Cognizant To Acquire AWS, Microsoft IoT Partner Bright Wolf

Cognizant’s latest deal comes after it recently unveiled plans to acquire Microsoft partners 10th Magnitude and New Signature. ‘Companies are increasingly embracing [industrial] IoT, and Bright Wolf’s team of senior IIoT architects have delivered the business value others have struggled to achieve,’ says Malcolm Frank, Cognizant’s president of digital business.

Global systems integrator Cognizant has unveiled plans to acquire Bright Wolf, an Amazon Web Services and Microsoft industrial IoT partner that sells into large enterprises such as industrial heavyweight Caterpillar.

The Teaneck, N.J.-based company unveiled the acquisition deal Thursday, saying that Durham, N.C.-based Bright Wolf will lead a new IoT innovation lab at the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., Research Triangle established by Cognizant as a result of the acquisition. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

[Related: Cognizant CEO: COVID-19 Pushing Customers To Digital Transformation]

This will mark Cognizant’s eighth acquisition to date this year, and the Bright Wolf acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter, according to the company. Recent acquisitions include 10th Magnitude and New Signature, both of which are large Microsoft cloud services providers.

Cognizant said Bright Wolf, which was founded in 2009, will improve the company’s smart products offering and expertise in building and deploying industrial IoT solutions, thanks to proficiencies in applications like asset performance management, predictive maintenance and yield optimization

Bright Wolf’s customer base includes companies across manufacturing, energy, transportation, water, health care, agriculture and other industries. Among the work the solution provider has done: connecting manufacturing machinery to create new data-driven services, bringing intelligence and analytics to manufacturing and supply automation, and improving data visibility and operational insight to improve machinery and other systems across multiple plants.

“Combining Bright Wolf’s experience in production-class IIoT deployments with Cognizant’s expertise in foundational IIoT technologies will increase our clients’ resiliency, operational efficiency and competitive advantage,” said Malcolm Frank, president of digital business at Cognizant, in a statement. “Companies are increasingly embracing IIoT, and Bright Wolf’s team of senior IIoT architects have delivered the business value others have struggled to achieve.”

Bright Wolf is a Microsoft Gold Partner, and the company also holds the title of AWS Advanced Technology Partner, IoT Competency.

“Bright Wolf has helped leading companies across industries realize their IIoT vision through our Zero Waste Engineering approach,” said Peter Bourne, CEO of Bright Wolf, in a statement. “We help ensure clients make the right investments at the right time and have the ability to scale as dictated by business and market needs. Our unique capabilities, together with Cognizant’s deep vertical industry knowledge, scale, and expertise in predictive analytics, AI, cloud, and IoT, will provide clients with an unparalleled partner on their IIoT journey.”