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Strategies & Market Trends : India Coffee House -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (4803)	6/30/1999 9:33:00 AM
From: Mohan Marette	Respond to of 12475

Wipro plans initiatives to outpace industry The company wipro.com ============================ Date: 6/30/99 3:41:22 PM (Source:Probity Research) According to reports, Wipro plans to outpace the industry by focusing on e commerce, systems software and telecommunications. The initiatives include expansion of software development centers at Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai, formulation of a comprehensive strategy to exploit e-commerce, encashing retail and utilities related opportunities to offer systems integration solutions. The company has appointed Morgan Stanley for corporate restructuring and a possible NYSE listing. Post Y2K (which constitutes about 7% of the company's FY99 sales), the management is confident of exploiting Euro and Internet related businesses. In BSE today, Wipro was trading at Rs4117 up Rs12.5 since yesterday's close.

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (4803)	6/30/1999 9:45:00 AM
From: Mohan Marette	Respond to of 12475

A tale of two Ravis By Alex Gove Redherring.com June 30, 1999 In the venture world, there are two types of VCs: those who invest in business-to-consumer (B2C) deals, and those who back business-to-business (B2B) companies. These two camps don't look kindly on one another. Although both sides say they will invest in the other side's deals if the money is right, B2C VCs argue that the market is placing higher valuations on consumer deals. Meanwhile, B2B investors think B2C proponents are chasing after fool's gold: in their view, the market for Web-based enterprise business applications has not even been tapped, and businesses are much more predictable than consumers. Ravi Chiruvolu of Alta Partners is a champion of B2C bets. Although the markets have already afforded outsized valuations to B2C companies like Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN), Mr. Chiruvolu thinks this market could receive an even bigger boost as more traditional retail chains lend their brand names and store infrastructures to Internet ventures. This hybrid approach is not new. Companies like Barnesandnoble.com (Nasdaq: BNBN have emphasized the "synergies" that they can achieve because of their strong relationship with their offline parents. But Mr. Chiruvolu says both Barnesandnoble.com and Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS have "dropped the ball" because they have not taken full advantage of the opportunity to drive customers from Barnes & Noble's stores to Barnesandnoble.com. Mr. Chiruvolu thinks the problem lies in Barnes & Noble's decision to spin off Barnesandnoble.com. Although spinning off Internet companies can help traditional retail chains maintain the integrity of their balance sheets and provide incentives to talented Web professionals used to making "Internet money," it can also mean that a company's stores and its Web offshoot do not always work hand-in-hand. WIRELESS CONNECTIONS Totally Wireless, which sells long-distance and wireless service plans, phones, and phone accessories through 19 stores located in the San Francisco, Seattle, and Salt Lake City areas, is taking a different approach. With $14 million in first round funding from Alta and U.S. Venture Partners, the company has built a Web site that it will keep close to the fold. Totally Wireless's strategy works like this. Because Totally Wireless has been working with carriers for years, it believes it has a unique value proposition as a Web business: unlike companies like Point.com (formerly known as Wireless Dimension), which simply recommend phone service plans, Totally Wireless can actually sell these plans through its site. Totally Wireless hopes its brick-and-mortar stores will help distinguish it further from its competition. According to Mr. Chiruvolu, customers who place orders on Totally Wireless will be able to pick up their goods at a nearby store on the same day, thus avoiding shipping delays. Also, they will be able to turn to a Totally Wireless store representative whenever they have a problem with a product -- a key difference from many Web businesses, which often require customers to ship products back to their manufacturers. To drive Totally Wireless' store customers to its Web site, he says the company is considering putting Web kiosks in its stores. And the Web site and stores will offer the same low prices (tax not included). Are these changes revolutionary? Not really -- other companies have announced similar plans. But as one measure of how integral the Web is to its business, Totally Wireless is not only holding onto its Web division, but plans to change its name to herald its new hybrid approach. Mr. Chiruvolu thinks business-to-consumer e-commerce benefits from close partnerships between traditional retail companies and their Web offshoots. In his opinion, venture capitalists can play a key role in providing offline companies with strategic guidance. But another Ravi -- Ravi Mhatre of Bessemer Venture Partners -- isn't so sure. (Tune in Monday for the B2B side of things) redherring.com