India continues to be an important destination for Global Capability Centres supporting technology, analytics, operations, finance, engineering and business services.
When establishing a GCC, organisations naturally focus on location, talent, real estate and operating models.
Technology infrastructure should be planned with the same discipline.
The decisions made during the initial setup influence security, employee productivity, resilience and the ability to scale.
- Define the Technology Operating Model
Before choosing products, determine how the GCC will connect to the global enterprise.
Questions include:
- Which applications will be local?
- Which services will be consumed globally?
- What will run in cloud environments?
- Is local compute required?
- Where will data reside?
- Which operations will be managed centrally?
- What support must exist locally?
These decisions shape almost every infrastructure requirement.
- Build Resilient Connectivity
A GCC depends heavily on connectivity to corporate applications, cloud services and international teams.
Architecture may require:
- Dual internet links
- SD-WAN
- MPLS
- VPN
- Cloud connectivity
- Redundant paths
- Wireless networking
- Network monitoring
Connectivity design should reflect business criticality rather than merely office size.
- Design the LAN and Wireless Environment for Growth
Employee experience depends heavily on the network.
Plan for:
- User density
- Meeting rooms
- Collaboration applications
- Guest access
- IoT devices
- Mobile devices
- Voice and video traffic
- Security segmentation
Wireless coverage should be designed, measured and validated rather than based only on access-point count.
- Create a Security Architecture
Security should be embedded into the GCC from the first design stage.
Key areas include:
- Firewall security
- Network segmentation
- Secure Wi-Fi
- Endpoint security
- Identity and access management
- Data protection
- Email security
- Cloud security
- Vulnerability management
- Security monitoring
Security controls should align with global policies while taking the local operating environment into account.
- Plan the Server Room or Local Data Centre
Even cloud-oriented GCCs may require local technology infrastructure.
This can include:
- Network racks
- Servers
- Storage
- Security appliances
- UPS
- Structured cabling
- Environmental monitoring
- Access control
Capacity should consider both day-one requirements and expected growth.
- Establish Backup and Business Continuity
A GCC may support processes that are critical to global operations.
Determine:
- Which systems require local backup?
- What data must be protected?
- What happens during connectivity failure?
- What are acceptable recovery times?
- Where are backup copies stored?
- How will recovery be tested?
Business continuity should be designed rather than added later.
- Build the Digital Workplace
Technology strongly influences how employees experience a new GCC.
Digital workplace planning may include:
- Laptops and desktops
- Endpoint management
- Collaboration tools
- Meeting rooms
- Video conferencing
- Unified communications
- Digital signage
- Service desk
A consistent workplace experience helps teams collaborate across geographies.
- Standardise Meeting-Room Technology
Global teams spend significant time in virtual meetings.
Audio and video quality therefore become business infrastructure.
Conference rooms should be designed around:
- Room size
- User capacity
- Acoustics
- Display size
- Camera positioning
- Microphone coverage
- Content sharing
- Collaboration platform
Technology should be simple enough for employees to use without constant support intervention.
- Define Support Before Go-Live
A frequent mistake is concentrating entirely on implementation.
Operations begin immediately after the GCC opens.
Define:
- Service desk responsibilities
- On-site support
- Remote support
- OEM escalation
- Asset management
- Monitoring
- Preventive maintenance
- Incident procedures
- SLA reporting
Support readiness should be part of project readiness.
- Document Everything
Ensure the final handover includes:
- Network diagrams
- Rack layouts
- Asset inventory
- IP addressing
- Cabling details
- Security configuration records
- Support contacts
- Escalation matrix
- Backup procedures
- Operational runbooks
Documentation reduces dependency on individuals and improves long-term manageability.
One Architecture, Multiple Technology Domains
A GCC project can involve network, security, cloud, compute, workplace technology, AV, backup and managed support simultaneously.
Managing each domain independently can create integration gaps.
A connected approach creates clearer ownership from design through implementation and operations.
Build the GCC for the Next 1,000 Employees—not Only the First 100
Infrastructure decisions should anticipate growth.
Designing a scalable architecture at the beginning is considerably easier than repeatedly redesigning a live environment.
Setting up or expanding a Global Capability Centre in India? Talk to Data Confiance about infrastructure planning, implementation and lifecycle support.
