TCS deploys monitoring tool on laptops used by nearly 6 lakh employees: Report

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has deployed a Digital User Experience Monitoring tool on company-issued laptops used by its workforce, according to a report by Moneycontrol. The move has triggered discussions around the balance between cybersecurity requirements and employee monitoring in India's largest IT services company.

Sources cited by Moneycontrol said the tool enables TCS to view information such as applications accessed on employee devices and the time spent on those applications. The deployment is reportedly being viewed internally as both a measure to strengthen data security and a mechanism to gain greater visibility into activity on company-owned devices.

The company had not responded to Moneycontrol's queries regarding the software vendor, the capabilities of the tool, the nature of employee data being collected, or who within the organisation can access the information.

Questions emerge around visibility and oversight

The deployment comes at a time when IT services firms are facing increasing pressure to safeguard sensitive client information and strengthen cybersecurity controls.

According to the report, the extent of monitoring enabled by the tool could not be independently verified. It also remains unclear whether the data collected is linked to individual employees, aggregated for IT and security purposes, or accessible to business managers.

Key details that remain undisclosed include:

• The name and vendor of the monitoring software
• The full range of monitoring capabilities
• Whether employee-level data is being collected
• Which teams or functions can access the information
• Whether monitoring extends beyond system performance metrics

Moneycontrol reported that the absence of formal communication around the deployment has led to speculation among employees, despite monitoring tools being commonly used across the IT and BPM sectors.

Industry experts weigh security and surveillance concerns

Pareekh Jain, CEO of research and advisory firm EIIRTrend, told Moneycontrol that such tools can serve legitimate operational purposes.

He said digital experience monitoring can help organisations assess whether applications are functioning correctly, identify performance issues and understand user experience patterns. These metrics can be particularly important for companies managing infrastructure and digital services for clients.

At the same time, Jain noted that similar technologies could also be used for surveillance purposes, depending on how organisations choose to deploy them.

The development has renewed debate over how employers use workplace monitoring technologies, especially when information relating to application usage, working hours or employee activity is collected at an individual level.

Challenges of monitoring a workforce at scale

According to the report, monitoring employee activity across a workforce approaching 600,000 employees could present significant operational and data management challenges.

A source cited by Moneycontrol said measuring employee productivity would require looking beyond login hours and understanding the nature of work being performed. This becomes more complex because many employees operate through client-managed virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environments.

The source also noted that any attempt to monitor activity within client VDIs could raise additional concerns around client confidentiality and data protection obligations.

Part of a broader trend in the IT sector

The report highlighted that employee monitoring tools are not new to the technology services industry.

Last year, Cognizant faced scrutiny over its use of ProHance, a workforce management platform capable of tracking login times, application usage, website activity and periods of inactivity on company laptops. Cognizant maintained at the time that the tool was not used to evaluate individual employee performance and was deployed only on selected client projects to improve operational efficiency.

The latest development suggests IT firms continue to explore technologies that provide deeper visibility into digital workplaces as cybersecurity, compliance and productivity requirements evolve.

Link to TCS's digital workplace strategy remains unclear

The deployment also follows an expanded partnership between TCS and cybersecurity company Zscaler.

Earlier this year, TCS announced TCS Workspace Experience Studio, built using Zscaler Digital Experience (ZDX) technology. The company said the platform combines zero-trust security, workplace observability, digital experience monitoring and AI-powered analytics to help enterprises improve employee digital experiences.

However, Moneycontrol reported that it could not independently establish whether the monitoring tool deployed on employee laptops is linked to the Zscaler-powered offering.

While TCS has publicly positioned Workspace Experience Studio as a solution for enterprise customers, the current development relates specifically to monitoring capabilities on devices used by its own employees.

As organisations continue to invest in cybersecurity and digital workplace technologies, the discussion is likely to centre on transparency, governance and how monitoring tools are deployed without compromising employee trust.