Wipro BPO: Are you Being Served?

Sunil Gujral, Wipro BPO

24/7 operations, guaranteed uptime, always-on connectivity, built-in

redundancy-are some of the crucial parameters on which a client selects its

BPO service provider. A world-class IT set-up is therefore a must for any BPO.

Wipro BPO's IT set-up not only strives to meet the requirements but also excels.

Its infrastructure that supports connectivity is the very foundation on which

its entire operations run. It was one of the first BPOs to implement a

full-fledged DS3 architecture in its backbone telecom network. It replaced about

70 E1 lines in its international network with only three DS3 lines, leading to

consolidation. Today it has a total of four DS3 lines. DS3 architecture has

brought in advantages of better load balancing, service capacity and

manageability of the network; thereby, improving the scalability and overall

efficiency of the network. The company uses Cisco WAN Manager for monitoring WAN

links/Trunk utilization.

The voice business accounts for a majority of Wipro BPO's operations. This

necessitates the need for robust applications on the voice front. The

applications here include Call Management System (CMS)/BCMS from Avaya, call

quality audit application from NICE/Witness, Workforce management application

from IEX, and Dialer from Concerto for predictive dialing use for telemarketing

processes and campaigns.

The External Call Historical Interface (ECHI) application takes data from CMS

and provides call-by-call details as opposed to binary information provided by

CMS. This data is very critical for the quality of service. It also uses SAP ERP,

which is a corporate-wide application for Wipro. It has deployed Baan software

for transport scheduling. In addition, there are various productivity tracking

tools, which are process specific. For corporate MIS, the company uses

ProClarity software, which acts as an analytical tool.

BPO being a manpower-intensive industry, automation on HR front has also been

a key focus area for the company. For payroll, it has developed its own

application, Orbit. The employee portal, 'I-Orbit' acts as a common ground for

information sharing as well as covers employee-related aspects like claims,

salary, tax benefits, and leaves. The company is leveraging IT to tackle

critical HR issues like attrition. Wipro BPO has an extranet for customers where

they can access their productivity reports.

Presently, more than 80% of its voice network is TDM based. It will continue

to migrate to an IP-based network. There is going to be a lot of activity in the

areas of intrusion prevention and network admission and control. This apart, the

company is also evaluating moving from own-managed network to a service-provider

network.