Global IT consulting company Wipro has launched Wipro FullStride Cloud Services, which includes a commitment to invest $1 billion in cloud technologies, capabilities, acquisitions and partnerships over the next three years.
Still, it's difficult to put the $1 billion, three-year commitment into proper context. Wipro did not say what percentage of the money will be used for cloud consulting and software developer acquisitions. Also, Wipro did not say how much of the money is already consumed annually for existing cloud services employees.
No doubt, a big chunk of Wipro's payroll already goes to cloud professionals. Indeed, the company employs over 79,000 cloud professionals and more than 10,000 people certified by the key cloud service providers, the company says. Read between the lines, and the company is seeking to further support customer migrations to Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform.
Wipro Cloud Strategy: Executive Perspectives, Acquisitions
In a prepared statement about the cloud services push, Wipro CEO Thierry Delaporte said:
“Today, cloud adoption is at the core of any IT transformation initiative, and our clients have been turning to Wipro for help with this. With our $1 billion investment in cloud capabilities, and the launch of Wipro FullStride Cloud Services, we are in a far stronger position to simplify, orchestrate and accelerate the cloud journey for our clients."
Wipro had made multiple acquisitions ahead of the formal FullStride Cloud Services announcement. Key moves include acquiring:
- Technology consulting giant Capco.
- Encore Theme Technologies, a SaaS and financial services consulting firm;
- Engineering services company Eximius Design;
- Salesforce cloud partner 4C; and
- Brazilian vertical market technology consulting firm IVIA Serviços.
WiPro vs. Accenture Cloud First Strategy
Rival Accenture in 2020 launched a similar cloud initiative known as Accenture Cloud First. The Accenture strategy has a $3 billion budget — or roughly $1 billion per year — over a three-year window. Accenture also has been acquiring cloud- and SaaS-centric IT consulting businesses.
