Cognizant, a leading provider of IT, consulting, and business process outsourcing was outgrowing its existing IT infrastructure. Cognizant’s consistent track record of being the fastest growing company amongst the tier 1 IT services players is a result of its consistency in adopting best-in-class technology and tools to deliver greater value to its customers. In its endeavour to make the development processes much quicker and more efficient, Cognizant built a customized Application Lifecycle Management solution, called SPECTA, on Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008 and Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server. Armed with this solution that addressed every facet of the development lifecycle, Cognizant’s army of Microsoft technology professionals have been able to increase productivity, manage the application lifecycle, and improve software quality.

1. Microsoft Visual Studio
Customer Solution Case Study
Cognizant Accelerates Enterprise Application
Development Cycle-time by 10 Percent
Overview “With all the information at our fingertips, we’ve
Country or Region: India
Industry: IT Consulting and Technology
witnessed cycle-time improvements of around 10
Services/Outsourcing Services percent. This enables us to keep up with the needs of
Customer Profile
our business. Additionally, we are able to solve our
Cognizant Technology Solutions is a customer’s business problems faster and with less
leading provider of information technology,
consulting, and business outsourcing
effort.”
services. Based in Teaneck, New Jersey, Rajashree Natarajan, Asst Vice President, Process and Tools Group, Cognizant Technology Solutions
the company has more than 50 global
delivery centers and more than 63000
employees servicing over 500 clients. Cognizant, a leading provider of IT, consulting, and business
process outsourcing services, was outgrowing its existing IT
Business Situation
To support the company’s rapid growth and infrastructure. Cognizant’s consistent track record of being the
business needs, Cognizant required a more
sophisticated IT architecture. It needed to
fastest growing company amongst the tier 1 IT services players is a
streamline its development process and result of its consistency in adopting best-in-class technology and
boost its developers’ productivity.
tools to deliver greater value to its customers. In its constant
Solution endeavour to make the development processes much quicker and
Cognizant deployed Microsoft® Visual
Studio® Team System 2008 and Microsoft more efficient, Cognizant built a customized Application Lifecycle
Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team
Management solution, called SPECTA, on Microsoft® Visual Studio®
Foundation Server, helping developers to
work together effectively. Team System 2008 and Microsoft® Visual Studio® Team System
Benefits
2008 Team Foundation Server. Armed with this comprehensive
Enhances communication and solution that addressed every facet of the development lifecycle,
collaboration
Accelerates cycle-time by 10 percent Cognizant’s army of Microsoft technology professionals have been
Reduces cost of software quality
able to increase productivity, better manage the application
Improves process integration and
management lifecycle, and improve software quality.

