What's the right

mix of elements
to catalyze true
value?
Global Capability Center (GCC)
Pulse Survey 2023
September 2023
Contents
Chapter 1.0 — Preface 3
Chapter 1.1 — Introduction 4
Chapter 1.2 — Approach 5
Chapter 2.0 — Strategic Pathways 8
Chapter 3.0 — Nurturing Digital Horizons 10
Chapter 4.0 — Putting Humans@Center 12
Chapter 5.0 — Risk to Resilience 14
Chapter 6.0 — Summary 16
Chapter 7.0 — Acknowledgements 17
Chapter 8.0 — EY GCC Core Team 18

Global Capability Center (GCC) Pulse Survey 2023 | 02

Preface
Arindam Sen Subir Mehra
Partner and GCC Sector Lead - Partner and GCC Sector Lead –
Technology, Media & Entertainment Financial Services,
and Telecommunications, EY India
EY India

T
he outlook for the GCC industry continues to be
bullish, as GCCs are expanding their services with
The Global Capability Center a focus on transformation, innovation, and
(GCC) operating model knowledge-based capabilities. With value-added
services taking center stage, GCCs are moving towards
continues to evolve, shifting
becoming Global Value Organizations (GVOs).
from being ‘back-office’
organizations to a more For this year’s GCC Pulse Survey, we interacted with
87 GCC leaders, to understand the strategic
integrated, ‘one-office’
imperatives of the industry. We covered elements of
structure, which is driven by their vision and business strategy, operations, digital
digital talent, technological adoption, talent management, the future of work, risks
advancements, and and vulnerabilities.

transformative leadership skills. In this context, we are pleased to present the outcome
of our survey, which aims at providing insights to
industry leaders as they shape their medium and
long-term strategies. We would like to thank all the
participants for their contribution to the survey and
appreciate their valuable time and inputs.
VALUE

CUSTOMER
CENTRIC Source
SERVICES
Quote to Pay
to Cash
Global

Forecast Hire to
to Report Retire
PROCESS CENTRIC Order
FUNCTIONAL SERVICES to Cash
HR
GCC

CENTRIC SERVICES
Procurement Procure Forecast
to Pay
Global

to Fulfill
Global

Finance CONTEXT
IT
Record
Plan DRIVEN
to Fulfill SERVICES Transition &
GCC

to Report
Intelligent transformation
BU automation
CENTRIC ENABLING Data &
SERVICES Continuous
SERVICES analytics
America | EMEIA | APAC
America | EMEIA | APAC

America | EMEIA | APAC

HR HR HR Improvements
Global

CHRO Procurement Procurement

Finance Finance Reporting & Internal
Procurement Analytics controls
Finance CPO Cloud
RPA
CoE

CFO IT Tax
IT
IT
GCC

CIO Innovation

Functional Global & Functional

Global Intelligent Global Value
Shared Services Shared Services
Capability Centers Business Solutions Organization
Center Center

MATURITY
PAST (up to 2010) PRESENT (2010-2020) FUTURE (2020+)

Global Capability Center (GCC) Pulse Survey 2023 Global Capability Center (GCC) Pulse Survey 2023 | 03
1.1
Introduction

I
n our GCC Pulse Survey 2021, we focused on war for talent,
growing digital, future of work, and navigating threats and
EY has been working closely
vulnerabilities.
with GCCs in India for over 17
years, helping drive their The idea was to gauge the medium and long-term strategy and
the state of enterprise-wide digital transformation.
business agenda and provide
insights to support them as While some of the aforementioned themes remain relevant, this
they move up the value chain year’s survey focuses on providing guidance on the strategic
roadmap for GCCs in India and the evolving operating models.
to become Centers of
Excellence for innovation This year’s survey provides direction and insights around:
and driving digital mindsets.
Strategic pathways
Nurturing digital horizons
Putting humans@center
Risk to resilience

Past GCC Pulse

Survey editions Global capability
centers (GCCs) pulse
How do you
reshape today
survey 2020 to reinvent your
Driving the transformation agenda tomorrow?
Global Capability Center (GCC)
A survey among Pulse Survey 2021
GCCs in India
February 2022
November, 2020

