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BANGALORE, May 30

WIPRO Technologies said on Thursday that it was the world's first company to have been assessed at CMMi level 5 version 1.1.

The Vice-Chairman and President Wipro Technologies, Mr Vivek Paul, described the current situation for Wipro as ''Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham''. On the one hand the US State Department has advised Americans not to visit India and on the other, we have got the CMMi certification, he told presspersons over phone from the US.

Salary increase, which had been put on hold last year is happening in Wipro. ''There is going to be a demand for people with project management experience, technical/vertical and functional skills,'' he said, and the company did not want to lose people.

''We didn't want to be the last to announce salary increases,'' he said. With the threat of war, at least one client has cancelled a visit to India, he said. ''I don't want to misrepresent what is happening. However, the war threat would have no impact in the short term,'' he said. But there is a heightened awareness among customers of the problems in India. Customers are also being told that should something happen, the company has a business continuity process in place.

While there is interest among customers to work with companies such as Wipro, there is also pressure on pricing from competition, he said.

Asked about the Lattice group's plans to sell out the broadband business, he said that it would not affect Wipro. ''The build out is complete and the project came alive on time, with zero defects, with 22 systems being brought together, all for the first time,'' he said. Having built it, Wipro would be the best to maintain it too, he indicated. ''Regardless of who owns it, who else would know how to maintain it better that us,'' he said.

Quality is the key

CMMi is an improved version of CMM (capability maturity model) where the `i' stands for integration. The standard includes the multiple versions of SEI — systems integration, products and process development and pure software development.

Speaking to the media on telephone from the US, the Vice-Chairman and CEO Wipro Technologies, Mr Vivek Paul, said that the certification was an important milestone in the company's road to systems integration, IP creation and product development.

For the customer, the certification gives a sense of extra security, of mitigating risk and helps continuous longer term customer relationship, he said. The standards would help the company reduce 15-16 per cent of rework, said Mr S. Deb, Chief Quality Officer, Wipro Technologies. Quality processes actually help increase productivity and efficiency, he said. The processes are automated to ensure that employees do not have to waste time collating the data.

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