Wipro prepares for the Business Technology Challenge
I just completed a day of analyst information sessions hosted by executives at Wipro Technologies. A few of my thoughts:
- Wipro is focusing on the concept of providing business value as a key aspiration. They talked quite a bit about their increasing ability to align with business customers and hone in on the metrics that would drive business value. This is a great sign – one which I think signals the real opportunity for Wipro. Defining business value (as opposed to IT value) through the lens of customers will, however, be the biggest challenge.
- They are doing this best in long-term relationships. Where Wipro is providing the MOST business value is in client accounts where they have long relationships, which evolved as traditional offshoring engagements. In these accounts, Wipro is developing much greater ability to identify areas for improvement and push innovation. But they are also translating their experience into standardized product offerings, which should help them leverage existing intellectual property.
- Watch the development of the consulting practice. The consulting practice, which has several new leaders, is going to be a critical component of this evolution. The consulting executives I spoke with impressed me with their ability to call out points of differentiation for Wipro consulting and articulate why their consulting offering would work. This organization is going to be very interesting to watch in coming years – but I think it will need a high level of support from senior management to be effective.
- Aligning on the right business message is still a challenge. I still think Wipro – and its competitors – have some marketing work to do. With all of their technology capabilities and growth plans (vertical, horizontal, geographic, etc.), they need to align on the themes that are going to guide them through the next five years. What do they stand for? Good marketing is about more than just pushing a glossy advertising message out to customers — it's about identifying points of differentiation based on the company’s heritage, aligning the organization around relevant themes, and pushing the message out to the client.
If you’re a sourcing professional working with, or considering working with Wipro, think about what level of business value you receive from the company, and push the company to define where they can provider higher levels of strategic value. In the future, watch how they balance their standardization focus with their goal of providing more targeted and relationship-driven work. I think watching the evolution of this company over the next few years will be as interesting as watching them through the first years of growth.