Wipro Technologies
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| Wipro Technologies. | |
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| Type | Public (NYSE: WIT) |
| Founded | 1945 (Pre Independence) |
| Headquarters |  Bangalore |
| Key people | Azim Hashim Premji, Chairman and Managing Director |
| Industry | Information technology services |
| Revenue | ▲$5.0 billion (2008) USD |
| Net income | ▲$677 million (2007) USD |
| Employees | 79,832+ (2007) |
| Website | www.wipro.com |
Wipro Tech (NYSE: WIT) is an information technology service company established in India in 1980. It is the global IT services arm of Wipro Limited (in operation since 1945, incorporated 1946). It is headquartered in Bangalore and is the third largest IT services company in India[citation needed]. It has more than 79,832 employees as of December 2007, including its business process outsourcing (BPO) arm which it acquired in 2002.[1]
Wipro Technologies has over 300 customers across U.S., Europe and Japan including 50 of the Fortune 500 companies. Some of its customers are Nortel, Boeing, BP, Cisco, Ericsson, IBM, Microsoft, Prudential, Seagate, Sony, HP, Windriver, Airbus, Toshiba, Windstream Communications, and Wal-Mart.[citation needed] It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is part of its TMT (technology media telecom) index testing[citation needed].
With revenue in the excess of US $5 billion, Wipro is one of India's major IT companies. It has dedicated development centers and offices across India, Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific. The current Chairman, Managing Director and majority stake owner is Azim Premji, who has headed the software and hardware divisions since Wipro's inception.
Examples of Wipro's product design work include developing an Internet-browsing phone for a Japanese telecom company in 1998, helping chipmaker Texas Instruments produce digital signal processing software, and creating an automotive display unit for Italian manufacturer Magneti Marelli that combined functions including cell phone capability, global position system technology, a navigation system and a CD player.[citation needed]
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[edit] History
Wipro was set up in 1945. Primarily an edible oil factory, the chief products were Sunflower Vanaspati and 787 laundry soap (a by-product of the Vanaspati operations). The company was called Western India Vegetable Products Limited; it had a minor presence in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.[2][3] In the 1970s and 1980s, it began to expand and made forays into computing. In 1975, Wipro marketed India's first homegrown PC.
Wipro was the sole representative for Sun Microsystems in India, before the Sun liaison office was set up in India, in the early 1990s.
Wipro is the highest-ranked Indian IT provider by International Association of Outsourcing Professionals.[citation needed]
Wipro and its success in handling outsourced information technology from US businesses is detailed in Thomas L. Friedman's best-selling book The World Is Flat and Steve Hamm's Bangalore Tiger. Wipro's offshore model is considered 'unique among the larger players in the security consulting space' according to an independent report by Forrester Research
[edit] Financials
Wipro’s Total IT Business crosses $4 billion in Financial Year 2007-2008
Wipro posted a net profit of Rs. 7.3 billion and growth of 17% in the Q1 2007-08. Staff strength crossed 73,000.
[edit] Time line
- 1945: Western India Vegetable Products Limited is created
- 1947: An oil mill and hydrogenated cooking medium plant set up in Amalner, Maharashtra.
- 1966: Azim Premji takes over leadership of Wipro at age 21
- 1975: Wipro Fluid Power is set up to manufacture hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders
- 1977: Company is renamed to Wipro Products Limited
- 1980: Information technology services for domestic market started
- 1981: Hardware company is launched
- 1982: Company is renamed to Wipro Limited
- 1984: Software products subsidiary Wipro Systems Ltd. is established
- 1985: Toilet soaps manufacture begins
- 1988: Wipro BioMed is launched. It is a new business unit to market and service bio-analytical and diagnostic instruments
- 1989: Joint venture with GE for medical systems, Wipro GE Medical Systems Ltd
- 1990: Product software business discontinued; software services begin
- 1992: Lighting business and finance arm is established
- 1994: Merger of subsidiaries Wipro Technologies Ltd. and Wipro Systems Ltd. with Wipro Ltd.
- 1995: Received ISO 9001 quality certification
- 1997: Received CMM level 3 certification from the Software Engineering Institute of India
- 1998: Wipro identity is relaunched with rainbow flower and positioning statement, "Applying Thought"
- 1998: Certified at CMMi level 5
- 1999: Brand makeover, with sunflower logo and the tag line "Applying Thought"
- 1999: Wipro Net is set up by restructuring Wipro Ltd.'s communication services business to address the Internet market
- 2000: Wipro Ltd.'s American depositary receipts are listed on New York Stock Exchange
- 2000: Six Sigma initiative begun
- 2001: Wipro receives a $70 million SI order, the largest ever till overtaken by TCS
- 2001: Awarded the PCMM level 5 certification
- 2001: Business Today rated it as India's most valuable company
- 2001: BusinessWeek ranked it among the top 100 best performing technology companies globally
- 2002: Acquires Raman Roy's Spectramind for US$ 175 million to get into BPO industry
- 2002: BusinessWeek ranked it among the top 10 software services companies
- 2004: Becomes 4th largest company in the world in terms of market capitalization in IT services
- 2005: Becomes a $2 billion company
- 2006: Acquires Newlogic Technologies, Austria, a major semiconductor IP design provider in wireless and bluetooth domains
- 2006: Post acquisition of Newlogic, it becomes the world's largest third-party R&D service provider[citation needed].
- 2006: Acquires Saraware, a wireless R&D service provider from Finland
- 2006: Acquires Quantech, a mechanical engineering design provider
- 2006: Acquires Enabler, a leading retail solutions provider from Portugal
- 2006: Joint venture company WMNetServ with Motorola
- 2006: Net profit for July, August and September rises 48% to $152m (£81m)
- 2007: Revenues reach $3.5billion[4]
- 2007: Becomes SOX Compliant.
- 2007: Wipro-Biomed Division sold to Ranbaxy Fine Chemicals [1]
- 2007: Wipro opens new development center in Monterrey, Mexico
- 2007: Acquires U S based Infocrossing
- 2008: Acquires Aquatech Industries Pvt. Ltd. and its sister concerns.
[edit] References
- ^ "Wipro to hire more at the entry level", Indiatimes, October 19, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
- ^ Anand Parthasarathy. "Brand Bangalore", The Frontline, January 27 - Feb. 09, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-16.
- ^ Wipro Ltd. Retrieved on 2007-05-16.
- ^ "Wipro rides Indian outsource wave", BBC, October 18, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Wipro Corporate Official Site
- Wipro Infotech Official Site
- Wipro Businesses
- Wipro company overview - Reuters
- Wipro Limited financial overview at Google Finance
- Wipro company profile at Businessweek
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