The challenges of embarking on a rapid digital transformation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic was a significant undertaking for many companies. But for some technology enterprises, the response was even more difficult, as they needed to adapt to a new operational reality while helping their customers through the changes.

This is the case with the New Delhi-based digital transformation services firm Tech Mahindra Ltd., which had to enable 80,000 of its employees in India to work remotely within just a few days while designing solutions for the pandemic and driving their costumers’ business transformation.

“I think we also surprised ourselves with the pace at which we could move these 80,000 people to work from home in a matter of days,” said Harshul Asnani (pictured), senior vice president and head of the global technology business at Tech Mahindra. “And we also surprised ourselves at the pace at which we could turn around COVID-related solutions so quickly with the help of partners like HPE.”

Asnani spoke with Lisa Martin, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, during the HPE Discover Virtual Experience event. They discussed Tech Mahindra’s experience during the pandemic and the various offerings built in partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (* Disclosure below.)

Rethinking strategy for a new time

To move from traditional offerings to new-age solutions, given the COVID-19 situation, Tech Mahindra and HPE redefined their relationship across three broad vectors based on mutual synergies and where they could quickly add value, according to Asnani.

“Firstly, what’s the solution … that we want to address together? Secondly, what are the geographies that you want to operate in? And, thirdly, what are the industry verticals that we believe we can quickly focus on?” he said.

From the solution standpoint, one of the decisions was to focus on internet of things offerings. “It’s been a strong partnership with HPE with IoT, and we would like to continue that,” Asnani stated. “With HPE’s edge offerings and converged edge systems, we have kind of demonstrated the possibilities of IoT solutions across smart cities, factories of the future, energy and utilities, and in Costa Rica.”

Tech Mahindra and HPE also strengthened their partnership for solutions for data-center transformation. In this context, HPE’s GreenLake has become a strategic business tool to enable services on demand, elasticity, and helping customers reduce their capex during the pandemic, according to Asnani.

Looking to the future, the two partners also decided to focus on the network of the future. “Our partnership with HPE has really pivoted around 5G, SDN … and private LTE solutions,” he concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the HPE Discover Virtual Experience event. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the HPE Discover Virtual Experience. Neither Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co., the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE