Sensing the pulse of the dynamic, rapidly growing GCC ecosystem

The NASSCOM GCC Conclave is the flagship event for all those who have adopted and are associated with the ‘Global Capability Center’ model, to congregate as they share, deliberate, learn, reflect and together work towards paving the road ahead.

There has been a lot of discussion on the evolution of offshoring model over the past 3 decades from being the back office to the world, to now having adopted cutting edge technology and strategically impacting the front office, delivering real impact globally.

As the industry came together yet again, in full strength, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to sense the pulse of this dynamic, fast evolving GCC ecosystem, to gauge how it was progressing along the maturity curve.

The key dimensions we used to define and assess maturity being:

Strategic alignment to HQ

Is the GCC a seamless extension of the global organization, shaping the future?

Governance and Empowerment

Has the GCC proven itself to be empowered to anchor and drive global transformation?

Service portfolio

Does the GCC mirror the end-to-end global value chain in terms of scope and penetration?

Depth of Capability

Has the GCC established deep capability to be identified as a global center of Excellence?

Digital Maturity

Has the GCC embedded technology across the model, gearing up to be the technology nerve center of the global service delivery model?

Future ready workforce

Is the GCC equipped with the skills of the future, embracing the new sustainable, emerging workforce models?

Risk and Resilience

Is the GCC geared up to address and mitigate new emerging risks through a fortified and resilient, agile model?

Value & Cost

Has the GCC continuously evolved to sustain and enhance the value and cost proposition for global?

The GCC market today straddles industry sectors, represents global organisations from across several geographies, spans functions across the business value chain and has players at different stages of the GCC lifecycle. This quick pulse check, albeit at a high level allowed us to analyse the maturity levels across these various lenses which makes for some interesting initial takeaways.

Some observations at an aggregated level, which we will be analysing further in a subsequent post very shortly:

The defined dimensions of maturity resonated with a majority of the industry participants, corroborating at a very fundamental level how the GCC model has carved out a niche, quasi-industry status of its own
Top scoring dimensions: Value and Cost; Risk and Resilience

Areas where GCCs have evolved over a period, demonstrated capabilities and proven credentials
Median scoring dimensions: Strategic alignment to HQ, Depth of Capability, Future ready workforce

Areas where GCCs continue to evolve and have some road to cover
Low scoring dimensions: Governance and Empowerment; Digital Maturity

Areas where GCCs are still working to better establish themselves
While some sectors like the Banking and Financial Services industry and Technology, having pioneered the GCC model have progressed further along the maturity curve, some others like Consumer and Retail and Lifesciences had embraced technology to catch up very quickly
All functional GCCs had embedded technology to accelerate value delivery and maturity
Newer GCCs are wired differently, have learnt from prevalent models to crunch the learning cycle and rapidly move up the maturity curve.

Given global market forces, as technology continues to evolve and disrupt, talent continues to upskill and adapt, operating models evolve and morph and the ecosystem comes close together, the global service delivery model and hence GCCs will continue to progress and potentially shape the maturity curve.