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Can Mid-Market GCCs Overcome Their Own Growth?
Can Mid-Market GCCs Overcome Their Own Growth?

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Mid-market Global Capability Centers (GCCs)—those whose parent companies generate revenues between $100 million and $1 billion—are quietly reshaping the global business landscape. Far from being mere back-office support units, these GCCs have evolved into agile, innovation-driven powerhouses with an outsized impact on their industries.

Over the past two years alone, more than 45 new mid-market GCCs have been established in India, accounting for ~ 35% of all new GCC setups nationwide. Today, 480+ such centers employ more than 210,000 professionals, growing 1.2x faster than their larger counterparts. These centers are not just operational hubs, they serve as transformation engines, commanding nearly half of global product management talent 47% and 40% architect talent. Their deep expertise in niche skills and high product maturity, especially in DeepTech domains like AI/ML, Cloud, Cybersecurity, and Data Science, positions them as innovation leaders despite their relatively smaller size.

However, this meteoric rise is not without its hurdles. Mid-market GCCs grapple with four key challenges that threaten to cap their growth and strategic potential: People, Processes, Technology & Innovation, and Ecosystem Influence.

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Understanding these pain points—and their solutions—is critical to unlocking the next phase of their evolution.

1. People: The Talent Attraction Conundrum
Unlike larger GCCs, mid-market GCCs face a more acute struggle to attract early-career talent due to significantly lower brand recall and limited campus visibility, making it harder to compete for top graduates.
Example: A mid-market fintech GCC found that only 5% of target university students recognized its brand, compared to 60% for a leading global bank’s GCC, resulting in fewer quality applicants for its graduate program.

2. Processes: The Efficiency and Collaboration Bottleneck

Mid-market GCCs often lack the standardized processes and mature operating models that larger GCCs have, which hampers efficiency and limits effective cross-functional collaboration.
Example: A mid-sized healthcare GCC reported project delays due to inconsistent handoff procedures between teams, an issue less common in larger organizations with established SOPs

3. Technology & Innovation: The Partnership Puzzle

While larger GCCs leverage established networks to form innovation partnerships, mid-market GCCs struggle to initiate and scale collaborations with vendors, start-ups, and academia, slowing their DeepTech progress.
Example: A mid-market retail GCC’s attempt to co-develop an AI solution with a local start-up stalled due to lack of structured engagement models, whereas a larger peer had a dedicated innovation lab for such partnerships.

4. Ecosystem: The Brand Presence Barrier

Mid-market GCCs have minimal visibility and influence in local talent, start-up, and academic ecosystems compared to larger GCCs, which limits their ability to attract opportunities and shape industry trends.
Example: A mid-market manufacturing GCC struggled to secure speaking slots at major industry events, unlike larger GCCs that are routinely invited as keynote speakers.

Roadmap for Mid-Market GCCs

To transcend these challenges, mid-market GCCs should embrace a holistic growth strategy that integrates talent development, process excellence, innovation partnerships, and ecosystem engagement. Forward-looking steps include:

  • Building a employer brand that resonates with emerging talent through authentic engagement and value-driven programs.
  • Institutionalizing agile operating models that promote transparency, accountability, and cross-functional synergy.
  • Fostering open innovation ecosystems by co-creating with start-ups, academia, and technology vendors to stay at the forefront of DeepTech advancements.
  • Amplifying ecosystem influence via thought leadership and strategic collaborations that enhance visibility and attract global opportunities.

Mid-market GCCs are poised to be the next wave of global innovation leaders. While some mid-market GCCs are actively launching programs and partnerships to address these challenges, the scale and consistency of such efforts need to increase significantly to match the pace of their growth and unlock their full potential.

Source:

Nasscom-Zinnov India’s GCC Leap-Powering Global Midmarket Momentum Report


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Sneha Sharma
Sr Analyst

Current Focus Areas: IT Services, AIOps, 5G, Cloud, Project Management. Also specialises in Application Rationalization, Cost Optimization, Benchmarking, Report writing, and Market Research.

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