Wipro plans to launch BPO service for the domestic market

Bengaluru: After introducing the new structure which is exactly the mirror image of the verticals and service lines of Wipro’s global business, Wipro Infotech, the company’s domestic India and the Middle East business is now planning to introduce newer services and capabilities.

Starting from the current year, Wipro Infotech is planning to formally launch business process outsourcing (BPO) services in the domestic market with major focus on transaction processing works instead of pure voice-based BPO services.

“I think BPO is going to become quite strategic in the Indian market because a lot of the initiatives that the government is taking will throw up opportunities in terms of participating in transformational projects. That’s why we do intend to build BPO practice for India this year but we want to stay away from voice business and instead focus more on transaction processing,” said Soumitro Ghosh, chief executive of Wipro Infotech.

Presently, Wipro has a ‘very little’ presence in the BPO space in the country and the service is primarily focused on global markets. Ghosh said the intent is to start small after setting up dedicated sales and pre-sales team and then scale it up based on the demand.

“Today, there is a lot of talks around ‘digital’ initiatives and in that, the first thing one need to do is to re-imagine the process which opens up lots of opportunities for transaction processing related works,” he added.

Last year, Wipro had rolled out a new structure for the Infotech (India and Middle East) business with an aim of bringing greater focus as accountability to the business which accounts for close to 10 per cent of the Bengaluru-based company’s overall IT services business. The structure was said to be almost a ‘mirror image’ of that of Wipro’s global technology business.

Ghosh said the renewed approach to India and Middle East business has started paying dividends with Wipro Infotech posting over 5 per cent sequential growth in past five quarters barring one particular quarter. Besides, during the last two quarters, the Infotech business has won six large deals which are in excess of Rs 100 crore each.

The company has since then gone one step ahead with further creating micro verticals and micro service lines by giving fixed revenue targets and accountability to each of those. The idea is to have greater control over the growth target, he added. For example, the government vertical now comprises of micro verticals like central government, state government, defence, railways and education.

Additionally, Wipro Infotech is creating two horizontal practices around ‘digital India’ and ‘smart city’ with separate teams to exploit business opportunities in these areas.

“We have created 16 micro service lines and 21 micro verticals with set targets for each of those. This has given us greater control over growth and makes people more accountable,” he added.