Anand Saunshimath
Practice Head
Bengaluru,KA
Summary
With more than twenty-five years of leadership experience, I specialize in maximizing transformational success, achieving operational excellence, and ensuring profitability. I have a proven track record of delivering successful outcomes during crises in the most challenging environments. As a passionate technology enthusiast and dedicated leader, my career highlights include: - Leading digital transformation for over 49,000 individuals through highly effective programs and continuous engagement. - Playing a key role in the design and deployment of an Architecture framework and leading the Architect council for cloud and infrastructure business functions. - Managing programs for Fortune 500 companies involving multi-million dollar deal sizes.
Overview
2026
2026
years of professional experience
Work History
Skill Family Head
Cloud and DevOps Skill Family Head, Wipro
BENGALURU
01.2022 - Current
- Drove Cloud and DevOps workforce transformation aligned to business demand, improving internal fulfillment and margin.
- Reduced dependency on lateral hiring by building scalable, deployment-ready Cloud and DevOps talent.
- Accelerated revenue realization through faster Cloud and DevOps staffing and optimized bench management.
Cloud Practice
Wipro (Cloud and DevOps Competency), Wipro
01.2015 - 01.2022
- Led the end-to-end build of the Cloud Competency Practice within CIS, establishing a structured capability model where minimal competency foundations previously existed.
- Designed and operationalized the complete cloud competency ecosystem from the ground up, including skills framework, training catalog, alliance enablement, delivery integration, practice governance, and pre-sales alignment.
- Established a scalable Cloud Skills & Readiness model to support delivery, solutioning, and workforce deployment.
- Built deep, enterprise-grade cloud capability across IaaS platforms including AWS, Azure, Oracle Cloud, OpenStack, IBM SoftLayer, and Google Cloud.
- Developed strong PaaS and platform engineering capabilities across Red Hat OpenShift, IBM Bluemix, and Pivotal Cloud Foundry, enabling cloud-native and modernization programs.
- Positioned the cloud competency as a strategic enabler for delivery excellence, internal fulfillment, and cloud-led growth.
Infrastructure Architect and Advisor
Wipro (CHI)
01.2014 - 01.2015
- Served as Infrastructure Architect and Advisor for Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI), supporting the run, maintain, and transform agenda across enterprise infrastructure services.
- Provided architecture leadership and advisory across steady-state and transformation initiatives covering End User Computing, Networks, Data Centers, and Security.
- Guided CHI stakeholders on infrastructure modernization, optimization, and continuous improvement, balancing operational stability with transformation priorities.
- Led architecture and solution oversight for new infrastructure programs and enhancements, ensuring alignment with enterprise standards, scalability, and security requirements.
- Acted as a trusted advisor to delivery and operations teams, driving improvements in service reliability, performance, and cost efficiency.
Customer Facing Engagement Management Role
Wipro (LBG)
01.2012 - 01.2014
- Served as a customer-facing IT Architect and Advisor for Lloyds Banking Group during the critical Lloyds–HBOS integration period.
- Played a key role in the Critical Business Testing (CBT) program, a foundational milestone ensuring technology readiness, system integrity, and risk mitigation across the integrated bank.
- Provided consulting and architecture leadership for the enterprise rollout of Oracle platforms across multiple Lloyds Banking Group business functions.
- Advised stakeholders on architecture decisions, integration approaches, and technology risk, ensuring alignment with enterprise standards and regulatory requirements.
- Transitioned to offshore leadership to head middleware services delivery, providing architectural oversight, service governance, and continuous improvement across integration platforms.
- Acted as a bridge between business stakeholders, onshore leadership, and offshore delivery teams to ensure scalable, resilient, and compliant technology outcomes.
Shell SAP Basis Run and Maintenance Team
Wipro (Shell)
2005 - 01.2012
- Served as Program Manager for Shell’s SAP Basis Run and Maintenance services, with end-to-end responsibility for SAP infrastructure management across business-critical platforms.
- Owned service governance, delivery performance, and operational continuity for SAP Basis and underlying infrastructure, ensuring SLA compliance and platform stability.
- Concurrently led UNIX SME, Transition Management, and Situation Management functions, enabling seamless service transitions, rapid major-incident resolution, and uninterrupted operations.
- Coordinated cross-functional and multi-vendor teams to deliver consistent, reliable SAP infrastructure services.
- Drove continuous service improvement initiatives to enhance platform reliability, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction.
Unix Specialist, Onsite Coordinator, Consultant, Offshore Team Lead
Wipro (Unilever, National Grid Transco)
01.2001 - 01.2005
- Part of National Grid Transco (2001–2005), progressing through multiple roles including UNIX Specialist, Onsite Coordinator, Consultant, and Offshore Team Lead across infrastructure delivery and operations.
- Led offshore infrastructure teams, coordinating with onshore stakeholders to ensure service continuity, quality delivery, and operational excellence.
- Acted as onsite coordinator and consultant, bridging customer requirements with offshore execution teams.
- Delivered long-term infrastructure services engagements, contributing to platform stability, operational efficiency, and service improvements.
Customer Service Engineer
Wipro Franchisee (AT&T Lucent)
01.1998 - 01.2001
- Began career with Wipro Infotech (Wipro Franchisee) as a Customer Service Engineer, delivering end-to-end infrastructure support across environments ranging from desktop systems to enterprise-grade servers and storage platforms.
- Installed, configured, and supported hardware and infrastructure components for diverse customer environments, building strong hands-on expertise in infrastructure operations.
- Transitioned to Lucent Technologies – Development Center as a Customer Support Executive, responsible for end-to-end run and maintenance of the Lucent data center.
- Supported development teams by ensuring infrastructure availability, performance, and reliability across development and test environments.
- Built a strong foundation in data center operations, incident management, and service reliability, supporting business-critical systems.
Skills
Program Director
Skill Transformation Head
IT Architecture, Advisory & Transformation
Customer & Stakeholder Leadership
Timeline
Skill Family Head
Cloud and DevOps Skill Family Head, Wipro
01.2022 - Current
Cloud Practice
Wipro (Cloud and DevOps Competency), Wipro
01.2015 - 01.2022
Infrastructure Architect and Advisor
Wipro (CHI)
01.2014 - 01.2015
Customer Facing Engagement Management Role
Wipro (LBG)
01.2012 - 01.2014
Unix Specialist, Onsite Coordinator, Consultant, Offshore Team Lead
Wipro (Unilever, National Grid Transco)
01.2001 - 01.2005
Customer Service Engineer
Wipro Franchisee (AT&T Lucent)
01.1998 - 01.2001
Shell SAP Basis Run and Maintenance Team
Wipro (Shell)
2005 - 01.2012