Wipro rejigs structure, operating model under new CEO to broad base growth

The company to have four strategic market units and two business lines

IT services company Wipro, which had appointed a new CEO & MD to helm the company, has announced a new structure and a new operating model to support the firm in the next phase of its journey. The changes will be effective January, the Bengaluru-based firm said in an exchange filing.
 

Under the new model, the IT services firm will replace the current structure of its various strategic business units (SBUs), service lines and geographies with four strategic market units (SMUs) and two global business lines (GBLs). The four SMUs will be Americas 1, Americas 2, Europe and Asia Pacific Middle East Africa (APMEA). While Americas 1 and Americas 2 will be organised into sectors, Europe and APMEA will be organised into countries.
 

“For long now, our growth has been largely dependent on the US market. It is important that we broad base our growth. The new model seeks to achieve just this. Besides ensuring adequate sector and domain focus in our go-to-market and execution, the new operating model will help drive growth in non-US markets,” said Thierry Delaporte, CEO & MD, Wipro, in an internal mail addressed to the employees. “The current complex delivery structure with multiple delivery units will be replaced by a simple delivery model that will yield economies of scale,” he added in a letter which has been reviewed by Business Standard.

While Americas 1 will include healthcare & medical devices, consumer goods & lifesciences, retail, transportation & services, communication, media & info services, technology products & platforms and Latin America, Americas 2 will include banking, securities, investment banking & insurance, manufacturing, hi-tech, energy & utilities and Canada.
 

Europe will include 6 regions namely the UK and Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, Benelux, Nordics and Southern Europe. APMEA will have Australia & New Zealand, India, West Asia, South East Asia, Japan and Africa under it. The SMUs in Europe and APMEA will be responsible for all industry sectors in these regions.
 

The four strategic market units will be led by individual heads, who will be supported by a newly-created role of chief growth officer, who will be announced soon. The chief growth officer will play a key role in driving large deals and strengthening relationships with hyper-growth partners, besides overseeing marketing, advisor/analyst relationships, sales excellence and sales enablement.
 

The company has named Srini Pallia, currently president of consumer business in the company to head Americas1, while Angan Guha, currently a SVP leading the BFSI vertical, to head Americas 2. NS Bala, who is presently a president heading energy & utilities among others, will manage the APMEA market units. The leader for Europe will be appointed over the coming weeks.
 

The two global business lines: integrated digital, engineering & application services (iDEAS) will include domain and consulting, applications & data, engineering and R&D and Wipro Digital. The second global business line iCORE will include customer information system (CIS), Wipro digital operations and platforms (DOP) and cybersecurity and risk service (CRS) service lines. Rajan Kohli, currently president for Wipro Digital will lead iDEAS business line, while iCORE will be headed by Nagendra Bandaru, president for cloud, IT infrastructure services, and DOP.
 

“This is a defining period for Wipro, and the industry. The structural changes I outline are critical to accelerate our growth and reclaim our leadership position in the pantheon of global IT services companies,” said Delaporte in his email.
 

The company has announced the departure of Milan Rao, president for marketing, innovation & technology, & head of manufacturing and communications business, and Bill Stith, who is a SVP and head of healthcare business. Both of them will transition from Wipro on December 31, 2020. Bhanumurthy BM, who was the president and COO, and Anand Padmanabhan, president for business development and strategic sales will retire from Wipro over the coming few quarters, the company said.

Highlights

-Company to have four strategic market units, two business lines

-Each units will be headed by a senior leader

-Company creates position of chief growth officer

-Firm announces departures and superannuation of senior leaders

-Changes to help drive broadbase growth, says CEO