In an era marked by escalating data sovereignty and regulatory imperatives, HCLSoftware—a subsidiary of IT titan HCLTech—seeks to carve a unique niche within the realm of sovereign technology. The primary differentiator in its strategy is the ownership of intellectual property (IP).
Kalyan Kumar, the Chief Product Officer at HCLSoftware, elucidated that the company’s framework is anchored on three foundational pillars: data sovereignty (the physical location of data), people sovereignty (the operators of the systems), and IP sovereignty (the degree of control over the core technology).
Establishing Sovereignty through IP Ownership
The company’s extensive suite of enterprise products—including collaboration and messaging platforms, databases, application servers, and cybersecurity tools—is developed and owned in-house. Notably, many of these IP assets are registered within India, with development centers located in Bengaluru, Pune, and Noida, thereby enabling enhanced control over localization and compliance.
Kumar emphasized that this ownership empowers HCL to customize sovereign solutions tailored to various jurisdictions. For instance, the firm provides bespoke releases for U.S. federal clients and collaborates with governments in Europe and Africa to align its technology stack with local sovereign cloud regulations.
In India, partnerships with government-sanctioned cloud providers facilitate the certification and deployment of its products for sensitive use cases.
At the core of this strategy, Kumar highlighted the importance of offering customer choice. “The most significant aspect of our sovereign approach is ensuring customers have a choice—specifically, the ability to construct a technology stack that is diverse and nuanced,” he stated.
Adaptable Deployment for Regulated Sectors
From a product standpoint, HCL is committed to ensuring that its software can be deployed in multiple configurations, catering to customer preferences. While some clients may favor an out-of-the-box cloud service, others might opt to install and manage the software within their own IT ecosystems for increased control.
For example, HCL’s AppScan tool, which facilitates software security assessments, can be utilized as an online service or installed directly within a client’s infrastructure. Similarly, the latest iteration of its collaboration platform, Domino 14.5, encompasses email, calendaring, meetings, and file-sharing capabilities while ensuring customers are not tethered to foreign cloud providers.
HCL’s sovereignty-oriented strategy is gaining traction among public sector entities, defense organizations, and financial institutions, which often mandate the localization of customer data platforms.
Kumar characterized the ongoing adoption as a gradual process. “It’s a journey. Sovereignty will become increasingly prominent within public sector organizations and regulated institutions,” he noted, conveying that transformation will not occur instantaneously but will be a gradual evolution. “The path will be unique and distinct,” he concluded.
Source link: Financialexpress.com.
