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COVANSYS NAMES COMPANY FOUNDER AND
CO-CHAIRMAN RAJ VATTIKUTI AS PRESIDENT & CEO
Vattikuti’s Unparalleled Industry Knowledge and Client Service Expertise Will Build
on Martin Clague’s Success and Drive Covansys’ Future Growth and Profitability
FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., August 27, 2004 – Covansys
Corporation (Nasdaq: CVNS), a global consulting and technology services
company, today announced that Raj Vattikuti, the founder and co-chairman
of Covansys, has been appointed by the company’s board of directors
to the position of president and chief executive officer effective September
1, 2004. Martin C. Clague, who has served as president and chief executive
officer since 2002, is leaving the company to pursue other interests.
John Stanley, an independent director of Covansys, stated, “We
appreciate the many contributions that Marty has made to Covansys
during his tenure here and wish him all the best in his future
endeavors. Going forward, our board of directors believes that
Raj is the natural choice to lead Covansys, particularly in light
of the many new opportunities that our relationship with Fidelity
Information Services, Inc. (“FIS”) is creating for
us. Since founding Covansys nearly 20 years ago, Raj pioneered
the global delivery model and helped our clients realize the value
of offshore outsourcing long before it became a mainstream business
practice. Raj has been intimately involved with nearly every aspect
of Covansys’ operations throughout the company’s history
and we are confident that his unparalleled industry knowledge and
client service expertise will enable him to seamlessly assume the
role of president and CEO.”
Mr. Vattikuti said, “We expect the next few years to be crucial for Covansys,
and I am delighted to be returning to an active leadership position at such an exciting time.
Under Marty’s guidance, we made important strides in strengthening both our infrastructure
and our delivery capabilities, and I extend my personal appreciation to him for his
solid stewardship of the company over the past 33 months. I am confident that our
efforts to enhance the services we provide to our existing clients while strengthening
our presence in the financial services vertical will help drive improved financial results
across our business lines. We expect the expansion of our offshore talent base and our
strength in modernizing legacy systems, in particular, to become increasingly important
competitive differentiators for us. Covansys is well-positioned for success, and I look
forward to cementing our company’s reputation as a leading global technology services provider
under my leadership.”
Mr. Vattikuti, 53, founded Covansys, which was originally called Complete Business Solutions,
Inc., in 1985 with just five employees. Mr. Vattikuti served as president and chief executive
officer through June of 2000 and has been a co-chairman of Covansys’ board of directors since
that time.
Prior to founding Covansys, Mr. Vattikuti served as director of Management Information Systems
for Yurika Foods Corporation. Earlier in his career, he held the position of an MIS project leader
for Chrysler Corporation. Mr. Vattikuti holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering
from the College of Engineering, Guindy (India) and a Master of Science degree in Electrical and
Computer Engineering from Wayne State University. Mr. Vattikuti also holds an honorary doctorate in
Business Administration from Bryant College.
About Covansys
Headquartered in Michigan, Covansys Corporation (Nasdaq: CVNS)
is a global consulting and technology services company specializing
in industry-specific solutions, strategic outsourcing and integration
services. Clients gain competitive advantage by leveraging our
unique on-site, offsite, offshore delivery capability to achieve
rapid deployment, world-class quality and reduced costs. A leader
in the public sector market, Covansys is also known for application
maintenance and development outsourcing in the healthcare, financial
services, retail and distribution, manufacturing, telecommunications
and high-tech industries. Founded in 1985, with over 5100 employees
worldwide, Covansys was one of the first U.S.-based IT services
companies to establish offshore facilities in India, and is a pioneer
in seamlessly integrating offshore capabilities into its offerings.
Two of the company's three wholly owned development centers in
India are assessed at Level 5 in SEI CMM®. All three are ISO
9001:2000 certified and assessed at Level 5 in PCMM®. Covansys
was named one of the leading IT companies for state and local governments
in 2002 and 2003 by Washington Technology magazine, and one of
the top 500 solution providers in 2002 and 2003 by VARBusiness
magazine. Visit our web site: www.covansys.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
With the exception of statements regarding historical matters
and statements concerning our current status, certain matters discussed
herein are forward-looking statements that involve substantial
risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements may be
identified by the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect” or “intend” and
similar expressions. Our actual results, performance or achievements
could differ materially from these forward-looking statements.
Factors that could cause or contribute to such material differences include actions by governmental or regulatory agencies, general economic conditions and conditions in the IT industry such as the demand for IT services, public sector government budgetary constraints, potential cost overruns on fixed-price projects, effective application of the percentage of completion method of accounting for fixed priced contracts, risks related to merger, acquisition and strategic investment strategy, variability of operating results, government regulation of immigration, exposure to regulatory, political and economic conditions in India and Asia, competition in the IT services industry, the short-term nature and termination provisions of contracts, economic conditions unique to clients in specific industries and limited protection of intellectual property rights. These and other factors are described in the Company’s filings with the SEC.
AT THE COMPANY:
James S. Trouba
(248) 848-2267
jtrouba@covansys.com
AT Media:
Michelle Jones
(248) 848-2269
mjones@covansys.com
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