Our client is a major financial services group headquartered in Asia. It has three major business units – retail, wholesale and asset management – which provide a wide range of solutions to individuals, institutions, corporations and government organizations. Stiff competition, stringent regulations and ambitious business goals impelled the client to digitize its global capability centers (GCCs) in South Asia and Europe to improve operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.
The Challenge
End-to-end modernization of the IT divisions of five wholesale business units
HCLTech has been one of the client’s preferred technology partners for over a decade. The financial holdings company extended its partnership to modernize its GCCs in South Asia, East Asia and Europe. The client's business's privacy-sensitive, customer-first, multi-regional nature was a significant challenge in facilitating IT modernization services. Multiple projects were initiated and completed over the years, with some of them being:
- Global service desk: Included level-1 end-user computing (EUC), VIP customer support, remote resolution and a centralized support desk
- Application packaging: Involved bundling of corporate applications using Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) or Microsoft Software Installer (MSI)
- Global data operations: Entailed 24x7, global, cross-platform, centralized backup management, monitoring and data recovery
- Multimedia bridge operations: Encompassed messaging and end-to-end management
- Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) support: Comprised of network, server and database
The Objective
Achieve improvement in business processes and outcomes
The client aimed to become agile and digital-first to remain competitive, compliant, customer-friendly and cost-effective.
The Solution
Delegate specialists and experts to accelerate modernization projects alongside the client’s workforce
To accelerate modernization efforts, HCLTech deployed specialists to work alongside the client’s workforce, providing consulting, systems integration, infrastructure management, application development and maintenance, and reporting and analytics. Our project-wise contributions included:
Global service desk
Provided end-to-end ownership of EUC tickets with timely escalation and call tracking. Prioritizing support tickets based on business impact helped reduce downtime, ensuring swift resolutions and seamless operations.
Application repackaging
Migration of Windows versions, providing quality assurance, technical support and comprehensive integration testing, enabling a smooth transition with minimal disruption.
Global data operations
- Core support
The data operations team supported the client with core functions like backup configuration, data recovery, tape management and detailed reporting. This dedicated support helped streamline the client’s data workflows and enabled the team to address ad hoc user queries. - Infrastructure support
By actively monitoring backup environments and managing incidents and documentation, HCLTech provided infrastructure stability, minimizing disruptions and enhancing operational resilience.
Multimedia bridge operations
Supporting video and audio-conferencing needs, HCLTech's multimedia bridge operations ensured seamless cross-functional communication through video conference scheduling, monitoring, troubleshooting and AV support across multiple platforms
Network Support
HCLTech designed, implemented and maintained the Asia-Pacific network, focusing on stability, resilience, and performance enhancements. Key initiatives included:
- Ensuring alignment with global standards and best practices
- Administering and supporting firewalls
- Managing project implementation at the global, regional, and local levels
- Providing Level-2 and Level-3 operational support, along with technical documentation and ongoing process optimization
Server support
The team implemented and supported Windows Server and Linux OS environments across Asia-Pacific, ensuring adherence to global standards. Major responsibilities included:
- Continuous monitoring and troubleshooting
- Level-2 and Level-3 operational support and escalation management
- Operational process automation and optimization
- Change management support to enhance system stability
Database support
HCLTech streamlined database management and infrastructure migration. Support highlights included:
- Planning and executing application migrations
- Managing installation, upgrades, and troubleshooting of various DMBS/SQL systems
- Tracking and reporting migration status to ensure transparency and timely updates
The Impact
Optimized IT practices leading to GCC cost-savings and operational scalability
The client successfully achieved IT modernization goals, resulting in superior GCC capabilities for innovation and other strategic initiatives. The client’s satisfaction with our expertise is evident from the current engagement scope of full-time equivalent (FTE), which has more than doubled in the last four years. Besides, the client selected us as one of the three strategic partners for its GCCs in South Asia, with us being the second largest. As a result of our services, the client was able to:
- Achieve an average handling time (AHT) of five minutes for the global service desk
- Churn a minimum of 10 application packages per personnel per month
- Improve data integrity, protection and recovery
- Facilitate uninterrupted interactions between employees, customers and vendors
- Optimize its network, server and database
Modernization has made client’s South Asian and European GCCs future-ready, allowing them to be more competitive and have a higher potential of propelling business objectives.
