In 1976, a group of eight engineers, all former employees of
Delhi Cloth & General Mills, led by
Shiv Nadar, started a company that would make personal computers.[10][11] Initially floated as Microcomp Limited, Nadar and his team (which also included Arjun Malhotra,
Ajai Chowdhry, D.S. Puri, Yogesh Vaidya and Subhash Arora) started selling teledigital calculators to gather capital for their main product. On 11 August 1976, the company was renamed Hindustan Computers Limited (HCL).[12] HCL Enterprise developed an indigenous
microcomputer in 1978,[13] and a
RDBMS,
networking OS and
client-server architecture in 1983.[14] HCL Technologies began as the R&D division of HCL Enterprise.[15]
The company originally was focused on hardware but, via HCL Technologies, software and services became the main focus.[16][17] On 12 November 1991, HCL Technologies was spun off as a separate unit,[18] being incorporated as HCL Overseas Limited, a provider of software and technology development services.[19]
In July 1994, the company name was changed to HCL Consulting Limited.[22] On 6 October 1999, the company was renamed 'HCL Technologies Limited' for "a better reflection of its activities."[19]
Between 1991 and 1999, the company expanded its software development capacities to US, European and APAC markets.[19]
In June 2024, HCLTech announced the expansion of its foorprints in North American with the inauguration of new offices in East Brunswick, New Jersey, and Santa Clara, California, announced last Friday.[23]
The company went public on 10 November 1999, with an issue of 142 crore (14.2 million) shares.[24] During 2000, the company set up an offshore development centre in
Chennai, India, for
KLA-Tencor Corporation.[24]
In 2001, HCL formed a joint venture with
Deutsche Bank by acquiring a 51% stake in the latter's Indian subsidiary Deutsche Software (later renamed DSL Software).[25] In 2004, HCL bought out the remaining 49% stake in DSL Software, which then became part of HCL's banking technology division.[26]
In 2005, HCL expanded its operations in Northern Ireland. At the 2006 UK Trade and Investment India Business Awards in New Delhi, the then UK Prime Minister
Tony Blair announced the expansion.[27]
In October 2017,
IBM and HCL announced a strategic partnership, with the latter taking over the development of IBM
Lotus Software's Notes, Domino, Sametime and Verse collaboration tools.[28]
In July 2018, US-based
Actian was acquired by HCL and Sumeru Equity Partners for $330 million.[29][30]
In 2021, the company reached $10 billion in revenue.[32] In 2022, HCL Technologies
rebranded as HCLTech.[8]
In May 2024, HCLTech decided to acquire select assets of Communications Technology Group, a business division of
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), for $225 million.[33]
HCLTech operates in 60 countries, including its headquarters in
Noida, India. It has establishments in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Morocco and Sri Lanka.[54] In Europe, it covers Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Romania,[55] Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, Portugal, and United Kingdom. In the Americas, the company has offices in Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, and United States.
HCL Corporation's subsidiary, HCL Infosystems, was formed in 1976 to produce calculators.[57] In February 2014, HCL launched HCL Healthcare, which provides corporate health services.[58] HCL TalentCare is the fourth venture of HCL Corporation, which provided skilling and staffing services.[59]
^Linda A. Hill; Kent Lineback (2014).
Be a Great Boss: The Hill Collection. Harvard Business Review Press.
ISBN978-1625277824. A classic startup founded in1976 in an Indian garage by Shiv Nadar, HCL Enterprise flourished in the 1980s – "a golden period" for the company.
^"HCL". 31 August 2015. Founded in 1976 as one of India's original IT garage startups ...
^"HCL Technologies". microsoft.com. HCL Technologies Limited is an Indian multinational IT services company, headquartered in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. ... subsidiary of HCL Enterprise. Originally a research and development division of HCL, .. independent .. 1991 .