HCL Technologies is a $4.6 billion global IT services company based in Noida, India with US headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif. and offices worldwide. Founded in 1991, the company has 85,505 employees and it offers an integrated portfolio of services including software-led IT solutions, remote infrastructure management, engineering and R&D services and business services. As the President-Financial Services Sales & Business Services, Rahul leads the business, developing client relationships and delivering new fully loaded services lines which meet the next generation technology and operations needs of clients. In a candid conversation with CIOReview, he gives us his thoughts on Transformational Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and next-generating global delivery centers and how HCL is pioneering these trends.

Arguably every business process in an organization is interconnected and is part of the same value chain. All elements must be aligned together to provide the client with his desired outcome. However, in the past there was a trend of 'fragmented outsourcing' where only a particular business process was outsourced. As a result, many BPO service providers delivered work in packets, rather than the entire process, which often caused a disconnect within the organization. HCL, as a pioneer of next generation outsourcing solutions, focuses on eliminating this disconnect between business process and infrastructure. We look at it from a "wing-to- wing" basis, but also from the global end-to-end perspective.


When a client is looking at an outcome, they forward their entire business stack and IT stack to service delivery team. We are then responsible for the outcome and the inputs whether it is application input or infrastructure input; we make the whole thing work. This cannot be done in a commoditized manner and requires deep domain expertise, which is a crucial change developing in the outsourcing industry.


Clients need more domain-oriented partners who can bring business transformation into their services and build business propositions based on business outcome versus the cost of inputs. This is how HCL differentiates itself from the rest of the pack of BPO providers. In terms of domain expertise, one cannot be broad and widely spread.

Integrated Global Delivery

The future of outsourcing and BPO is highly dependent upon an integrated global delivery platform. Companies today work across multiple time zones and they expect service providers to provide the flexibility to leverage the global talent pool. Therefore, they want and expect visibility into transactions conducted across the globe, along with the opportunity to move work from one geographic location to another to attain advantage of scale.


HCL has multiple local delivery centers in the U.S. like Cary, Rochester, Redmond and Jackson, along with service delivery centers in various global locations. Our American, European, Asian and Indian sites form our global integrated framework which allows us s to meet the needs of our global clients while harnessing the talent across the globe.

Other Developing Trends in Outsourcing

Clients are also seeking standardization across global centers. For instance, the work being done for a U.S. client with offices in Europe will require standardization across all its global locations. We integrate our global sites and they reflect similar perspectives irrespective of their geographical location.


The ultimate requirement for clients today is undoubtedly the required business outcome. Requirements vary by client; some may worry about reducing cycle times; others focus on improving customer satisfaction. It is important to develop the outcome of your business models based upon the customer's specific requirements. Companies today work with real customer data which places a premium on compliance for service providers. Regional and global regulatory compliance must be considered while building all the feature models ahead. This is what HCL has been focusing on.


A combination of domain expertise, integrated local and global delivery, transformational and outcome-based business models, along with standardizations and compliance is defining the future of the outsourcing/BPO industry.

Providing Horizontal and Vertical Expertise

With the proliferation of new technologies such as social media, mobility, analytics and cloud computing, the customer requirements in all vertical industries have changed drastically. For example, the banking and financial sector is also facing tremendous cost pressure from several ends. Their customers require new services related to mobility and analytics. Also regulators are asking for more information and shareholders are demanding higher returns. CIOs in this industry must cut costs and improve the quality of service. Therefore, these CIOs are looking for service providers who can meet end-to-end needs of their customers and provide outcomes on a holistic basis. This is where HCL excels, because we have an overall understanding to meet the needs of the customers.