HCLTech

HCL Technologies Limited, doing business as HCLTech, is an Indian multinational information technology (IT) consulting company headquartered in Noida. Founded by Shiv Nadar, it was spun out in 1991 when HCL entered into the software services business. The company has offices in 60 countries and over 225,000 employees.

Formation and early years
In 1976, a group of eight engineers, all former employees of Delhi Cloth & General Mills, led by Shiv Nadar, started a company that would make personal computers. Initially floated as Microcomp Limited, Nadar and his team (which also included Arjun Malhotra, Ajai Chowdhry, D.S. Puri, Yogesh Vaidya and Subhash Arora) started selling teledigital calculators to gather capital for their main product. On 11 August 1976, the company was renamed Hindustan Computers Limited (HCL). HCL Enterprise developed an indigenous microcomputer in 1978, and a RDBMS, networking OS and client-server architecture in 1983. HCL Technologies began as the R&D division of HCL Enterprise.

The company originally was focused on hardware but, via HCL Technologies, software and services became the main focus. On 12 November 1991, HCL Technologies was spun off as a separate unit, being incorporated as HCL Overseas Limited, a provider of software and technology development services.

In 1993, HCL also started providing enterprise IT infrastructure management services, winning an order to establish India's first floorless, electronic stock exchange for NSE.

In July 1994, the company name was changed to HCL Consulting Limited. On 6 October 1999, the company was renamed 'HCL Technologies Limited' for "a better reflection of its activities."

Between 1991 and 1999, the company expanded its software development capacities to US, European and APAC markets.

IPO and subsequent expansion
The company went public on 10 November 1999, with an issue of 142 crore (14.2 million) shares. During 2000, the company set up an offshore development centre in Chennai, India, for KLA-Tencor Corporation.

In 2001, HCL formed a joint venture with Deutsche Bank by acquiring a 51% stake in the latter's Indian subsidiary Deutsche Software (later renamed DSL Software). In 2004, HCL bought out the remaining 49% stake in DSL Software, which then became part of HCL's banking technology division.

In 2005, HCL expanded its operations in Northern Ireland. At the 2006 UK Trade and Investment India Business Awards in New Delhi, the then UK Prime Minister Tony Blair announced the expansion.

In October 2017, IBM and HCL announced a strategic partnership, with the latter taking over the development of IBM Lotus Software's Notes, Domino, Sametime and Verse collaboration tools.

In July 2018, US-based Actian was acquired by HCL and Sumeru Equity Partners for $330 million.

In 2019, HCL Technologies acquired products of IBM including AppScan, BigFix, Commerce, Connections, Digital Experience (Portal and Content Manager), Notes/Domino, and Unica.

In 2021, the company reached $10 billion in revenue. In 2022, HCL Technologies rebranded as HCLTech.

In May 2024, HCLTech decided to acquire select assets of Communications Technology Group, a business division of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), for $225 million.

Operations


HCLTech operates in 60 countries, including its headquarters in Noida, India. It has establishments in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Morocco and Sri Lanka. In Europe, it covers Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Romania, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, Portugal, and United Kingdom. In the Americas, the company has offices in Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, and United States.



HCLSoftware
In 2019, HCL Technologies started a software product division called HCLSoftware, after completing the acquisition of IBM's software tools. Notable products under HCLSoftware include HCL Notes, AppScan, Connections, Commerce Cloud, Actian, BigFix, Digital Experience, Ingres, Unica, Sametime, and iNotes. HCLSoftware division had revenue of inr 111090000000 in fiscal year 2022–23.

Leadership
HCLTech has had four CEOs since its inception:
 * 1) Shiv Nadar (1976–2007)
 * 2) Vineet Nayar (2007–2013)
 * 3) Anant Gupta (2013–2016)
 * 4) C Vijayakumar (2016–present)

HCL Group
HCLTech is the flagship company of the HCL Group. Another HCL Group company, HCL Infosystems, was formed in 1976 to produce calculators. HCL Infosystems later became one of the leading manufacturers of personal computers and laptops in India, but it eventually lost market share to foreign competitors like HP and Dell, and shut down its manufacturing division.

In February 2014, HCL Group launched HCL Healthcare, which provides corporate health services. HCL TalentCare is the fourth venture of HCL Group, which provided skilling and staffing services.