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: Jessie Paul joined Wipro Technologies as chief marketing officer in 2005, and is responsible for ensuring a platform to win and engage customers through its domain-specific, IP-led technology and business solutions. She joined Wipro from iGATE Global Solutions, where she was heading the marketing function since 2003. She played a key role in rebranding and repositioning iGATE as an integrated technology and operations company. Prior to joining iGATE, Paul was global brand manager for Infosys Technologies.

She was involved in setting up the marketing department at Infosys Technologies, and putting in place the marketing infrastructure and processes. Her efforts earned her the Chairman’s Award in 1998. In this interview to Alokananda Chakraborty of FE, Jessie Paul, chief marketing officer, Wipro Technologies & Wipro Infotech, discusses the strategies the Indian software industry can formulate to emerge stronger and more profitable when global spending on IT gets back on track.

The West associates India with outsourcing. Has that changed or does India still conjure up images of a low-cost back office?

The West may identify India with outsourcing, but the days of India being seen as purely a low-cost destination are gone. Let me give you an anecdote to illustrate this. When I first visited the US, cab drivers would not accept tips from me because they assumed that I was poor because I was from India. Then after the dot-com boom, they assumed I was rich because I was in technology. Now, when I say I am from India, total strangers say, “You must be smart!”

This is because of two things— one, the outsourcing industry has moved into higher value areas such as consulting and business solutions, and two, India is increasingly seen as a profitable market by the global companies.

Apart from the usual diversification strategies and ‘move up the value chain’ mantra, what new strategies should the Indian software industry formulate to emerge stronger and more profitable when global spending on IT gets back on track?