Wipro bets on Europe for utilities business

Among Indian IT services players, Wipro is considered as a strong player in the energy, natural resources and utilities segment

India’s third largest information technology services company, Wipro, is hopeful of continuing its momentum in utilities in the UK and Europe.

Utilities is part of Wipro's energy, natural resources and utilities strategic business unit that contributes around 16 per cent to the Bangalore-based company's revenues. This was among the best performing strategic business units for Wipro during January-March 2014, growing 3 per cent sequentially over October-December 2013.

“Utilities is a recession-proof industry. Even if there is recession, you still need electricity and water. So these are long-term bets,” Arun Krishnamurthi, vice-president and global head of utilities at Wipro, told Business Standard.

“We have a very good pipeline and very strong client-relationships. So we are very confident that we will be able to continue on the growth path on which we have started,” he added.

Among Indian infotech services players, Wipro is considered a strong player in the utilities segment. It has made several acquisitions over the past few years to strengthen its presence. Among others, the company had in 2011 acquired the global oil and gas information technology practice of Science Applications International Corporation.

While Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is Wipro’s closest Indian competitor in utilities, the company competes with Accenture, IBM and Capgemini globally.

Wipro does not disclose the geographical spread of its business units, however, Krishnamurthi said, most opportunities in the utilities segment generally come from de-regulated markets  such as Europe, Australia and Canada. In these markets, consumers have the freedom to choose the utility they want, which makes it inevitable for utilities to invest in technology to ensure a competitive edge.

Turkey will be a key focus market for Wipro, as “lots of activities are happening there in utilities,” Krishnamurthi said. “I won’t call Europe an emerging market, but it is a very important market for us. There is a lot of scope for us there because Europe is where we have comparatively less traction compared to other markets,” he said.

Last week, the company had announced that it had won a seven-year contract from British gas distribution and transmission company Xoserve. Under the contract, Wipro will replace Xoserve’s two-decade-old legacy UK Link suite of applications with more contemporary technologies.

Krishnamurthi said the company expected to win more such orders, mainly as utilities in the UK look to adopt technology under regulatory compulsions.