HCL Technologies has been recognized as a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Managed SASE Services 2025 Vendor Assessment, reinforcing its position in the cybersecurity and network services market. The assessment, published in October 2025, evaluates vendors based on their capabilities in delivering managed Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solutions.

Recognition Highlights

IDC's assessment identified several key strengths that distinguish HCLTech in the managed SASE services market:

Strategic Positioning

According to IDC's evaluation, HCLTech's approach combines technical capabilities with strategic consulting frameworks. The company's proprietary platforms deliver unified observability and AI-driven orchestration across Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) and Security Service Edge (SSE) environments. This integration enables customers to benefit from reduced deployment risks and accelerated time to value.

Leadership Perspective

Gurpreet Singh Kohli, Executive Vice President and Global Business Head of Networks at HCLTech, emphasized the company's strategic approach to SASE solutions. He highlighted how HCLTech integrates SASE into Zero Trust frameworks and long-term strategies, enabling organizations to align network security with business objectives. The company's AI-driven platforms are designed to provide customers with resilient and adaptive digital infrastructure.

Company Scale and Performance

HCLTech operates as a global technology company with significant scale across multiple markets:

Market Assessment Framework

The IDC MarketScape vendor assessment model provides a comprehensive evaluation framework for technology and service suppliers. The research methodology incorporates both qualitative and quantitative criteria, resulting in a graphical representation of each supplier's market position. This framework enables technology buyers to conduct 360-degree assessments of vendor strengths and capabilities in the managed SASE services market.

HCL Technologies has defied the broader IT sector downturn, delivering exceptional returns while its peers struggled through a challenging four-year period marked by post-pandemic adjustments and automation concerns. The Noida-based company's stock performance has stood out dramatically in an industry that has seen billions in market value disappear as growth prospects dimmed.

Stock Performance Comparison

The performance gap between HCLTech and its competitors tells a compelling story of divergent fortunes in India's $283 billion IT services export industry.

This divergence highlights a shifting pecking order in the industry, with HCLTech, the nation's third-largest software services provider, outgrowing its peers in two of the last four years.

Financial Performance and Growth Strategy

HCLTech closed FY25 with strong financial metrics that underscored its resilient business model:

"Among the large-cap companies, we have delivered the highest growth in the last three years, and in the fourth year running, we would probably deliver the highest growth," said HCLTech CEO C. Vijayakumar. "Even though the growth is mid-single digit, it is definitely much higher than some of our peer group."

AI Leadership and Innovation

A critical differentiator for HCLTech has been its proactive stance on Generative AI. In October, the company became the first among the Big Five to report specific AI revenue figures, demonstrating tangible results from its AI investments.

"We have been much more proactive about the impact of AI and acknowledging that it will be a deflation in some services," Vijayakumar explained. "We focused on what we can do to address it... which, of course, our investors are happy with."

Sector Challenges and Peer Performance

The broader IT sector has faced significant headwinds over the past four years. The pandemic-era euphoria that drove double-digit growth has been replaced by concerns over slowing deal pipelines and potential market disruptions. Wipro exemplifies these struggles, having ended two of the last four years with declining revenue and facing a potential third consecutive decline.

Shareholder Returns Across the Industry

Despite varying stock performance, IT companies have maintained substantial shareholder returns through dividends, buybacks, and bonuses over the four-year period:

Market Outlook and Recovery Prospects

Analysts anticipate a sector-wide recovery beginning in 2026, with AI services expected to serve as the primary growth engine. Axis Capital analysts suggest that calendar year 2026 could mark a definitive pivot for the industry, ending a streak of disappointing performance. "A combination of growth pickup and currency tailwinds should support margins and earnings upgrades," noted Axis Capital analysts Manik Taneja and Rohit Thorat.

HDFC Securities analysts highlighted that "the Indian IT services sector is positioned for a growth recovery starting in 2026, following a phase of muted performance from 2022 to 2025. The upcoming revival is expected to be underpinned by AI services, which are emerging as the key growth engine." However, for now, HCLTech remains the standout performer that has successfully converted strategic positioning into tangible shareholder value.