Indian big data consultancy eyes Middle Eastern expansion

India-based big data consultancy WHISHWORKS has declared its intent to expand in the Middle East as part of an ambitious global drive.

On the back of impressive recent growth, and big data consultancy WHISHWORKS of India has outlined its ambitious global expansion agenda, including its intent to strengthen its presence in the UAE for the growing Middle Eastern market. The declaration of intent coincides with the company’s pending acquisition by fellow Indian-headquartered firm NIIT Technologies, an IT consultancy and service provider operating in 18 countries worldwide.

A recognised strategic MuleSoft partner – last year receiving Mulesoft awards for Growth Partner of the Year and Customer Success Partner of the Year for Europe, the Middle East & Africa – WHISHWORKS was born in Hyderabad in 2008 as an IT services and consulting company specialised in systems integration and big data, with Qlik and Cloudera among its other business software partners.

With an international commercial operations base already having been established in the UK, complementing the firm’s development hub in India, WHISHWORKS now has its eyes firmly set on global expansion. Among these growth plans are a permanent move to the US market through an office in New York, chasing continued growth in the UK, and strengthening its UAE presence to capitalise on a growing Middle East market for digital transformations.

As more and more companies are looking for effective ways to monetise their data, the rate of adoption within the Big Data and API-led integration space is growing exponentially,” said WHISHWORKS co-founder and CEO Sri Arardhi. “The opportunities are substantial, and the new NIIT deal, as well as our new offices in the USA, are set to fuel our growth potential.”

Arardhi, who before founding the company spent over seven years between Indian IT giants Infosys and Wipro, stated that the acquisition by NIIT Technologies will act as a ‘rocket fuel’ for the next phase of growth. “The acquisition comes at the perfect time as there are many synergies between our companies, and this will support our expansion and allow us to consolidate our strong position in the digital transformation space.”

With over 10,000 employees serving clients across the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia, NIIT is one of the 20 largest Indian firms in its field, and as announced last month will take an initial 53 percent stake in WHISHWORKS. “(This) fits into our overall Digital strategy, enhances our footprint in a high demand space, and is a significant addition to our existing capability spectrum in digital integration,” said NIIT CEO Sudhir Singh.

In line with its plans, and “to effectively manage the growing demand for infrastructure modernisation and data transformation services”, WHISHWORKS has announced that it is now recruiting for several senior positions. “We believe the cornerstone of the company’s success lies with our skilled practitioners and the expertise and commitment they bring to our customers,” concluded Arardhi.