Empowered teams create better outcomes— internal experience drives external excellence.
In the realm of IT services, the emphasis often falls on client delivery, system uptime, and service level agreements (SLAs). However, what frequently remains underappreciated is the experience of the individuals responsible for these achievements: our internal users. For our organization, enhancing the digital experience is an endeavor that commences internally. When engineers, support teams, and operations staff can perform their duties efficiently, confidently, and without friction, it has a direct and positive impact on the client’s experience.
One of the most significant challenges we face is the establishment of real-time visibility across our distributed teams and systems. With thousands of users, hundreds of applications, and continuous changes permeating the environment, minor glitches can have disproportionate effects. A delay in a deployment pipeline, an outage in a developer sandbox, or a permissions lag in onboarding—these issues may not make headlines, but they disrupt work, erode morale, and create downstream impacts for our customers.
Therefore, we have intentionally extended our observability efforts to encompass not only production environments but also engineering platforms and internal processes. We are meticulously tracking user interactions across crucial internal systems, including request portals, development environments, and incident dashboards, to identify and address any obstacles that impede productivity. This comprehensive approach provides valuable insights into both the health of our infrastructure and the overall employee experience and productivity
We have also recognized that an increase in tools does not necessarily equate to greater control. At one juncture, we utilized multiple monitoring platforms, each providing different segments of data. However, without integration, the overall picture remained fragmented. Consequently, we have transitioned to a more integrated observability layer that unifies user behavior, system events, and business impact. Now, when an internal service fails, we can ascertain not only the occurrence of the failure but also its impact on users, their objectives at the time, and the implications for our operations.
Security is naturally a core concern as well. We’re working in a sensitive environment with enterprise clients. So whatever we build—internally or externally—must meet compliance standards without slowing people down. That means building secure-by-design experiences that enable productivity while keeping risks in check.
It is evident that the distinction between internal and external experiences is becoming increasingly blurred. Inefficiencies in our internal processes inevitably impact client satisfaction, delivery schedules, and innovation cycles. Therefore, it is imperative for Chief Information Officers to scrutinize internal operations with the same rigor applied to external client engagements. The optimal client experience is rooted in a team that is empowered and adequately supported.
–Authored by Vikas Dureja Vice President & Global IT Leader, HCL