AZIM PREMJI’S long-term bets have paid off. Wipro is now getting ready to handle huge IT deals

The No. 3 position is Wipro's highest-ever rank in the Most Respected Companies survey. While it retained the No. 4 slot in two consecutive surveys in 2001 and 2003, this year it moved one rung up - with 277 respondents choosing Wipro above No. 2 Reliance's 306 and No. 1 Infosys's 400.

The key reason why it has moved up is because of the bets it took, which have paid off over the last 18 months. Many of these were initially hammered by equity analysts and market watchers. Among the 19 parameters, Wipro's maximum weightage has come in Quality Of Top Management (2,257.6), Consistent Performance (2,224.3), and Global Competitiveness (2,216).

Primary among those is the technology bet, with almost 40 per cent of revenues coming from technology areas like telecom, embedded systems and Internet access. Wipro didn't relent on its belief even during the tech bust. As the market improved, the largely criticised telecom business, for instance, led with 53 per cent growth in revenues. "Continuing to believe in and invest in our long-term strategy, (we are)... building the complete range of IT and BPO solutions for our customers, deep engagement in R&D services and technology domain and significant leverage from our India businesses," says Azim Premji, chairman, Wipro.

Premji, of course, wouldn't easily forget the hammering Wipro's management received from analysts when it entered the BPO space with the buyout of Spectramind in July 2002. Since then, it has managed to synergise its customer list with that of Spectramind's, allowing it to offer a consolidated service package to clients and also helping Spectramind grow from 2,994 employees to over 13,000 employees today. "For us, the first implication of consolidated offering is that the cost of sales is lower," says Suresh Senapaty, CFO, Wipro.

Wipro's entire focus is now on getting the organisation ready to handle huge IT outsourcing deals - perhaps in excess of hundreds of millions of dollars. Despite the hype around India's IT capabilities, no Indian company has been able to bag an IT outsourcing contract in excess of $100 million. So, Wipro's efforts will be watched very closely.

The company believes that large deals happen for two key reasons. One, when prospective clients are convinced about the capability to deliver. Two, when the sales and marketing infrastructure is geared to grab large deals. One of the most significant initiatives in this direction has been to enhance the project management capabilities of its managers. For this, Wipro has adopted the certification process of the Pennsylvania-based Project Management Institute (PMI). The institute conducts examinations worldwide to assess project management skills and capabilities.

The project management professionals also have to commit to continuous learning by satisfying PMI's Continuing Certification Requirements. Wipro has over 700 PMI-certified managers - the highest in India and 15th highest in the world. It has also set up a Programme Management Office, under which the leader - a senior professional - pulls in specialists from different departments when pitching for deals. It also has a sales infrastructure of 160 people, mostly in the US and Europe, to pitch for business. Once a deal is concluded, the account goes to the Strategic Account Management Group, specifically set up to manage large clients.

While the 37,063-people strong Wipro needs to take more people, its HR ensures that the cycle-time to turn fresh recruits into billable assets is low. Earlier, the cycle-time was 110-140 days. Today, it is 60-90 days, but the company wants it at around 60 days. So, it is re-working the training curriculum to include more blended courses and self-learning tasks while removing duplication.

Internally, Wipro is refining processes by benchmarking with the best. In the account-closing cycle, for instance, it benchmarks against Cisco that does a virtual close of its quarterly account on the 90th day itself. Wipro takes a day longer to close. Another major internal improvement has been in client complaint redressal through Wipro's remote servicing infrastructure called the Global Command Centre. By tracing the root cause of a fault, it has reduced the number of alerts from an average of 20,000 per day to around 60. Earlier this year, Wipro was ranked the largest third- party IT service provider in the world. Hopefully, the $100 million-plus deals will follow.