How EY can help

Past editions
Connect with [email protected]
to get the previous survey editions. 1 Global capability centers (GCCs) pulse survey 2020 1

Global Capability Center (GCC) Pulse Survey 2023 | 04

1.2
Approach

Scope and coverage

The GCC Pulse Survey 2023

T
covers current trends and he survey is designed to assess the key trends which are
shaping the GCC sector in India. The questions for the
industry priorities of GCCs in survey were structured around the four pillars of
India. The survey this year strategy, digital, talent and security.
captures responses from 87
GCCs, across multiple
geographies, industries, Strategy Digital
and functions.
We sought to understand the Gain insight into the role of
key priorities of the GCCs the GCCs, as they continue to
over the next 12 months, drive digital transformation
including operating models, within their organizations
business risks, innovation,
and sustainability
We conducted the study in two parts – the
first part focused on gathering inputs from
GCCs through a digital survey along with Talent Security
one-on-one interviews with GCC leaders.

This was followed by extensive data Deep dive into how GCCs are Explore the key priorities
analysis coupled with insights from EY enhancing their employee around data and cyber
practitioners. The survey was conducted value proposition, managing security and their maturity
during the period May – July 2023. scalability of operations and level
attrition

Global Capability Center (GCC) Pulse Survey 2023 | 05

 Approach

About the survey respondents

On average, the India center
headcount represented Participation in this year’s survey, covered 87 GCCs

25%
representing various industries. The participating GCCs, have
centers in India as well as other locations, such as Argentina,
Poland and Malaysia, with an average of 1340 FTEs across
locations.
of the global company headcount.

While in-house GCC

set-ups are the
Nature of GCC preferred choice for
8%
Outsourced
companies to enhance
their global reach, some 12%
are looking at hybrid Hybrid
set-ups for flexibility,
cost optimization, risk 80%
mitigation, and more In house
importantly, access to
specialized expertise
needed to adapt and
thrive in today's
dynamic business
environment.

While business functions such as finance, HR, and IT continue

to grow within the GCCs, these centers are rapidly broadening
Functions supported their services to cover knowledge-intensive areas like ER&D,
Marketing, Legal, and more. This expansion aims to unlock
additional value and potential through the GCC model.

Data Management
Human Resources & Analytics
Finance
Marketing Legal Delivery Information
Engineering
Technology
Research &
Development Supply Chain
Management Customer
Risk Interaction
87%
80% Taxation
78%
72% 54%
51% 51% 40%
38%
32% 39%

Global Capability Center (GCC) Pulse Survey 2023 | 06

Approach

Survey participants by
sector
7% 11% 3%
Manufacturing 8%
Hospitality
Technology, Media &
9% 6%
21% Entertainment and Others

19% Telecommunications Automotive 2%

Diversified 14%
industrial products Professional firms
Consumer products
and services
Financial and retail
Life sciences
Services

GCC HQ location 45% 38% 16%

1%

Americas Europe Asia Oceania

We are witnessing a growing trend where several companies in

the Americas and Europe are transitioning from relying on
third-party service providers to establishing their own
greenfield GCCs or adopting a hybrid model.

While Bengaluru,
Hyderabad, Chennai,
GCC locations in India Mumbai, Pune, and Delhi NCR
8%
Delhi NCR remain
Jaipur
popular sites for GCC 1%
establishments in
India, tier-II cities are Kolkata
1%
also grabbing the Pune
Mumbai 8%
interest of GCC 5%
Hyderabad
leaders. 9%
Bengaluru
17% Chennai
8%

Global Capability Center (GCC) Pulse Survey 2023 | 07

2.0
Strategic pathways

Key priorities
GCCs are expanding

G
their services with a CCs have embarked on a service expansion journey which
goes beyond the traditional services of IT, Customer
focus on innovation and Interaction Services, Finance, HR and Supply Chain.
knowledge-based capabilities. GCCs are looking into newer areas such as Marketing, Legal,
This is, however, also leading ESG, Advanced Analytics & Data Science as they continue to
adopt technological advancements and grow leadership skills in
to increased costs. The focus India.
is on balancing higher cost
with value delivered. Compared to our 2021 survey, we have seen a ~36% increase in
focus on enhancing capabilities and extending functional scope.
Moreover, driving enterprise-wide digital transformation
continues to be the leading agenda.

