Summer Internship with Wipro Infotech – Sai Pratyusha T from TA Pai Management Institute
Sai Pratyusha T interned at Wipro Infotech, and shares how she ended up being top intern at for the year-2014. Sai Pratyusha is an MBA student at TA Pai Management Institute. Read on to explore her internship story here.
“Success is not an accident” – Tommy Newberry
It was the last day of my internship at Wipro, Bangalore. My internship was over, work completed, reports submitted, presentation made and goodbyes said. Yet there was one last event, the “Grand Finale” round – all the interns, managers and bosses were gathered, and I waited. So, as I sat there in total silence and waited, the clock ticked away very slowly. I was nervous, restless and excited at the same time. I contemplated the last few weeks; how my internship started, and everything that happened towards why I was in this hall, waiting.
It was April 7th, 2014. I reached Wipro, Bangalore, Sarjapur office. I had decided to be there earlier than the scheduled time, only to see that there was already a queue, with interns, waiting for the registration process. I realized then that the competition had already begun. Every intern there may have had a different set of expectations from the internship, but our goal was one – to succeed. There was a two-day induction process; we interns were briefed about Wipro’s history, practices, culture, business lines and policies. I met and spoke to other interns. Many were from premier institutes. It felt like we each represented our university, there was a sense of competition, we all wanted showcase what our university had taught us. This was our shot at applying the principles we learned. It was the time to be an MBA in practice.
It was day one at work and the most shocking part to me was just how lively the workplace was. I come from a computer science background and I’ve been used to programmers coding away in silence. It took me a while to realize that I was no longer a programmer, but I am an MBA surrounded by experienced sales and marketing professionals.
I was assigned to work on a project that involved a transformation of traditional Canteen Management System (CMS). I was to completely rethink the age-old CMS with state-of-the-art automation technology. This was where my computer science background and what I learnt over my B-school came together. I started with background research on traditional CMS, categorized an elaborate list of challenges and inefficiencies in the system. I went deeper and conducted surveys to identify end-user behavior, requirements and satisfaction levels. In parallel, I studied market conditions, trends and consumer perceptions on implementation of CMS practices in hospitals, office buildings and institutes. The findings and analysis showed that there was enormous potential for implementing automation in CMS and that many business-to-business platforms were ready to embrace the transition of moving from manual system to an automated system. With the potential there, the key challenge was to design the system such that it was economical, feasible and most importantly convincing. I laid out a detailed proposal with design for implementing an automated CMS, considering cutting edge technology such as user-friendly touch environments, biometrics and mobile integration.
After a month of research and design, I started on-field activity to generate leads. Soon after entering into the field, I learnt that B2B lead generation strategy was no closer to B2C lead generation strategy. My initial strategy in converting leads didn’t go as anticipated. As I approached the potential buyers, they were skeptical in investing in the new technology. Despite trying for hours over the first five days, I couldn’t convert even a single lead. However, I learnt from my experience that each customer who turned me down, also taught me something substantial. It was either their culture, reluctance toward new technology or knowledge over it or the initial cost and so on. Regardless, I learnt from my interactions and it was hard work. Over the course of days, I modified my strategy, worked hard, met customers first hand, travelled under the hot Bangalore sun, and I started converting leads. Every lead I converted was business for Wipro, a personal milestone and a pocket sized success story.
At the near end of my two-month internship, I finally wrote a report recording my work, submitted it, and presented my findings, research and potential to unit heads and the HR. Much to my surprise, I received a call from the HR stating that my project was ranked among top ten and confirmed my eligibility for the much coveted ‘Grand Finale’ round of Wipro Internship 2014. I soon found myself presenting my work in front of the top leaders at Wipro and other interns from premier institutes. And that brings us back to the hall where I was waiting.
At long last, there it was, my wait was over, they called my name, and I was awarded the “Top intern award” at Wipro for the year 2014. There I was, at the podium, proud of myself, receiving the award, a recognition, and a reassurance that great things are yet to come. Now it’s time to go back to my B-school, business and exams as usual, and time to finish what I started.
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