Rethinking the IT Function: Control, Scale, and Innovation with GCCs

 Hi everyone,   

Over the years, I’ve watched UK firms wrestle with a stubborn problem: how to run IT in a way that’s cost-effective, scalable, and still under control. The typical models haven’t worked well.  

Outsourcing often delivers cheap labour but little reliability or accountability. Keeping everything in-house means ballooning costs, stretched teams, and painfully slow response times. 

Neither extreme solves the real issue. What firms need today is flexibility: a self-reliant tech function that can grow, adapt, and innovate without constant trade-offs. That’s where Global Capability Centres (GCCs) are beginning to change the landscape.  

No longer just a tool for back-office savings, GCCs are becoming engines for AI-led digital transformation. 

Here’s how. 

Breaking Out of IT Silos 

Too many firms still operate in silos. They outsource a piece of IT here, keep a local team there, and rely on third-party vendors for “special projects.” The outcome is predictable: multiple systems, no clear ownership, and an IT function that reacts to problems instead of driving change. 

A GCC flips this on its head: 

• One team, one system. Instead of fragmented vendors, you get a centralised IT setup operating under your firm’s own governance.  

• Aligned culture and processes. The GCC team doesn’t just execute, it works the way your firm works, closing the cultural gap that outsourcing creates.  

• End-to-end integration. Whether it’s finance software, audit tools, or client portals, a GCC allows you to bring IT under one umbrella for better speed and consistency.  

This means your tech and innovation efforts can finally move from being a patchwork of fixes to becoming integrated drivers of the firm’s strategy. 

Scaling Without Outsourcing Trade-offs 

When firms try to scale AI and software development, the usual choices come with heavy costs. Local hiring is slow and expensive, while outsourcing often leads to diluted quality and lack of oversight. 

GCCs offer a third path: 

• Tap into India’s deep tech talent pool. Whether cloud engineers, cybersecurity analysts, or AI specialists, the scale is there to grow quickly.  

• Your rules, your standards. Unlike outsourcing, these aren’t vendor-led teams juggling multiple clients. They’re your people, following your firm’s processes and metrics.  

• Governance without micromanagement. You retain control over KPIs, security protocols, and project delivery, without getting bogged down in vendor disputes.  

A mid-sized UK firm looking to migrate to cloud accounting platforms could add a 10–15 person GCC tech team in India to speed the rollout. This avoids the delays of recruiting scarce local talent, while keeping the migration under its own oversight rather than outsourcing it wholesale. 

Consequently, firms no longer have to choose between cost and control. With GCCs, you can expand capacity without eroding quality. 

Moving from IT Support to Technovation  

In many firms, IT is stuck in “maintenance mode.” Teams spend most of their time fixing tickets, managing security patches, and firefighting downtime. Valuable, yes, but hardly transformational. 

With GCCs, firms are shifting gears: 

• Beyond support. GCC-based tech teams are taking on higher-order work: building automation workflows, experimenting with AI-driven audit tools, and embedding predictive analytics into finance functions.  

• Data-driven finance. A Deloitte study found that 74% of mature GCCs now focus on innovation, not just cost reduction. In finance and tax, this means turning tech functions into a partner for insight, not just a back-office fix.  

• Faster adoption of new tools. GCC setups allow firms to pilot and roll out technologies at pace, without waiting months for local resourcing.  

IT stops being a cost centre and becomes a growth enabler. It means firms can finally use IT to drive the next wave of finance transformation, instead of constantly playing catch-up.  

Where We Come In 

At Samera Global, we’ve built our GCC approach around exactly this shift. Too many firms settle for outdated IT setups: rigid in-house teams or outsourced vendors with little accountability.  

A GCC model opens a new lane: one that gives you the scale, control, and innovation capacity that today’s firms demand. 

👉 Curious to see how this could work for your firm? Explore Global Capability Centres with Samera:

Cheers, 

Arun 

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