Building Robust MarTech Solutions: HCL Unica’s Journey
Unica, founded in 1992 by Yuchun Lee, initially acquired by IBM, and now proudly owned by HCLSoftware, stands as one of the most reliable end-to-end marketing solutions available today. It enables marketing automation across a wide range of both inbound and outbound marketing channels. HCL Unica is a fully integrated cloud-native enterprise marketing automation platform that excels in precision marketing at scale. It offers complete flexibility and seamless integration with third-party MarTech solutions. Over the years, HCL Unica has evolved from four to fourteen modules, effectively addressing the evolving needs of businesses.
Recently, Rajiv Shesh, Chief Revenue Officer, Kalyan Kumar, Chief Product Officer both from HCLSoftware, and Yuchun Lee, the founder of Unica, engaged in a fireside chat to discuss the past and current state of the MarTech industry and its evolution over the last 32 years. The insightful discussion delved into the significance of MarTech and the visionary thinking that led Yuchun Lee to venture into the MarTech space. Yuchun Lee shared his views on the opportunity that HCL Unica has created for companies to optimize their marketing efforts to their fullest potential.
Yuchun Lee founded Unica with the primary goal of assisting organizations in catering to their customers individually. “It was very clear in my head that in the future, successful companies will be able to, and need to communicate with the customer with a high degree of precision,” explained Yuchun Lee. HCL Unica is specifically crafted to enable and leverage individual connection instances and deliver tailored messages across touchpoints.
The fireside chat revolved around MarTech, which was the central focus of the discussion. Privacy in MarTech is a constant concern. Yuchun Lee pioneered permission-based marketing, which is now commonly referred to as “privacy”. Kalyan Kumar, HCLSoftware’s Chief Product Officer, emphasized that the company upholds the same philosophy. “We continue to adhere to the same philosophy because some of these core philosophies have evolved technical architectures, but the core philosophy of the product remains the same in terms of choice, flexibility, and trust,” he said.
HCL Unica’s foundation is built on data, with substantial investments in research and development, engineering, and product development. The software is designed to handle vast amounts of data and operate on multiple servers. Supported by Gen-AI and advanced machine learning capabilities, HCL Unica’s robust engine efficiently manages high volumes of messages and data, allowing for campaign modifications without disrupting existing systems. HCLSoftware’s key strength lies in software customization without rewiring the customer’s platform.
