Delhi-based information technology services player HCL Technologies has signed a $200 million, five-year, multi-service deal with UK-based Skandia. This is the sixth deal signed by the company in a row in this calendar year, taking the cumulative value of deals signed by it to $600 million.
The deal is representative of the company's Blue Ocean strategy that it embarked upon 18 months ago under which it decided to enter uncharted segments, increase saving from internal transformation and move towards output-based pricing than rely on work billed by the hour.
"The transformation and deals like DSG International, Autodesk and Teradyne have helped us to make the transition from a phase where HCLT was growing below industry average 18 months ago. The strategy has undoubtedly worked for us as for four quarters now, we have been more often than not, exceeding industry's quarter-on-quarter growth average," said HCLT President Vineet Nayar.
As part of the deal, Skandia UK will outsource application optimisation, including development, maintenance and support and remote infrastructure management to HCL. Skandia UK will retain all customer-facing activities.
Under the deal, the work of 250 staff of Skandia UK will be transferred to HCL. However, company officials say it is important to distinguish between roles and actual jobs impacted by this deal. Though 250 roles will be transferred to HCL, some 94 of these are contractors against current vacancies. There is an actual transfer of only 156 active Skandia UK jobs to HCL. This will be augmented by HCL's offshore insurance industry delivery centres based in Chennai.
{{/usCountry}}Under the deal, the work of 250 staff of Skandia UK will be transferred to HCL. However, company officials say it is important to distinguish between roles and actual jobs impacted by this deal. Though 250 roles will be transferred to HCL, some 94 of these are contractors against current vacancies. There is an actual transfer of only 156 active Skandia UK jobs to HCL. This will be augmented by HCL's offshore insurance industry delivery centres based in Chennai.
{{/usCountry}}Email Prerna K Mishra: pmishra@hindustantimes.com