Cognizant (News - Alert), a provider of information technology, consulting and business process outsourcing services has recently signed a multiyear agreement with ING U.S., the U.S.-based retirement, investment management, and insurance operations of Dutch-based ING Groep N.V. to offer a comprehensive array of insurance business process services.

Under the terms of this new agreement, Cognizant will hire more than 1,000 ING U.S. employees in Minot, North Dakota and Des Moines, Iowa to create a world-class, U.S.-based center of excellence for insurance and finance business process services.

As an integral part of Cognizant's global delivery network, the center will allow Cognizant to provide an expanded range of business process services spanning the insurance and financial services industries.

In a press release, Gordon Coburn, president of Cognizant, stated, "We are pleased to partner with ING U.S. to launch our U.S.-based business process services center of excellence for the insurance and finance industries."

He further added, "We look forward to welcoming ING U.S.'s employees to Cognizant and working with this highly talented group of individuals. Our new center of excellence will serve as a key long-term component of our global delivery network and is yet another step in our ever-expanding in-country delivery capability."

Further, Cognizant will also purchase ING U.S.'s existing facility in Minot, North Dakota, and will sub-lease offices in the current ING U.S. facility in Des Moines, Iowa.

In a statement, Rob Leary, President and Chief Operating Officer of ING U.S, said: "While this expanded relationship represents job continuity for our transitioned employees, it also allows us to focus on our ultimate mission — providing the retirement, investment management and insurance solutions that help our clients meet their financial needs."

In related news, Cognizant has recently selected Savvis cloud and data center services to further expand its capabilities to deliver cloud-based solutions.