After Bengaluru, Cisco opens second delivery centre in Pune

PUNE: Cisco on Thursday launched its second Global Delivery Center (GDC) in Pune after Bengaluru, making India the only country the where the network equipment giant has two GDCs. “The Global Delivery Center in Pune plays a key role in our global strategy to execute global advanced services businesses along with providing services to India,” said Sanjay Pal, vice-president, advanced services, Cisco.

Cisco aims to make India the hub of the global services business, and work with clients both in India and globally. It currently supports 25% of Fortune 500 customers out of India, across various geographies including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Japan. Globally, the services arm contributes to approximately 25% ($ 3 billion) of Cisco’s overall revenue (quarterly $12Bn) and is one of the fastest growing businesses for Cisco.

The Pune GDC will have a team of 100 people working primarily in the areas of security, core infrastructure technology and mobility. Eventually, the company plans to double capacity and have 250 people at the center over the next two years. “The center has been designed to provide the best experience as well as services and products along with local innovations to our customers,” said Dinesh Malkani, president, Cisco India & SAARC.

The center wouldn’t be an outsourcing location and instead operate as a boutique that would offer advisory and consulting services to customers to help them with their digitisation strategies.

Cisco has a 1,72,000 sq ft facility in Pune, including an 8000 sq ft lab. The expansion is aligned with the goal to double the delivery execution capacity of the India GDCs over the next twothree years. Factors like availability of research and engineering talent, proximity to Mumbai and the existing operations all contributed towards the company’s decision to set up its second India GDC in Pune.