What does your role as Senior Legal Counsel, OEM & Alliances entail?
In this role, I provide end-to-end, worldwide legal support to two business verticals in HPEโOEM and Strategic Alliances. I am the point of contact/escalation for the business and legal teams in the individual countries/sub-regions in these two business units. In addition, I give direct legal support for the HPE business in North America.
I am involved in all aspects of legal support, such as contract drafting, addressing business escalations, addressing contract breaches, improving the contract operations and governance process and providing training for members of legal and business teams.
I see that you worked for the Strategic Alliance Team before adding the HPE OEM team to your job scope. Does legal support for the OEM division differ from that of the Strategic Alliance Team?
OEM and Strategic Alliances are two separate business verticals at HPE.
The Strategic Alliance business is focused on growing the business and strategic partnership with top clients and with new strategic client accounts. On the other hand, the OEM business is focused on supporting clients who integrate HPEโs hardware and software products with their IP, which they then sell to their end customers as a complete solution.
I took over legal support for HPEโs Strategic Alliance business in March 2020 and subsequently added the OEM business in November 2021.
What are the commercial trends youโve seen from the contracts youโve negotiated this year? For example, what are the most purchased IT hardware, software and services?
While customers continue to negotiate on common legal, commercial and technical contract terms, the macro-economic situation and unprecedented disruption of the past three years has increased their sensitivity to more specific areas like confidentiality, personal data protection, information security compliance, global trade compliance and anti-corruption compliance.
Customers continue to expect a very competitive price and predictable delivery times from their IT vendors. They are also paying a lot more attention to information security and personal data related compliances and procedures.
In general, customers are showing increased interest in HPEโs consumption-based service offerings to optimize IT spend.
How did you get into the tech industry?
I worked in a private law firm in the initial years of being a lawyer and then decided to move to an in-house role for a better work-life balance. I applied to Hewlett Packard in 2009 through the standard recruitment process and joined as a member of the India legal team.
How is it like to work with customers from all over the world? Have you remarked on any differences in business practices between the geos that you can share with us?
It is a very professionally satisfying and enriching experience to work with customers from all over the world. I now have a better understanding of the work culture and negotiation dynamics of different regions in the following ways.
Openness: Some customers/regions are more flexible and open to negotiations when discussing the governing terms of relevant projects. These customers/regions are more direct in highlighting their key requirements and concerns. Other customers/regions are less open so the discussion can take longer.
Formality: Some customers/regions follow a very bureaucratic and formal process to discuss relevant projects and their applicable terms.
Negotiating party: Contract discussions are primarily driven by the procurement division of some customers/regions while elsewhere, the procurement division actively involves other teams in discussions, for example the legal or finance divisions.
Local legalities: Some customers (especially public sector customers) have their own compliance policies and practices that they want their IT vendor to comply with. In addition, some regions have specific local legal and compliance requirements for specific business activities. In these cases, we engage the local legal counsel for guidance.
Youโve been at HPE for nearly 15 years. What has your most memorable working experience been during this time?
It is quite difficult to pick one particular experience from the past fifteen years. Here are some of the memories that I really cherish:
- Working on my first big/complex IT outsourcing deal within a few months of joining the HP India Legal Team in 2009.
- Receiving awards from the India business and sales team at the annual sales kick-off events for supporting key customers and deals between 2009-2014.
- Leading the legal support for the communications and media vertical for the Asia Pacific region during the 2019-2020 period.
- Getting an opportunity to support the Strategic Alliance Team on a worldwide basis from 2020 onwards.
- Getting shortlisted as a finalist under the โPersonal Initiative โ Americasโ category of Innovation & Excellence Awards 2021 organized by the prestigious World Commerce & Contracting group.
- Having my article, โSchrems II Judgment on Cross Border Personal Data Flows under the US-EU Privacy Shield Mechanism: Good Diagnosis, Vague Prescriptionโ, published in the prestigious International In-House Counsel Journal.
What hobbies do you busy yourself with outside of work?
I like swimming and listening to Bollywood music.
Thank you for your time, Subhro. And everything you do to help us be more successful with our customers and partners!
MattQuirk
With a passion for innovation and technology, I am lucky enough to work within high-growth opportunities across multiple industries including manufacturing, healthcare, energy, media and entertainment and security - with technology innovations that are advancing the way people live and work such as AI, autonomous everything and 5G.
