unlike typical project management tools, Cognizant 2.0 can be used to divide large end-to-end
projects into manageable work packages. As a result, teams can plan independently yet
connect with each other to achieve higher business value.
Here is a comparison of C2’s innovations compared to traditional project management…
- Documented quality
management system composed
of process guidance (templates,
procedures, samples, checklists)
are maintained manually in
isolation from project execution.
- Process is integrated with delivery.
Process guidance is relative to the
context of the task served within the
execution environment.
- Team members collaborate via
email, conference calls,
"sneaker-net" and isolated
forums/wikis.
- Collaboration happens within C2,
connecting to the right virtual
community of experts. An integrated
environment is part of the project
execution platform.
- Explicit library searches for
knowledge are possible only
independently.
- Knowledge assets are provided from
multiple sources within the
execution environment, in the
context of the task.
- Metrics are collected and
reported manually on a periodic
basis.
- C2 enables real-time governance, as
the platform captures
measurements automatically at
point-of-task.
- Deliverables and artifacts are not
linked to tasks, preventing a
consolidated view of project
delivery.
- Artifacts and deliverables are linked
to tasks, so team can make better
decisions through interlinks.
With Cognizant 2.0, organizations can benefit from a strong and growing
community of experts and knowledge artifacts.
Case study: Manufacturing and Logistics Practice
A manager from the Manufacturing and Logistics Practice faced a two-pronged
challenge: more effectively communicating tasks to his team, and validating the
accuracy of manual status updates.
Upon adoption of C2, the manager achieved:
- Clear visibility into workload and time utilization. Real-time status reports could
be accessed by supervisors and senior management at any time. Since these
reports were based on information updated by team members, they showed how
much time each team member spent on a task. This reduced the time and
energy of channeling information to senior management.
- Real-time tracking and monitoring of SLA status. By displaying the status of
SLAs met or breached, the team could better manage risks and issues.
- Identification of patterns in tasks. Additional training could be provided if a team
member was facing difficulties with a certain task or repeatedly missing an SLA.
- Time saved in generating status reports. Managers could spend less time
creating reports and more time improving the team’s competencies and project
knowledge.
The result of C2 implementation was a dramatic improvement in team productivity,
driven by the following benefits:
- Reduced project setup time, by enabling preconfigured, template process
packages that drive C2.
- Improved product quality and time to market, through context-based linking to
knowledge assets, samples, best practices and checklists.
- Improved efficiency through real-time collaboration of geographically disbursed
teams.
- Improved accuracy and relevancy of decision making, through higher visibility
into the project.
Implications for the Future of Work
Cognizant 2.0’s collaborative, real-time platform is a key driver of the Future of Work
and its primary components: globalization, virtualization and teamwork.
- Globalization. C2 is the ideal platform with which to share knowledge assets with
team members worldwide.
- Virtualization. C2 can be utilized to deliver and distribute knowledge processes
among members of virtual teams.
- Teamwork. C2 facilitates the kind of open, collaborative work culture—including
a social media component—that team members who entered the workforce after
2000 (as well as many who did so in the 1990s) prefer for conducting daily tasks.
C2 and the Global Delivery Ecosystem
C2 also serves as a key tool in Cognizant’s Global Delivery Ecosystem, which takes
collaboration well beyond the "network" to a virtually limitless ecosystem of people,
processes and partners. Enabled by a real-time, intelligent, knowledge-driven
environment, the ecosystem can:
- Serve as a breeding ground for ideas and continuous innovation in service delivery
across an organization.
- Function as a discussion board on changes being implemented across the
enterprise.
- Assist in the change management process by allowing process owners to
communicate the need and agents for change.
- Enable users to provide feedback on implemented changes.
With the above capabilities, projects can be directed and accelerated, minimizing overhead
and costs and thus increasing efficiency.
With Cognizant 2.0, organizations benefit from service delivery of the highest quality
and efficiency, from optimal talent pools, as well as:
- An expanding global footprint at a massive scale, providing additional delivery
options.
- Higher productivity, more pricing flexibility, and faster delivery, via:
- An expanded delivery engine of global knowledge management
- Component-based development library reuse
- An orchestration platform based on workflow and rules
- A single integrated system for managing the entire application lifecycle,
including:
- Product conceptualization
- Development and implementation
- Application support and maintenace
- Migration and reengineering
- End-to-end integration, from process, knowledge and project execution to the
work environment and governance (development/maintenance/testing).
- Enhanced global delivery governance based on a single source of truth, and
supported by automated capture of process conformance, organization-specific
views and metrics/goals scorecard definitions.
Figure 1 ‐ The various components of C2
Figure 2 ‐ Advantages of C2