Delivery to
additional regions

20%
Enhancing Championing ESG
5%
capabilities agenda

86%
Driving digital
69% transformation
Supporting
4% 14%
M&A

Managing hybrid
How EY can help
Enhancing EVP 42% workforce
EY GCC Cost and Operations
Benchmarking Study
10% Others
Connect with [email protected]
or [email protected] to get the
Reducing 49%
operational cost
latest EY GCC Cost and Operations
Benchmarking Study.

Global Capability Center (GCC) Pulse Survey 2023 | 08

 Strategic pathways

There has been a significant rise in the number of GCCs

supporting sustainability initiatives. It involves environmental
Supporting ESG data analysis, sustainable supply chain management, and
corporate social responsibility reporting.

In 2021, only 17% GCCs were

actively supporting global
47%
sustainability/ integrated reporting,
which has increased to
29%

47%
19%
5%

in 2023. The organization The organization The GCC performs The organization
performs ESG performs ESG reporting ESG reporting for does not perform
reporting and is but is not currently the organization ESG reporting
supported by the GCC supported by GCC

GCCs are transitioning from pure operational support to

become centers of innovation and research. They are actively
Innovation and research contributing to product development, design thinking, and
technological innovation, all of which are instrumental in driving
organizational growth.

We have seen a 30% increase (from 47% in 2021 to 77% in

2023) in focus towards building an innovation culture in an
organization.
Spotlight

A retail major has built a global

e-commerce platform out of India by
modernizing its technology landscape,
enabling agility for timely/relevant client
experience. 65%

68%

71%

74%
Introduce an Conduct internal Create a screening Create
idea sharing webinars to process for all the dedicated
platform facilitate learning ideas innovation teams

How EY can help

Procurement GCC operating model

To know more about the latest EY point
of view on Procurement GCC operating
model, contact [email protected]
or [email protected].

Global Capability Center (GCC) Pulse Survey 2023 | 09

3.0
Nurturing digital horizons

Adoption of digital technologies

GCCs are increasing their

O
focus on emerging ur survey results show that 55% of participants have
established a mature data and analytics practice as part of
technologies to drive product their digital strategy. This is closely followed by cyber
development, innovation, and security and robotic process automation, which support the
operational efficiency, which digital transformation journey of GCCs and help drive value
across business functions.
helps them in their positioning
as Centers of Excellence The adoption of metaverse and blockchain technology has been
within the enterprise. slow compared to other technologies.

21%

22% 5% 31% 6%
Robotic
Process
Automation
2% 33% 5% 16%
Natural
Data & Language
Spotlight Analytics 17% 26% Processing

An automotive GCC has built a one stop 22% 12%

24%
digital health tracking solution for 23%
20%
35%
warehouses, which helps to monitor and 6% 36% 13% 12%
Artificial
optimize the overall health, safety, and Cyber Intelligence/
efficiency of a warehouse. Security Machine
Learning

20% 23%
19%
40%

Focus is on Processes are Proactive approach PoCs / Reactive

continued measured and and establishing projects only approach
improvement controlled processes

Global Capability Center (GCC) Pulse Survey 2023 | 10

 Nurturing digital horizons

GCCs can quickly ramp up resources, whether it's adding

software developers, data analysts, or customer support
Role in enabling digital agents, to support the implementation of digital strategies.
technologies 79% participants stated that their centers are acting as a global
hub for digital skills and delivery, which is the backbone for their
digital transformation journey.

