How Wipro Is Building A Channel For Its Products And Services

‘We want to have more hands into our customers. And we have acquired some products which require expertise in certain domains. We need partners to extend our reach,’ says Mandar Vanarse, general manager of Wipro's Intellectual Property Unit.

Wipro is now starting to recruit enterprise-focused solution providers in the U.S. and other areas to expand the reach for its own products, services, and intellectual property.

The India-based multinational IT, consulting, and business process services provider has over the past few years developed 60 platforms and products in data analytics, artificial intelligence, security, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI),and banking, most of which the company now hopes to make available to other solution providers, said Mandar Vanarse, general manager of Wipro's Intellectual Property Unit.

"As these offerings matured, we considered the option of selling them through other channel partners," Vanarse told CRN. "So we're starting with a few items. We have over 60 platforms that we have developed, most of which are opened to other channels. We have simplified the materials for selling, including videos. Now we think we are ready."

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Among the first Wipro platforms being offered to other channel platforms are virtual desktop infrastructure and desktop-as-a-service as part of the company's virtuadesk suite of solutions for virtual workspaces, Vanarse said.

The second is Wipro’s Open Banking API platform aimed at helping banks and financial institutions launch Open Banking initiatives, he said.

The third, Wipro HOLMES, is the company's artificial intelligence and automation platform targeting businesses and their digital journey by automating processes and redefining operations, he said.

Wipro is offering potential channel partners with three levels of training to get started, including training on material to help their customers understand Wipro; information on Wipro's programs through its WISDER, or Wipro IP Strategy and Deal Innovation, program; and training on the company's actual intellectual property, Vanarse said.

"We will be offering some hands-on training, or sometimes our experts will take channel partners to customer sites to do training," he said.

Wipro is looking to recruit four types of channel partners into its channel program, Vanarse said.

These include sales partners; upstream partners who can add business processing services and charge customers according to outcomes; implementation partners with sales, implementation, and consulting expertise; and product OEMs who can make Wipro's technology part of their own offering.

"We're not necessarily looking at how many people or how much revenue a potential partner has," he said. "But we are looking at their reach into the enterprise."

Wipro wants to build its own channel partner base because of the continued expansion of its business, Vanarse said.

"We're seeing increased demand," he said. "We want to have more hands into our customers. And we have acquired some products which require expertise in certain domains. We need partners to extend our reach."

Wipro does not expect channel conflict with its new partners, Vanarse said. The company is implementing a well-defined system of working with partners, and has a named customer list to help direct partners to new opportunities, he said.

"If a partner is seeing a lead outside our direct relationships, they can register that customer," he said.