On a recent trip to India, I was struck by how quickly the market and the capabilities of the EMC Center of Excellence (COE) in Bangalore have matured since the COE operational model was kicked off in 2006.
EMC’s Centers of Excellence are part of a coordinated global network of operations that enables multiple EMC business units to tap into talent pools to deliver world-class innovation and services to our customers in a consistent manner. From the beginning, Global Services’ goal has been for customers to not be able to tell whether a service was delivered by a team from down the street or half a world away. To us, global service delivery means giving sales and services teams everywhere the ability to pull together the right mix—in language, skillset, time, cost, and location—to meet their specific customers’ needs quickly and effectively.
It was great to see the Bangalore COE adding to the depth and breadth of its capabilities and investing in new structural assets, such as a network command center that will provide more proactive monitoring for Managed Services customers worldwide.
But for me, truly great progress has happened outside the COE. It’s exciting to see how sales and delivery teams all over the world are increasingly bringing in teams from Bangalore right from the start—as a collaborator, to help with pre-sales strategies and technical sales presentation materials—as well as with post-sale services.
For customers who visit the Bangalore COE, the first thing that strikes them is the state-of-the-art facility. But what ultimately matters is the caliber of the people working inside the facility. Everything, from the management style, to the tools and training, to the building and grounds, has been designed to attract and retain the most talented and trustworthy service professionals. And we got it right. Today, we’re an employer of choice in India.
As much as the local culture and landscape may vary from India, to Ireland, to New England, the minute you walk into a COE, whether in Bangalore, Cork, or Hopkinton, Massachusetts, you suddenly find yourself “back home at EMC.” It’s something our multinational customers recognize, too. There’s a “one EMC” culture that crosses geographical borders—and that’s something our customers very much want in a partner on their own IT transformation journey.
