WIPRO: Integrating the Brand

Last year saw Wipro build further on its 'integrated solutions' for

specific verticals, spanning consulting, IT, transaction processing and contact

center solutions. And it extended its engineering services: product development,

semiconductor design, embedded apps, CAD/CAM design and other R&D work

brought in over 30% of Wipro's revenues.

The BPO business continued to perform, vindicating Spectramind's Rs

490-crore pricetag in 2002. Wipro went ahead with the full assimilation of

Spectramind, forming the BPO division. Synergy, said Wipro; force-fit and clash

of cultures, said others. Subsequently, BPO guru and Spectramind founder Raman

Roy left in June 2005. He was followed by his finance and HR chiefs and other

senior managers.

HIGHLIGHTS Nearly a third of services revenue from R&D and engineering-related services Integrated Spectramind fully as Wipro BPO into services business and verticals Top level exits: Vivek Paul, Raman Roy. New structure - Premji and 3 presidents R&D expertise a differentiator in crowded outsourcing market. 160 clients above $1-mn, up from 132 in 2004 Domestic services: low scale and margins; few big ticket services deals Systems remains weak especially for servers, and MNC brand PC sales   Needs to develop brand and loyalty better to manage BPO attrition and draw talent l Start-up Year: 1981 l Products & Services: Tech products, hardware and software design, IT services, consulting, IS outsourcing, BPO/ITeS l Branches: 83 l Dealer outlets: 325 l Address: Doddakannelli, Sarjapur Road, Bangalore l Tel: 28440011 l Fax: 28440350 l Website: www.wipro.com

The bigger news was the exit of vice-chairman Vivek Paul, who had become the

public face of Wipro since he joined in July 1999 after Ashok Soota's

departure. Paul drove the company to tenfold growth in six years-faster than

Infosys. Paul, who is credited with having made Wipro truly global, will not be

replaced. There are three new presidents, but the real reigns appear to be back

firmly with Azim Premji.

Wipro's Technology Infrastructure Services, led by Suresh Vaswani, works

with over 140 customers; its 1,200 staff provide consulting, SI, infrastructure

management, tech support services and enterprise service desks. TIS is the

largest provider of these services among offshore vendors. Testing was another

key expertise area. For Wipro overall, Europe brings in 27% of Wipro's

exports, the highest among the IT services companies.

After a lull last year, domestic services moved up again, driven by 40%

growth in third-party maintenance and facilities management. Sun contributed 44%

to systems revenues and 85% to server revenues, and was the platform for a range

of solutions including a high-end grid computing system for bioinformatics. IBM,

Acer and Dell desktop sales quadrupled, but on a small base; the PC growth

really came from Wipro's own SuperGenius desktop-34%, to 86,000 units.

Wipro has its work cut out for 2005-06: ensure continuity after the senior

exits; project to customers, investors and prospective talent a professionally

managed rather than family-owned company; and manage attrition among the

42,000-worforce. That's a lot to keep Premji and his new presidents busy at

the Sarjapur campus this year.