I have bad news and good news. What would you like to know first ?
My family always ask for the bad news first so sharing that first.
Grow GCCs In Your Garden This Summer
Table of Contents
(Very) Bad News
Global Capability Centers (GCCs) are different beast as they say. They = My customers (IT services, SaaS, Recruiters).
Good News
Market is aware of the growth potential. This is one area where other countries have not been able to challenge India as a hub. This is India’s strength. GCCs in Romania, Turkey, Poland, Armenia are trying as well but India’s organized ecosystem has reached another level.
This article shares thought process behind account planning of Big 5, IT Services, and SaaS Companies.
Market Mood
We observed that more than 100 IT services companies (enterprise, mid-market) have GCC focused sales teams (SDRs, team leads).
Enterprise vendors such as PWC, Accenture, E &Y are playing GCCs game at different level. They have dedicated teams for every vertical. For example, quotas have been allocated on vertical lines such as GCC Pharma, GCC Auto, and GCC Oil and Gas.
Companies such as Infosys, Cognizant have understood the market well, are investing in account planning, market potential.
There are many mid tier IT services companies (operating from India) where strategy leads are estimating the potential.
The potential of this segment is undeniable.
SaaS companies
Enterprise SaaS companies UiPath , Automation Anywhere had organized sales process for the GCCs for the last 7 years (2017 onwards). Salesforce also had realized the potential in 2019-2020 and have since then streamlined their sales towards this vertical.
HR Tech players such as Players such as KNOLSKAPE Solutions , Mettlhad realized the potential in 2019-2021.
This year (2025) – We have been approached by more global enterprise SaaS companies this year than in last 5 years combined.
Go-to-Market Thought Process
Hypothesis being formed by Go-To-Market teams is that:
a. GCCs established 5 yrs (or more) have established now, their senior folks are influential in decision making (if not decision makers).
b. Common marketing wisdom to influence all decision makers.
c. Awareness that influencers are globally spread and should be influenced earlier than later.
It is worth investing in knowing and targeting GCCs. Results will come with patience. This segment is growing rapidly. Money is coming to India.
Can Everyone Get a Share ?
Big Five's approach
BCG, PWC, KPMG, Accenture, Deloitte – I have seen their strategy to GCCs. I do not know about Bain, McKinsey yet.
They have had advantage because their partners had built relations with decision makers at headquarter level. They get to know about parent companies’s plan to move to India first. They do not market using cold outreach.
Their approach is to:
1. Reach out to the global account manager of the consulting company.
2. Get introduced via global account manager of the enterprise account (of the GCC).
3. Build relationships, thought leadership.
SaaS Approach
Farm into Existing Accounts that have GCCs
The most common approach by Global SaaS companies is to identify the accounts that are:
1. Existing Customers
2. Have a GCC established in India
IT Service Company's Approach
IT Services combine the approach of the Big Five and the SaaS Approach.
There are few IT services companies that have been quite innovative in their approach.
For example, they would separate the GCCs in two types:
- Young GCCs
- Old GCCs
Other IT service companies with mature market research teams one step further. They look at following attributes to identify the right accounts –
a. Age of the GCC
b. Strength of India Employee Count
c. Revenue/cashflow by the Indian GCC
Recruiter and HR Services Approach
HR Services companies are of two types:
1. Focused on leadership hiring
2. Focused on Skill based hiring
#1 (Focused on Leadership Hiring) is mainly focused on building relations at the top. #1 is very organized, plays long-term game, focuses on collecting information about the top players.
# 2 (Focused on Skill Based Hiring) is always hunting.
We have shared the GTM approach, account planning of Big 5, IT Services, and SaaS Companies in this article.
Next week, we would share about the framework being developed and implemented by some of the most innovative companies.
Until then,
Lets keep building ecosystem that brings more business from the developed countries to India.
Join My Whatsapp Group
I moderate a Whatsapp group to discuss GCCs in detail. Please join ONLY if you are serious about selling to GCCs or do want to explore GCCs seriously.
Here is the link: WhatsApp Group Link
Please join only if you are targeting GCCs or intend to target or you are evaluating.
Previous Editions of the Newsletter
Episode 1: GCC 101
About OceanFrogs:
Well, I am building GCC Intel for last 7 years. Automation Anywhere (AA) had asked us to identify their technology usage for their Competitive Intelligence (CI) studies. Salesforce challenged us further by asking us to increase their coverage, get contacts in shared services, Center of Excellences (COEs). Infosys asked us to know their footprint (locations) in India. CSS asked us to provide their technology investment, hiring trends.
There are many marquee clients along the way (large and small). SaaS companies such as New Relic, LambdaTest, BrowserStack, Jombay. US Based Strategy departments of companies such as Deloitte, Accenture have also planned their strategies using OceanFrogs’ GCC Intelligence.
Still learning daily.
Author Details
Vinay Mehendi
Vinay Mehendi, PhD focuses on customer engagement, alternative data, technographics, and CRM data management. he was listed as Top 20 B2B Marketer by Ruth Stevens in 2020. He is a Clemson graduate.
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