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HCL completes integration of Volvo Group IT services
Deal sees 2,560 Volvo Group staff transferred to HCL, bringing mainframe expertise to Indian IT services firm
Indian IT services firm HCL has completed the integration of the external IT services arm of Swedish truck maker Volvo a year after agreeing to acquire it for $200m.
Volvo IT, as it was known, supplied IT services to the Volvo Group and external companies.
A total of 2,560 Volvo Group staff were transferred to HCL, according to the Indian firm’s European head, Ashish Gupta. Volvo Group retains an internal IT department, which focuses on specific strategic IT.
These employees are spread across the world, with a large proportion in Sweden. The deal was a combination of an acquisition and a traditional IT outsourcing contract with Volvo.
Gupta told Computer Weekly the integration was now complete and the staff previously with Volvo IT would eventually work on a variety of customer contracts. “The transition has been completely signed off,” he said.
“The staff currently work on the Volvo contract, but over a period of time they will work with other HCL customers.”
Gupta said the mainframe expertise gained through the acquisition would fill a gap in HCL’s portfolio. “We did not have that capability, but Volvo brings it to us,” he added.
In fact, the mainframe expertise and local knowledge that the former Volvo staff brought with them has helped HCL win a contract with Swedish insurance company Länsförsäkringar AB.
“The fact that we had a large mainframe team in Sweden through the Volvo acquisition helped seal the deal,” said Gupta.
Now that the transition is complete, there will be a major IT transformation at Volvo Group, he added. “This includes bringing in new technologies, including cloud, over the next two to three years.”
The deal also affects Volvo Cars, despite the brand being a separate company since 1999. Now a wholly owned subsidiary of China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, Volvo Cars continues to be one of Volvo IT’s biggest customers.
Other external customers of Volvo IT include SCA, Assa Abloy and the City of Stockholm. HCL said in a statement that it remained committed to serving and growing the external customer base.
