Cognizant has announced a management succession plan, as per which chief operating officer Francisco D'Souza will succeed Lakshmi Narayanan as president and CEO.

Narayanan will become vice-chairman of the board, which will also see the induction of D'Souza. In addition, Gordon Coburn, currently chief financial officer, will be promoted as chief financial and operating officer.

D'Souza, who will continue to be based in the US, has 17 years experience in the IT industry in operational, management and advisory roles and was part of the team that founded Cognizant in 1994.

In his current role as COO, he has responsible for Cognizant's global delivery and client services organisations. Prior to his current position, D'Souza led the company's north American and European operations.

Cognizant also announced two additional appointments. Chandra Sekaran, now executive vice-president and managing director, has been promoted as president and managing director, global delivery and will oversee Cognizant's development operations around the world.

Rajeev Mehta, now senior vice-president and general manager - financial services business unit, has been promoted to chief operating officer, global client services and added to the executive team.

He will assume responsibility for the company's sales, business development and client relationship management organisation. Sekaran and Mehta will report to D'Souza.

Sekaran, who will continue to be based in India, has more than 20 years of operational management experience in the IT industry.

Prior to his election as executive vice-president and managing director in January 2004, he served as Senior Vice President responsible for offshore delivery, as well as key alliances, capacity growth, process initiatives and business development.