IT industry still waits for bulk orders, says Wipro

There were signs of improvement, but post-recession, the Indian information technology (IT) industry was still waiting for the arrival of bulk orders from the bigger players, said Wipro executive vice president and chief global delivery officer, Sambuddha Deb.

“The markets remain flat, especially given the fact that the new orders are amiss, because of which the industry remains focused on increased orders and expansion from existing customers,” said Deb, on the sidelines of the ICT East summit, organised by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, here today.

"Markets seem to have improved and the past six months have been particularly good where growth rates are concerned. But in the absence of bulk orders, the mood of the industry remains one of cautious optimism," said Deb. Clients appear to be more confident about the business outlook.

Wipro was making a conscious effort to move away from business pegged at bargain prices towards that of fixed price.

“Till 2008-09, 42 per cent of our business focus was based on fixed price offerings, which went up by 2 per cent last year, bring down the percentage focus of bargain-based business to 56 per cent,” Deb said. It may be noted that Wipro posted a 31 per cent jump in net profit in quarter ended June 30, 2010, to Rs 1,319 crore. In Kolkata, Wipro had increased head count by 10 per cent last year, taking the total tally of the work force to 8,000.