81%
of participants offer scalability
Furthermore, there has been an increase of 28% in the
engagement of GCCs in developing customer facing products, in
comparison to the previous survey.

required to execute large-scale

digital initiatives.
Delivering digital
strategies at scale

Spotlight
Acting as a hub for
digital skills 81%
A leading manufacturing GCC has
developed an end-to-end storage product

79%
that enables customers to deliver more
innovative solutions in their devices

Providing project
management
support
73%
Developing customer
facing products 56%
2%
Others
56%
Incubating new 36%
business models Partnering with
the OEMs/ startups
to setup COEs
How EY can help

Future of GCCs in India

Grab the recent 'Future of GCCs in India -
a vision 2030' report; to know more,
write to [email protected] or
[email protected]

Global Capability Center (GCC) Pulse Survey 2023 | 11

4.0
Putting Humans@Center

T
he future of work remains ‘Hybrid’ – 77% of the survey
participants believe that a majority of their workforce will
Today, GCCs are redefining their
continue to work in a flexible manner for the next 12 months.
employee value proposition (EVP) However, most believe that less than 25% of their workforce will
and looking to offer a customized continue to work remotely. The participants have seen an
employee experience which average attrition rate of 12.5% with almost 60% of the GCCs
having an attrition rate between 5% and 15%.
resonates with the type of talent
a company wants to attract. Further, most of the survey participants felt that 'war for talent'
still holds a significant risk for their business.

In the last 12 months, the cross-pollination between the GCC

sector and start-ups are bringing newer products to life.
Addressing scalability
in operations The coming together of GCCs and start-ups is beneficial for the
latter as they get better market access, faster core product
development, experienced mentorship, and other benefits. On
the other hand, co-developing with start-ups helps GCCs in
process enhancement and faster go-to-market, which directly
benefits customers.

Reskilling
existing staff
Partnering with
third party
managed services
36% 21%
Collaborating
with the start-up
30% 43% ecosystem

How EY can help

31% 22% 47%
EY Work Re-imagined Survey 2023 19%
24% 30% 12% 44%
Contact [email protected] 4%
43% 8% 31%
to know more about the findings from
the EY Work Re-imagined Survey 2023. 8% Hiring for required
30% Adopting skills at scale
gig model
Hiring for
niche skills

Emerging Institutionalized Optimized

Global Capability Center (GCC) Pulse Survey 2023 | 12

 Putting Humans@Center

GCCs are offering a range of learning opportunities to their

workforce, aimed at up-skilling/cross-skilling, thereby
bolstering their operational capabilities. For instance, a leading
automotive GCC has partnered with distinguished business
schools and ed tech firms to offer specialized courses to their
staff, fostering continuous learning and skill development.

The GCC industry has a well-developed future of work

strategy and has managed to address the changing dynamics of
'Future of work' work in the modern landscape. However, the participants
recognize the ever-evolving need for redefining their Employee
Value Proposition, with 38% of survevy participants planning to
roll out changes in their EVP.

9%
15%
Spotlight

A leading alcobev GCC is 85% 91%

piloting an AI based career management and 99%
development tool that aims at supporting 1%
employees with reskilling and upskilling Implement Adopt digital tools to Enhance virtual
recommendations backed by rich, real-time hybrid model enhance collaboration learning
data and insights.
38% 28%
75%
72%
62% 25%

Redefine EVP Foster internal R&D Refresh rewards

strategy
Already Implemented Planning to implement

While GCCs continue to invest in their people and research to

innovate for the future, increased focus on Diversity and
Cultural changes Inclusion (D&I) agenda has emerged as a significant focal point
for GCCs in the country. D&I policies are not just an HR
concern, but now a key business agenda.

This reflects in the remarkable 77% 67%

~70%
surge of 81%
80% Improve
77% experience across
Build an
the hire-to-retire
innovation
lifecycle
Invest in people culture
and research
in planned D&I integration drives, Improve D&I Invest in employee
well-being
compared to the previous integration
programs
findings in our 2021 survey.

Global Capability Center (GCC) Pulse Survey 2023 | 13

5.0
Risk to resilience

Risks in delivering key priorities

GCCs continue to be vulnerable

W
ith the hybrid work model becoming the new normal for
to various cybersecurity risks
GCCs in India, leakage of confidential information due to
due to their interconnected increased cyber-attacks is seen as a major risk to the
nature, remote working, and operations. This is especially concerning for GCCs in the financial
reliance on technology. Risk to services, technology, and retail sectors.

confidential information and

Risk to confidential information
increased data breaches are due to increased cyber attacks
28% 38% 34%

the key watchouts for GCCs. Increased risk of data breach 18% 32% 50%
due to hybrid working