2. “Cognizant’s SPECTA Situation rated high by analysts and customers for its
Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) is a leading customer intimacy and industry domain
built on Microsoft Visual provider of application technology, business knowledge.
Studio Team System consulting, IT infrastructure and business
process outsourcing services to its Cognizant has been a pioneer in using agile
provides an integrated, customers. It was founded in 1994 as an IT development methodologies effectively
optimal delivery development and maintenance services arm across distributed teams. In the past,
of The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation. The Cognizant used a mix of tools to support the
environment that company was spun-off as an independent development process, including Visual Studio
increases productivity, organization two years later. Since 1996, Professional 2005 for development,
Cognizant has worked closely with large Microsoft Visual Source Safe for source code
for all roles, by organizations to help them build stronger, control, and other open-source and home-
eliminating or reducing more efficient, and more agile businesses. grown tools for managing business
Cognizant was listed on the NASDAQ in 1998, requirements, tasks, changes and defects.
switches between and is a member of the NASDAQ-100 Index The mixed tool set, however, did little to
multiple applications, and S&P 500 Index. It is also a Forbes Global support and streamline adherence to agile
2000 company and a member of the Fortune development principles. Instead, it hampered
tools and activities.” 1000 and is ranked among the top team output, consumed additional time and
Rajashree Natarajan, Asst Vice President, information technology companies in impeded communication. Specific problem
Process and Tools Group, Cognizant Business Week’s Hot Growth and Top 50 areas included: offline traceability of artifacts,
Technology Solutions Performers listings. frequent transitions between multiple tools
used for design, testing, reviews and task
Cognizant is widely recognized by leading tracking, and excessive time spent on
analyst firms including Gartner and Forrester creating reports.
as a Global Tier 1 supplier. The company is
“Our company was experiencing continued
Key Parts of Visual Studio Team System used by Cognizant and significant growth. To keep pace, it was
Microsoft Visual Studio Team Provides the ultimate set of tools for every team discipline important for us to increase the productivity
System 2008 Team Suite engaged in the project: architecture, design, development, of our employees with optimized business
database and testing solutions,” explains Rajashree Natarajan,
Microsoft Visual Studio Team Provides developers with an advanced set of tools to Asst Vice President, Process and Tools Group,
System 2008 Development identify inefficient, insecure or poor-quality code, specify Cognizant. “We needed a comprehensive,
Edition coding best practices and automate software unit testing enterprise-class solution for managing all
Microsoft Visual Studio Team Provides advanced tools for database change management aspects of the development process and we
System 2008 Database and testing and offers functionality to enable database were eager to find a solution.”
Edition developers and administrators to be more productive
Microsoft Visual Studio Team Focuses on improving the design and validation of Cognizant anticipated the need to streamline
System 2008 Architecture distributed systems the company’s development process and
Edition build a more integrated and extensible
Microsoft Visual Studio Team Provides a comprehensive suite of testing tools for Web system architecture to keep pace with the
System 2008 Test Edition applications and services that are integrated into the Visual company’s growth rate. The company aimed
Studio environment to strengthen its entire IT infrastructure with
Microsoft Visual Studio Team Combines team portal, version control, work-item tracking, the ultimate goal of boosting productivity and
System 2008 Team build management, process guidance and business accelerating cycle-time.
Foundation Server intelligence into a unified server

3. development, database development and
testing of applications. Team members can
continuously collaborate and utilize a
Solution complete set of tools and guidance at every
To optimize its Microsoft solution step of the application life cycle.
development environment, Cognizant
implemented a comprehensive ALM solution “The integration between the integrated
based on Microsoft Visual Studio® Team development environment (IDE), source
System, which extends the Visual Studio control, build tools, team portal and work-
integrated development experience from the items like features, tasks, bugs and changes
individual developer to the entire and the easy extensibility points provided by
development team by delivering powerful Team Foundation Server were the key
new role-based tools for all development- deciding factors for the solution,” comments
related users, along with a centralized Sai Krupa Sagar, Chief Architect, Cognizant.
repository for project data. “The new technology contained many
significant features that helped us optimize
Cognizant’s ALM solution called “SPECTA” is our development process using the
built on Visual Studio Team System and Team extensible ALM platform.”
Foundation Server. It provides multi-
disciplined teams with an integrated toolset Architecture Overview
for requirements management, task SPECTA comprises of a customized TFS
Architecture: Team Foundation management, defect management, change process template and a set of extensions as
Server Integration with Cognizant management, build management, version illustrated in the figure. The TFS process
Enterprise Project Management
management, architecture, design, template supports the best practices of
Feature-driven Development (FDD) and
Scrum agile methodologies. The extensions
included new work-items, reports, check-in
policies and plug-ins that support standard
engineering practices like Build Verification
Tests, Continuous Integration and Contextual
Guidance. It also includes a synchronization
engine that integrates with Cognizant’s
Intelligent Delivery Ecosystem – Cognizant
2.0. The ecosystem is an enterprise-wide
collaborative platform for workflow
automation, process orchestration, and
seamless knowledge management. One of
the widely used SPECTA plug-ins provides
integration between Microsoft Outlook and
Team Foundation Server.
Project planning and initial setup is enabled
through the advanced framework provided by
Cognizant 2.0. When this information is

