The great Indian philanthropist Azim Premji led Wipro, a leading global IT, Consulting, and BPS firm, which offers services in cognitive computing, hyper-automation, robotics, cloud, analytics, and emerging technologies. But many will wonder about the fact that initially, it was not started as an Information Technology enterprise.
Azim Premji has guided Wipro through 4 decades of growth and diversification, which helped the company emerge as one of the global leaders in the software industry.
Wipro’s journey -
Muhammed Hashim Premji, the father of Azim Premji, started Western India Vegetables Products Limited in 1945 in Amalner, a small town in the Jalgaon district of Maharashtra, India. The company was set as a manufacturer of vegetable and refined oils, and later its name was abbreviated to Wipro.
Shift to IT space
The company focused on new opportunities in the IT and computing sector during the 1970s and emerged as one of the key players in the IT sector within the next few years.
In 2004, Wipro became the second Indian IT firm to earn 1 billion USD in annual revenue. Besides, it demerged non-IT businesses into a separate entity called Wipro Enterprises.
Wipro, riding through hurdles and headwinds, sailed to become the third Indian IT firm to achieve a market capitalization of Rs. 4 trillion in October 2021.
After a decade or more of underperforming its peer companies, Wipro witnessed Cognizant and HCL Tech overtaking it in total revenue; Wipro found its way to growth after Thierry Delaporte took charge as CEO in July 2020.
Delaporte, a former Capgemini executive, uncomplicated Wipro’s complex structure, reduced hierarchies, empowered employees, and transformed the company culture from one of the being order-takers to being problem-solvers.
Although it has struggled with poor performance and high attrition for the past few quarters, Wipro still stands as one of India’s top IT services firms.