Increased security risk due

to high turnover of people 4% 26% 70%

Disruption due to change in

7% 31% 62%
technology or poor migration

Fragmented IT systems
14% 28% 58%
and poor data quality
High Medium Low

Compared to our last survey Robust cybersecuritypolicy

in 2021, the maturity level of
Managing cyber security GCCs in managing cyber
92% and protected network

security requirements has Regularly raises

significantly improved from 87% cybersecurity awareness
amongst employees
43% to 92% in 2023.
Regularly monitors and
However, increased risk of 74% updates third-party
data breach stemming from access to sensitive data
How EY can help
remote working Efficient identity management
71%
Global Information Security Survey arrangements remains a to protect access

Reach out to [email protected] cause for concern, given the

to know more about cybersecurity evolving tactics employed by 41% Hosts the cybersecurity COE
trends and business risks. cyber attackers and the
constantly changing threat
landscape.

Global Capability Center (GCC) Pulse Survey 2023 | 14

 Risk to resilience

Given the challenges around data breaches, regulatory

compliance, and IP protection, among others, GCCs have
Key priorities started to prioritize data security in the cloud.

The survey participants acknowledge the need to implement

comprehensive measures such as robust encryption, access
controls, authentication mechanisms, monitoring, auditing,
and regular security assessments.

84% 75% 44% 37% 35% 15% 8%

Data security Security Data Disaster Brand Building BYOD

in cloud intelligence security with recovery protection borderless security
and monitoring partners security

GCCs encounter a multitude of risks including talent-related

issues, operational inefficiencies, regulatory compliance
Business risks complexities, volatility of currency exchange rates, and
geopolitical uncertainties, among others. Several key business
risks stand out:

77%
of survey participants feel that
increased people’s cost, due to higher
salary and hiring costs, is a significant
business risk

61%
of survey participants identify the
inability to attract talent at the
required scale or speed as a potential
challenge in the next 12 months

45%
of survey participants acknowledge
that siloed operation within GCC/
inadequate cross-functional synergies can
be a roadblock if not addressed quickly

Global Capability Center (GCC) Pulse Survey 2023 | 15

Summary

In summary, the future of GCCs in India appears promising. With the focus on
research and innovation, digital transformation, ESG, and re-defining
employee value proposition, GCCs are expected to play an even greater role for
their parent organization than in the past.

To remain competitive on a global scale, we expect the GCC industry to continue

their service expansion journey and drive operational efficiencies on the back of
digital skills and technologies. This dynamic growth will outline their move from
‘Capability Centers’ to ‘Value Creators’.

Global Capability Center (GCC) Pulse Survey 2023 | 16

Acknowledgements

Working group

Sujit Cheruvatath Sayan Banerjee

Senior Manager,
Partner & Business
Technology Consulting,
Development Leader,
EY India
EY India

Tarush Baldhi Carolina Helou

Senior Manager, Business Senior Manager, Global
Consulting, Benchmarking,
EY India EY

Saurabh Jaiswal Shubham Pipraiya

Manager, Assistant Manager, Global
Business Consulting, Benchmarking,
EY India EY

Shashank Raj
Senior Consultant, Global
Benchmarking,
EY

Global Capability Center (GCC) Pulse Survey 2023 | 17

EY GCC Core Team

Arindam Sen Subir Mehra

Partner and GCC Sector Lead - Partner and GCC Sector
Technology, Media & Entertainment Lead – Financial Services,
and Telecommunications, EY India
EY India

Ajay S Kamat Vijay S Bhaskaran

Partner, Partner,
Technology Consulting, Business Consulting,
EY India EY India

Kunal Ghatak Manoj Marwah

Partner, Partner,
Business Consulting, Business Consulting,
EY India EY India

Sunil Venkatesh Aman Dutta

Partner, Partner,
Technology Consulting, Business Consulting,
EY India EY India

Srinivas Bhat Alpana Dutta

Partner,
Tax Partner,
People Advisory Services,
EY India
EY India

Balasubramanian Nikhil Kumar

Manikandan Partner,
Partner, Business Consulting,
Business Consulting, EY India
EY India

Global Capability Center (GCC) Pulse Survey 2023 | 18