IT major Wipro is looking at securing long-term revenue pipelines from its smaller clients to grow its annual revenue to $15 billion from its current $11 billion, according to CFO Jatin Dalal. However, in an interaction with FE, Dalal did not give any time frame by when the company aims to achieve the revenue target.
In the past, Wipro had targeted the $15-billion annual revenue mark by 2020 under a different CEO, but was not able to achieve the same.
“Some of our biggest clients today started out as small. For example, with a very large bank, we may start with annual billing of just $300,000 or $500,000. But it is our ability to add value and potentially grow it to $100 million revenue per annum over 3-5 years,” Dalal said.
He said that while large customers provide higher revenues, which are more stable and easier to manage, the company cannot stop looking at smaller clients.
“We need to add new customers continuously. Customers which are small today will become big tomorrow and that’s how our revenues will grow to touch $15 billion annually from the current $11 billion,” Dalal said.
Revenues from existing clients contributed 97.4% of Wipro’s total revenues in FY23 compared to about 95.2% in FY22.
The company also expects the current macro-economic uncertainties being faced by the IT industry to subside by the end of the current calendar year or beginning of early next year.
Stressing on the importance of the relationship with clients, especially with smaller clients, Dalal said, “We have many Fortune 500 clients that are giving businesses for last 15-20 years. Some of our clients have been with us since Wipro started IT services.”
As of March 31, 2023, Wipro has about 750 clients, which can be categorised as smaller clients. Each of them account for around $1 million annual revenues.
When asked about freshers’ hiring and their salary level, Dalal, said, “In times like these, when demand is muted, honestly one shouldn’t expect that there will be a hike in freshers’ salary. However, their intake is a core part of IT industry. The talent pyramid is the very foundation of how IT industry operates.”
He said, “There will always be hiring at the freshers level, though that can go up when demand goes up and can slow down when demand is slow. But there will be certain level of freshers’ hiring that will continue irrespective of demand level.”