Wipro’s turnaround is almost complete, says Neemuchwala
BENGALURU: Wipro Ltd’s chief executive officer (CEO) Abidali Neemuchwala says his nearly two-year effort to bring about a turnaround at India’s third largest information technology (IT) company is almost complete and it is just a matter of time before the Bengaluru-based firm starts reporting industry-matching growth.
Significantly, Neemuchwala maintains fiscal year 2018-19 will be better than the current financial year, mirroring the optimism shared by Wipro’s larger rivals Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) and Infosys Ltd.
Mumbai-based TCS, which does not give out a quarterly or yearly growth target, expects to clock double-digit growth and Infosys CEO Salil Parekh said calendar year 2018 will be better than 2017.
“I feel pretty good with the step-by-step transformation we have undertaken… We are very confident (of starting to report sequential industry-matching growth from next fiscal). It’s just a matter of time because we have addressed all company-specific challenges,” Neemuchwala said in an interview on Friday.
“Every company will have some pockets which are soft. So do we… So communications vertical is one which is soft but it is because of macro issues or the environment. But I believe these soft pockets will not impact the overall growth of the company. So our guidance of 1-3% in constant currency terms (for January-march period) is our highest on organic basis in a long time, and this reflects the momentum we need,” said Neemuchwala.
Wipro did not report any sequential dollar revenue growth in October-december although revenue inched up 0.9% in constant currency terms, which eliminate the effect of currency movements. However, Wipro added $248.3 million in incremental revenue in April-december, according to the management, reflecting initiatives leading to improved organic growth.
Since joining Wipro as chief operating officer in April 2015, and then taking over as CEO on February 1, 2016, Neemuchwala, formerly with TCS, has taken a string of measures to improve Wipro’s ability to complete a project (delivery side of business) and also better its ability to sell solutions to newer customers (sales side).
Neemuchwala has embarked upon what he describes as a sixpillar strategy, which includes focus on using automation tools, improving its ability to generate more revenue from existing clients, investing in newer technologies like cloud computing platforms and blockchain, and cutting reliance on sending Indians to other countries by hiring more locals in the United States and Europe.
From undertaking an organisational change to restructuring the company’s business in India and West Asia, Neemuchwala has ensured stability among senior management ranks with only one senior executive departure in the past 23 months.