Monday, December 29, 2008

Conspiracy: Satyam- Maytas deal Conspiracy

Note: Please read and post your comments. This blog is not to defame or demoralize any personality or any corporate. It is just telling the facts about a corporate/person/thing and analyzing them from a common man point of view.



Everyone might have studied about Muhammad bin Tughluq and his activities in school days. Here we see a lively example i.e. Mr. R. R. I hope you know, whom I am talking about

Satyam – Maytas: Both the companies are founded by Raju’s family. Satyam is founded by Mr. Ramalinga Raju and similarly Maytas (Observe that, if Satyam is reversed you get Maytas) is founded by his son.

In the year 2008, Satyam was awarded “The Golden Peacock” award for the Best Corporate Governance. I doubt whether this is also achieved by bribery (like they did in World Bank Case- bribing Muhammad Mushin, VP of World Bank during his tenure). Every thing about Satyam is just a “Question Mark?”

For the benefits of their family, Mr R.R took his own decision of acquiring the Maytas with out even concerning the non – promoters. The interesting fact is that Mr R.R and his family owns only 8% of stake in the company. With out concerning the other 91% investors, Mr R.R has taken the most hefty decision in his life.

The reason why I am comparing him Muhammad bin Tughluq is “ Every one might have come across this story, Tughluq changes his capital city Delhi to Devagiri and again back to Delhi. In this process of changing capital, Tughluq lost many of his army men, wealth and his reputation. Finally, he was called “MAD MAN OF HISTORY”. Now consider the Satyam case, Mr R.R has taken the decision to acquire to Maytas and again took back the decision. But in the mean time, he has lost his share value, his reputation and more chances of loosing his post as Chairman. There are many more similarities among both of them. So Mr. R.R can be called as Tughluq of Modern IT.

Tughluq remained forever in the books and thoughts of many humans because of his activities. In business terminology, we can say it as “Branding”; It is Negative Branding.
If there are any such thoughts for Mr. R.R, i don’t think this will be successful in the present modern IT world. ”Sorry Sir!, Better luck in the next history”

As a author, I tried to understand some facts about both companies and here are some details

Maytas:

Metro Rail Project- Maytas is a part of Hyderabad Metro Rail Project on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) platform.

Generally the scenario is that, the government calls for bid and the tender is sanctioned for the least quoted. In this case, Maytas pays to the government Rs 30,311 crore spread over the concession period of 35 years. I came to hear that, Maytas has asked the government a land of 260 odd acres in Hyderabad as a return for this project. The required land is also given for the company for their Real Estate division.

Government- No investment + only 260 acres of land
Maytas- Rs 30,311 crores + Project cost + Project maintenance


Maytas Properties-
They invested a huge amount of money in Maytas Hill County ( a 300 acre project). Jubilee Hills Landmark Project (5.7 acre project), 75 acre SEZ, Maytas logistics infra projects at several locations.
By having a look at all these projects and the global real estate market condition, I think that Maytas is in serious trouble due to lack of funds.
So, here comes the father to rescue his son (Hollywood style, because it is global). He over valued the Maytas stocks and tried to rescue his son .Every father, wants his son to be successful person like him. It can be forgiven, if it was only among father and son. There are also common people, investors, whom they forgot for their personal benefits and profits.

.......Share your thoughts, -Author

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Inside Facts: Satyam - FIFA

Disclaimer: All information in this post is collected from secondary sources and a bit analysis done by me
All the posts published till now, speak more about negative part of Satyam Computers. Now, Let me put some facts of Satyam, which i got from Secondary and primary sources. I hope, this can be helpful for any research companies.

Satyam - FIFA deal Satyam Computers is the first Indian company to sign up as a FIFA World Cup Sponsor. According to the agreement, Satyam bagged the global rights for 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and the two FIFA Confederations Cups which fall within the 2007-2014 period.



