Source: DQ Estimates CyberMedia Research

Interestingly, how it plays in the consumer care and lighting business though on a standalone basis, is not of interest to Dataquest readersalso has implications for IT business, especially on leadership issues. Though many analysts have opined that it makes sense for Wipro to get out of the business, others say Wipro will never exit the business because of sentimental reasons and also because it is a growing business with fairly healthy margins of 25%. In fact, Wipro has silenced those who think it may be looking at exiting the business by making the $246 mn acquisition of Singapore-based FMCG company, Unza Holdings. However, this has given rise to a new set of speculations that Wipro may actually hive this business off as a separate entity. That will, among other things, consolidate the IT business. But more importantly, it may have some implications for leadership in IT.

Wipro Technologies has not had a full-time CEO since the exit of Vivek Paul. The fact that chairman Azim Premjis son, Rishad has joined in the business has also added to the speculations, with some predicting that he may be given the consumer care and lighting business to grow, and later, take the reins of the overall group. But all that is pure speculation.

The Year that Was
Last year saw Wipro being able to measure its returns on innovation. With 1,000 people working in innovation, its combined (across service lines) innovation revenue was already in the excess of 5%.

Like most offshore firms, Wipro Technologies dependence on application development and maintenance (ADM) came down. Its early focus on infrastructure services is paying off and Wipro is clearly the leader among large offshore firms in this area, drawing more than 10% revenue from this area. Package implementation, of course, like for all others, was a high growth area. On the flip side, its traditional strength, telecom technology services did show a slower growth. Among the major customer wins were ITV in the UK and ANA in Japan. On the global delivery front it set up centers in Romania, Brazil and Portugal.

In the domestic market, wins included MySAP suite implementation from Zuari Cements, infrastructure management contracts at HDFC Standard Life and Oxigen Services and data center and SI contract from Bharti Airtel. Wipro Infotech announced a joint venture with Dar Al Riyadh Group to tap the fast growing IT services market of Saudi Arabia. DQ

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