HCL Technologies turned in an impressive set of numbers for the third quarter and unveiled its new strategy which usurps the existing positioning statement of ’employees first, customer second’. In an interview with FE’s Kirtika Suneja, president and CEO Anant Gupta says the new strategy is a result of investment in thought leadership. Excerpts:
What was the thinking behind the new strategy and what happens to ?employees first, customer second??
The new strategy called ?relationship beyond the contract’ is based on trust, transparency and flexibility, which is fuelled by our philosophy of ?Employees First? which itself is a relationship beyond the contract. As part of the new strategy, we are tying customers, employees and partners with one common thinking of relationships.
In which new technologies will HCL Tech invest as part of the revised positioning?
The investment and market thesis remain the same and there is more bullishness because of the rebid market in the infrastructure and application management space. Digital system integration is the new marketplace and that is mid-term play for us. We expect it will take three years to get it get to scale and size. We did get one large deal in this space in this quarter.
Are any acquisitions on the anvil as the firm has more than $175 million of cash and cash equivalents?
We will press the peddle when needed. We want an appropriate and relevant target in the areas of ALT ASM, digital system integration, digital product engineering and engineering services.
What are the concerns at this point in time?
There are concerns on regulatory, risk and compliance side and that is a challenge across the globe.