Satyam was the fourth company after Anheuser-Busch, McDonald's and MTN to join the proposed six-member FIFA World Cup Sponsor line-up under FIFA's commercial hierarchy, which comprises six FIFA Partners, six FIFA World Cup Sponsors and six National Supporters. FIFA has already signed contracts with Adidas, Hyundai, Sony, Coca-Cola, Visa and Emirates Airline as FIFA Partners. In addition, FNB & Telkom SA are the two National Supporters of the 2010 FIFA World Cup so far.

What exactly is FIFA World Cup Sponsor? A FIFA World Cup Sponsor's rights are limited to the FIFA World Cup on a global basis. They consist of the right to category exclusivity, brand association, select marketing assets and secondary media exposure.

Size of the deals: It is estimated to be around $200 million (approx). In includes all the contracts till 2010 world cup

Role of Satyam Computers: The main role is developing the core IT event management system for FIFA and its service partner for IT, accommodation and hospitality - MATCH AG, as well as local organizing committees during the seven years of agreement.
The IT event management is said to have 14 pieces. Key to the whole system is the accreditation component, which will allow the right people at the right place at the right time. The event management system also handles ticketing, results, FIFA's live feeds, as well as FIFA's website. In addition to this, there is a” transport system, a protocol system and volunteer management system”. The volunteer management system is designed to help coordinate over 50 000 volunteers that will be aiding in the event
There will also IT help desk, which is designed for the volunteers and Satyam Technical people manning systems in the nine stadiums.

Below are some pics that show Satyam logo branding strategies:
For enlarging pics, click on them




Friday, November 28, 2008

Inside Facts: Its a Silent Blast: Satyam

Disclaimer: All the information is collected from Internet sources only and few analysis been done on that.


FEW original mails about SATYAM COMPUTERS from an Satyam employee and Satyam HR ( mails from EAHR/EASAP)

Mail 1:

CC: SAP, EA
Few months back I was proud to be called Satyamite… now no more.
I was disparately waiting for the annual appraisal in month of July08, as it was circulated that on 30th June we would get the letter. Due to some unknown reason its postponed to 10th Aug08 (according to EA HR it was 10th Aug and 15th Aug according to SAP HR) and then later last week of Aug08. Now SAP HR has circulated the mail that letter will be given in month of Sep08 and payment would be done in Oct08.
Dear Raju, above thing shows how is the communication gap you have with you and your bunch of monkeys. I have totally lost the faith and trust in this organization and the management. The most awaited event for associates for their hard and sincere work after a year…..is their APPRISAL. You are playing with emotions of 35,000 associates and fooling their family by sending false mail and fake tentative dates.
As I have watched you and your team in all quarter results in television, it was said the best among the all IT companies. And you have said the Satyam growth is always intact with your guidelines. If you said was correct then what is the disaster happened that you are not able to give any final date about the appraisal and misleading all Associates.
All recognized IT companies in India have already given/announced the appraisals to their employees, what is the problem with you that even you can not give a final date (even it could be 31st October 08). Once 2 years back I attended induction program, there it was said that Satyam has plan to list in top 5 in Indian IT companies within years. It seems to me it will remain your sleeping dream only forever, if you do not make such things more transparent.
Do you think that by waiting another 2-3 months, some miracle will happen in Globe so that you will start making even more profit? You are waiting for what??? According to me you are just spoiling the faith and trust of all Satyam Associates for the sake of interest money of the appraisal.
Few months back I was proud to be called Satyamite… now no more.
Raju, Shame on you for making me loose my faith in this organization.
Sorry guys for sending mail through my other account, I am afraid of loosing my job if I use Satyam account.
Mail from SAP HR

Mail 2:

From: HR_SAP
Sent: Friday, August 15, 2008 5:38 PM
To: SAP_Global
Cc: Balakumar_R; Jegapriyan_V
Subject: Appraisal Communication to Associates
Importance: High
Dear Associates,
This has reference to our earlier Communication and Plan to release Individual Salary Revision Letters by this Week. There have been challenges in discussing and concluding the Individual Revisions. HR and Business Leadership are actively engaged in this Assignment.
We regret that there is a delay, and we hope to release the Letters in time to catch September 08 pay Check payable in October 08.
Regards
HRSAP