4. synched with SPECTA, an equivalent team Custom workflows are implemented to
project is created on Team Foundation Server automate the usually offline processes of
and work-items are automatically populated. reviews, change, test and defect
Thereafter, developers use Visual Studio management. Building all this on enterprise-
Team System to perform all their tasks class server products like Microsoft Team
including using the Team Portal, Build, and Foundation Server and Microsoft SQL Server
Version Control. helped Cognizant to deploy the solution
faster.
The Project Manager uses the multi-
dimensional reports provided by Team “Team Foundation Server gave us the
Foundation Server to track status and flexibility to customize work item types and
manage risks. The synch-engine periodically other project artifacts to support our own way
synchs up work-item data between Team of working,” explains Sai Krupa Sagar. “It
Foundation Server and Cognizant 2.0. This integrates all aspects of software
enables different stakeholders to access the development—item tracking, version control,
advanced planning, reporting and knowledge builds, and reporting—into a single
management capabilities of Cognizant 2.0 collaboration environment.”
while the development and testing teams
access the integrated toolset and engineering Implementation Overview
capabilities provided by SPECTA extensions The initial version of the solution was a result
on Team Foundation Server. Several Visual of Cognizant’s early involvement in the
Studio plug-ins make data entry easier and adoption program of Team Foundation Server
intuitive. 2005 even before its commercial availability.
Since then, there have been five major
Business Analysts can create and manage releases of SPECTA, each with new,
requirements through the familiar interface of additional features and customizations to
Microsoft Outlook 2007. Project Managers address several customer requirements.
can manage work-items through multiple Actually, the agile process promoted by
channels using Microsoft Outlook 2007 or SPECTA, was followed to build the SPECTA
through Microsoft Project or Microsoft Excel solution using distributed teams. The actual
or through a browser interface. Additionally, implementation involved modifying XML files,
stakeholders can view multi-dimensional writing custom code in .NET, building reports
reports instantaneously through a Silverlight in SQL Server Reporting Services and
powered dashboard. customizing the SharePoint portal.
“The adaptable architecture of Team
Fast Facts Foundation Server and the generous
extensibility mechanisms provided by the
Size of the Software Development 1 architect architecture helped us extend and customize
Team for VSTS Implementation 3 developers TFS behavior with minimum effort and
2 testers shorter cycle time,” adds Sai Krupa Sagar.
Duration 1 release every 6 months
Developer Tools Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008
Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Team Foundation Server Benefits
Microsoft Office 2007 Tools

5. With the new solution, Cognizant has communication between developers, testers
improved its ability to successfully follow agile and other stakeholders enabling all project
methodologies even in a distributed delivery members to work in concert toward a
model. Development groups are now more common goal.
productive; and communication and
collaboration are stronger, and the agile Accelerates Cycle-time by 10 Percent
methods accommodate change more The new solution provides multiple areas and
efficiently. All this has increased customer opportunities for collaboration among the
satisfaction and is becoming a strong development team. Features such as, a
competitive advantage for Cognizant. Several shared team portal, integrated change
of Cognizant’s customers are using variants management, and a common data repository
of the SPECTA solution within their boost collaboration among developers,
enterprises. Cognizant has helped build consequently cutting the time and cost of
custom extensions and reports as needed. application lifecycle management and putting
applications into production more quickly and
“Cognizant’s SPECTA built on Microsoft Visual cost-effectively. The availability of information
Studio Team System provides an integrated, across the application lifecycle has created a
optimal delivery environment that increases more unified work environment.
productivity, for all roles, by eliminating or
reducing switches between multiple “With all the information at our fingertip and
applications, tools and activities,” says the integrated environment we are seeing
Rajashree Natarajan. cycle-time improvements of around 10
percent,” says Rajashree Natarajan. “This
Enhances Communication and enables us to keep up with the needs of our
Collaboration business. Additionally, we are able to solve
By implementing SPECTA with Visual Studio our customer’s business problems faster and
Team System on Visual Studio Team System with less effort.”
Team Foundation Server, Cognizant has a
tightly integrated environment along with the The company’s software projects involve
tools required to facilitate a more many individuals with different roles and
collaborative development process. responsibilities at various stages of the
A central repository for all project data helps development cycle. To aid in the distribution
improve team collaboration by keeping of work, the SPECTA process includes a
everyone informed of the project status. series of out-of-the-box roles, such as
Adopting Microsoft Visual Studio Team business analyst, architect, developer, tester,
System has allowed the development team to scrum master, feature owner and project
significantly improve its ability to collaborate manager, and a set of tools and practices
between geographies and time zones. Real specific to each role. The SPECTA extensions
time integration with Cognizant 2.0 vastly on Team Foundation Server, monitors and
increased the collaboration quotient by fusing integrates these roles.
Visual Studio based developer environment
into the enterprise wide collaboration “The less number of switches we have,
platform of Cognizant 2.0. Together, this between different tools and applications, the
integrated environment enables seamless less room there is for errors and shorter the

