While its rivals have seen strong revenue growth, the global information technology, consulting, and business process services company Wipro has lagged behind. In the fiscal year ending in March, its revenues rose 3.9% in constant currency terms, compared with 9.8% for Infosys and 7.1% for TCS. HCL Technologies Ltd., which replaced Wipro as the third largest in the industry two years ago, grew 17%.
But things are looking up for Wipro. New CEO Thierry Delaporte, who has been in the position for a full quarter, hasn’t even been to the company’s Bangalore headquarters yet due to the pandemic, but Wipro’s stock has still surged about 70% since he came onboard.
Before joining Wipro, Delaporte was the Chief Operating Officer of Capgemini Group and a member of its Group Executive Board. During his 25-year career with Capgemini, he held several leadership roles and also oversaw Capgemini’s India operations.
Some of the moves Delaporte has made since taking the reins at Wipro include cutting top leadership jobs from 25 people to four, boosting acquisitions, and focusing his attention on customers. In fact, he has met with 130 over video conference, which has helped to secure new multi-year contracts with clients.
And during a recent analyst meet, Delaporte revealed that there would be more changes to come. “Wipro is undertaking the drastic restructuring of its business, reducing the layers, and splitting the business by region. It expects this to result in a much more agile and nimble organization, which will accelerate growth,” explained one report.
The end goal is to slash costs and red tape by prioritizing high-growth sectors and markets. One of the biggest changes will be simplifying the company’s operating model, which will now be divided into four Strategic Market Units and two Global Business Lines, bringing Wipro’s 26 existing segments to just six.
In addition, Delaporte has created the new position of “chief growth officer.” One of their first tasks will be to gather the best candidates to create a sales team, as well as maintain relationships with global account executives, creating a large deals team and building on existing alliances and partnerships.
