Everything an India centre needs, run as one workstream
Legal, people, workplace and engineering delivered together rather than coordinated across four vendors, so your India centre is operational in three to four months instead of nine to twelve.
Four workstreams, one accountable team
Most companies assemble an India centre from a company secretary, a recruitment agency, a property broker and an IT vendor, then spend the first year coordinating between them. These four run in parallel under one plan.
The sequencing is the hard part
Each workstream blocks another. Payroll cannot run before TAN exists. Offers cannot be issued before payroll is registered. Devices cannot be provisioned before the security model is agreed.
Entity and security model
Incorporation filed and tax registrations started, while the access, device and logging model is agreed with your security team. Sourcing for the senior hire begins in the same weeks.
Payroll live, senior core hired
Labour registrations completed and payroll registered, which is what allows offers to be issued. The pod lead is hired first and interviews everyone after.
Workplace and access ready
Space fitted with redundant power and connectivity, devices enrolled in your MDM, and access provisioned through your directory ahead of each start date.
Operating
The team is working inside your systems under your controls, with the compliance calendar, review cycle and asset register running on schedule.
One accountable team, or four vendors you coordinate
Every workstream below can be bought separately. The difference is who owns the dependencies between them, and that is usually where the months go.
| Dimension | Hexominds | Four separate vendors | Employer of record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who owns the sequencing | One team | You do | Not applicable |
| Time to operational | 3 to 4 months | 9 to 12 months | 2 to 4 weeks |
| Who employs the engineers | Your entity | Your entity | The provider |
| IP assignment path | Direct to you | Direct to you | Via provider contract |
| Single accountable owner | Yes | No | Yes |
| Cost per head at 50 people | Lowest | Low, plus your time | Prohibitive |
| Works below 10 people | Not economic | Not economic | Yes |
| You keep the entity at the end | Yes | Yes | No |
Elapsed time to an operating centre
Run in parallel these overlap heavily. Run sequentially, each one waits for the last, which is how a four month plan becomes a twelve month one.
The point is that it is yours
An Indian subsidiary
A registered company you own outright, with its own bank account, payroll and compliance calendar. Not a contract with a provider that ends.
Direct employees
Engineers employed by your entity, under your policies, with IP assignment running directly to you rather than through a vendor in the chain of title.
A controlled environment
Devices, identity and access inside the estate you already run, which is what makes customer security reviews short rather than protracted.
Accumulated knowledge
System knowledge, evaluation sets and operational history that stay in your organisation across years rather than resetting on rotation.
Frequently asked questions
Do we have to take all four workstreams?
No. Most companies take all four because the sequencing between them is where delays come from, but each can be run independently if you already have part of it in place. If you have an existing Indian entity, for example, we would start from the workforce and workplace side.
How long does the whole setup take?
Three to four months from decision to an operating team, assuming the workstreams run in parallel. Run sequentially, through separate vendors, the same work typically takes nine to twelve months, and most of the difference is waiting rather than working.
What is the minimum viable team size?
Around ten people for an owned entity to make economic sense, and the model works best between ten and two hundred. Below ten, an employer of record is usually more rational and we will say so rather than sell you an entity you do not need.
Who owns the entity and the IP?
You do. The Indian company is your subsidiary, the engineers are your employees, and IP assignment runs directly to your entity through their contracts. Hexominds runs the setup and operations, and does not sit in the ownership chain.
What happens after the centre is operational?
The compliance calendar, payroll, workplace and IT support continue to run, and the team is yours to direct. The intent is that your India centre is a part of your engineering organisation rather than an ongoing dependency on us.
Related reading
Start with a conversation
Tell us what you are trying to build and where you are starting from. We will come back with a plan, a realistic timeline and a fully loaded cost, with the parts you do not need left out.