6. time required to complete most activities,” necessary to improve control of code, project
states Sai Krupa Sagar. artifacts, and processes.
Reduces Cost of Software Quality Managers have greater visibility into the true
Software quality has improved because the state of the project, helping them to make
new development environment helps team better decisions, align with best practices,
members to detect potential errors earlier in and help developers generate higher-quality
the project life cycle. The customized code.
methodology imbedded into Team
Foundation Server guarantees quality “The multi-dimensional reports provided by
throughout the software development Team Foundation Server and the ability to
lifecycle and ensures that all steps in the export the reports and analyze them using
workflow are followed and completed Microsoft Excel has helped immensely in
correctly. tracking the status and managing project
risks,” says Gaurav Varshney, Senior Project
The team-oriented features of Visual Studio Manager, Cognizant who lead the
Team System help the team to ensure that management of the project for a Life
defects are not introduced while developing. Sciences customer. “Along with a consistent
Centralized source code repository helps the development process, we now have real-time
team to maintain a daily build and ensure visibility into key performance and quality
code quality and tested software. metrics,” adds Gaurav.
“With SPECTA on Visual Studio Team System,
we’ve been able to increase the quality of our
development process and enable more
control and transparency,” says Kishore
Kumar, Delivery Director, Cognizant who has
overseen the use of SPECTA, VSTS and TFS
solution on a large globally distributed project
for a Life Sciences customer.
Improves Process Integration and
Management
The SPECTA solution built on Visual Studio
Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server
has helped Cognizant to better manage every
aspect of development and production
processes, including requirements, source
code, build schedules, task tracking, bug
tracking and change management. Integrated
process workflows, version control, work-item
tracking, and other features in Team
Foundation Server provide the transparency

7. For More Information Microsoft Visual Studio 2008
For more information about Microsoft Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 is the world's
products and services, call the Microsoft most popular development environment for
Sales Information Center at (800) designing, developing, and testing next
426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft generation Windows®-based solutions and
Canada Information Centre at (877) Web applications and services. By improving
568-2495. Customers who are deaf or the development experience for Windows, the
hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text Web, mobile devices, and Microsoft Office,
telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) Visual Studio 2008 helps organizations
892-5234 in the United States or (905) deliver a variety of solutions more
568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 productively than ever before. Visual Studio
United States and Canada, please contact Team System expands the product line with
your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access new software tools that enable greater
information using the World Wide Web, go communication and collaboration throughout
to: www.microsoft.com the development life cycle. Interaction
between developers and designers is
For more information about Cognizant enhanced with Visual Studio 2008 and the
Technology Solutions services, visit the Microsoft Expression® Suite. With Visual
Web site at: www.cognizant.com Studio 2008, businesses can deliver modern
service-oriented solutions more efficiently.
For more information about Visual Studio
2008, go to:
www.msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio
Software and Services
Developer Tools
Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008
Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation
Server 2008
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT
MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS
SUMMARY.
Document published June 2009