Wipro's Vivek Paul: Forget outsourcing, think global collaboration

Prior to the Churchill Club event, "Outsourcing: Sorting Out The Hype, Reality, Risks And Benefits," I interviewed Vivek Paul, vice chairman of Wipro Limited and President of Wipro Technologies. The 15-minute interview is available as an MP3 that can be downloaded or,if you’re already subscribed to ZDNet’s IT Matters series of audio podcasts, it will show up on your system or MP3 player automatically (See ZDNet’s podcasts: How to tune in). Paul believes that the term "outsourcing" will be replaced by the term "global collaboration." At least he is advocating that change, and advising companies to focus on tapping into global talent pools and markets.

I asked Paul about reports that he was leaving Wipro. His response: "No comment, and watch this space." I guess we'll hear more about his next adventure soon. Prior to joining Wipro when it had a mere $150 million in revenue (over $1 billion today) in 1999, Paul had spend ten years at GE, soaking up the Six Sigma culture. We talked about the state of offshore outsourcing, and the important of process quality over cost, managing growth (less than 10 percent of the applicants), expanding into consulting (competing against IBM and Accenture) as 'pull through' for other services, the rising salaries of offshore talent, deal sizes, India's economy and India's lead over other centers of offshoring talent and expertise. He also discussed Wipro's move into R&D services as a contract designer for products, such as MP3 players.