Wipro Arabia wins $750m worth contracts - Arab News
By GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN | ARAB NEWS
Published: Feb 23, 2010 12:27 AM Updated: Feb 23, 2010 12:27 AM
RIYADH: Wipro Arabia Limited (WAL), an IT joint-venture between India's Wipro Ltd. and Dar Al-Riyadh, has consolidated its position in the Kingdom by signing $750 million worth of job orders recently.
These orders, mainly from education, telecommunications and banking giants, cover the whole range of services to be provided to clients including integrated IT solutions, application development, consultancy and infrastructure-related services.
"The Kingdom (is) a critical component of our global expansion strategy, as it is a rapidly growing market," said Suresh Vaswani, chief executive officer of Wipro's IT Business, who was in the Saudi capital to attend the meeting of WAL's board of directors.
Vaswani gave an overview of Wipro's Saudi operations and the company's growing presence in the Kingdom.
Durga Prasad Y., Wipro Arabia general manager, and G. Hari Krishnan, Wipro's marketing and bid manager, were also present.
Wipro, Vaswani said, is committed to offer quality services and full satisfaction to clients. He added that Wipro is also the first Indian company to build a 100 percent recyclable and toxin-free computer as part of its plan to promote research and development in the IT sector, both in India and overseas.
The eco-friendly Wipro Greenware desktops are completely free from harmful chemicals such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs).
"Wipro has deployed more than 600 IT professionals, including 157 Saudi nationals, on the projects currently being executed by the company in the Kingdom," Vaswani said, addressing the interest from top IT clients in Saudi Arabia.
This also includes nine Saudi women, he said. Major orders include IT projects from the King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabian Airlines, Etihad Atheeb Telecommunications, and major banks.
"We have an intensive training program for Saudi youngsters, which lasts for 3-4 months in the first phase, followed by orientation on field/projects as shadow resources where they learn the business dynamics," Vaswani added.
Other initiatives for local and expatriate employees include a cross-culture assimilation scheme, where employees are provided orientation on cultural values, heritage, history and the socioeconomic scenario of Saudi Arabia.
Recently, Wipro Arabia recruited fresh engineering graduates from the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM).
These recruits were sent to Wipro's global headquarters in India for induction, training and competency development for over a month before they are offered full-fledged jobs on a very competitive salary and perks.
Dar Al-Riyadh is the local partner of Wipro, which is a $5 billion conglomerate providing IT services and solutions to enterprises across India, US, UK, Japan, Europe and the Middle East.
Wipro has a work force of about 100,000 people working across the world.