HCL Technologies Ltd has bagged a five-year IT services contract from software giant Microsoft Corp. The contract's value is close to $170 million (Rs 848 crore), a media reported today.  A spokesman for the Indian software firm, HCL Technologies, confirmed the deal. However, he declined to provide further details.

 

The report said citing a person familiar with the negotiations, that under the transaction, HCL will become a strategic vendor and will provide technology services for Microsoft's online service business. The report added that, HCL is likely to deploy 600 employees on the Microsoft contract, with about 250 of them already working on the project. The company will also assign staff on its bench, or the buffer staff kept for new projects or ramp-ups of existing contracts, to cater to Microsoft. It could also hire more people for it.

 

This will be HCL's third outsourcing deal in four weeks. Earlier, HCL has own a six-year $100-million deal from Xerox that was announced on Sunday (5th April). Last month, the Indian software giant also has secured a $350-million seven-year contract from Reader's Digest Association.