Moving over 520,000 employees to a digital work model is no mean feat.
Having done so, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is taking these learnings to help clients digitise their work models. Swiss Re is one such client.
For the global information technology services firm with a headcount of 528,748 as of end-September, the shift to a single human resource (HR) platform started a few months before the pandemic started, when TCS moved its HR solutions to Microsoft’s platform.
Siva Ganesan, global head, Microsoft business unit, TCS, still remembers the early days when TCS embarked upon a move from an existing software platform to a digital medium for communications on a Microsoft Office platform.
“We developed routines that were automation-centric.
"We encouraged the increased adoption of the platform and not feel threatened by something new,” reminisced Ganesan.
This programme took shape just when the pandemic reared its ugly head and employees had to move to a work-from-home model.
“The velocity with which this was getting adopted within the company was immense. Nearly 250,000 employees were using this digital format in a few months,” he added.
Having deployed its own digital workplace platform, Ganesan believes these learnings are now interwoven into the fabric of the teams’ ethos.
“We have the experiential wisdom of the do’s and don’ts, what works and what doesn’t, and more importantly, have the understanding of velocity and scale of such a deployment,” said Ganesan.
TCS is working with Swiss Re to build a more social and open digital workspace leveraging Cloud, to drive collaboration and innovation.
TCS will help Swiss Re to further develop its future-ready, cloud-based digital workplace using Microsoft technologies and manage underlying operations.
This will impact over 18,000 end-users.
The Swiss Re deal is important for TCS for two reasons.
One, it allows the company to take its own experience of embracing a digital transformation that it carried for itself.
Two, the deal fits into TCS’ new focus of ramping up its growth and transformation strategy.
“This deal is characterised by both these elements — the growth and transformation agenda, and the journey of Cloud.
"It is about how we reimagine the workplace experiences for employees of Swiss Re.
"This is a brand new work and shaping up a totally different aspect of its organisation, which is a workplace,” said Ganesan.
Such deals are also showcasing how players like TCS are taking the Cloud strategy along with hyperscale partners.
TCS has streamlined its Cloud strategy into strategic units that partners hyperscalers like Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft, and its own coud offerings.
Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