Mail 3:

From: HR_SAP
Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 8:30 PM
To: SAP_Global
Cc: Balakumar_R; Jegapriyan_V
Subject: Salary Revisions - Communication
Importance: High
Dear All,
We thank you for the patience that you have shown towards closure of the Salary Revisions Phase of Aspire 08. In the last Three Years, the Organization has been able to deliver what was promised in terms of adhering to the committed timelines for release of Revision Letters. There has been a delay this Year for reasons beyond our control.
HR would like to take this opportunity to clarify some doubts relating to Revision Phase:
• The Salary Revisions would be effective 1st July 08
• We expect to complete release of Revision Letters to the associates on or before 15th August, 08
• Based on the above, the Plan is to reflect the Revised Salary with arrears in the August Payroll
• We shall inform if any unforeseen delay were to occur in the above schedule
Looking forward to your continued support and understanding.
Regards,
HRSAP

Mail 4:

Mail From EAHR

Dear Friends,
Due to various process related constraints, there is an unintended delay to finalize and release the revised C&B letters. We might complete this entire process by last week of August, 08 and till then look forward your cooperation. The exact date will be communicated to you very soon.
For any further feedback/clarifications, please get in touch with respective UHRs of your circles.
Regards
Dr. D Sravan Kumar
Head - myHR
HCU - Enterprise Applications
Satyam Computer Services Ltd.

Mail 5:

From: Sravan_Dasoju
Sent: 16 July 2008 15:57
To: EA
Subject: Appraisal Process & Salary Revisions
Dear Friends,
At the upfront, let me thank you for your patience towards closure of the performance appraisals & salary revision process.
In the last three years, the organization has been able to deliver what was promised in terms of adhering to the committed timelines for release of revision letters. There has been a slight delay this year for reasons beyond our control.
Let me take this opportunity to clarify some doubts relating to revisions which have been raised:
• The salary revisions are with effect 1st July, 08.
• We expect to release the letters to the associates on or before 10th Aug, 08
• Based on the completion of revisions and issuing the letters, the plan is to reflect the revised salary with arrears in the August salary. Should there be any unforeseen delay, we will advise you accordingly
Please do keep in touch with your HR leads for any further updates.
Looking forward to your continued support and understanding.
Regards
Dr. D Sravan Kumar
Head - myHR
HCU - Enterprise Applications
Satyam Computer Services Ltd.

These are supporting facts for my previous posts. Some of them might contradict. Today these mails can prove everything. Apart from that you can even verify the employees Balakumar_R, Jegapriyan_V . They are still part of Satyam Computers.

the question arises is, IS SATYAM ANOTHER DOT COM BUBBLE
Check out for the next post. It will be the biggest blast

source of information: http://www.workexp.com/2008/11/01/anonymus-mail-to-sap-circle-of-satyam/

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Strategy: Satyam Sacks Scapegoats !!!


All the information provided is from articles, opinions, reviews


Here comes the news from Chennai, Satyam has terminated over 30 project associates for alleging fake bills by them.

From the company point of view :
These employees are relocated from Hyderabad to Chennai. All these project associates are said to have made foul play in the company by submitting fake bills, when they were relocated from Hyderabad to Chennai.
From the Project Associates
1. According to associates, Satyam Company is asking to prove the validity of one and half year old bill.
2. Their Salaries are withheld by the company and their profiles are deleted from the company records.
3. Even the employees are not given a chance to resign
4. One employee said "We had used packers and movers a year and half back and how can we prove that we used their service? Satyam management is not willing to listen to us,"
5. The bills in question relate to nearly Rs 3,000 incurred by the associates after their transfer last year. The associates insist that they were entitled for this amount and even this was not reimbursed by the company.
6. They are made scapegoats with unnecessary reasons. The number of employees to be sacked will increase to 400. So other370 scapegoats be aware, you might be sacked for any reason (prepare for the worst).

Generally in such big MNCs, we see employees submitting fake bills. But I don’t think it will lead to such a disaster. To maintain good corporate governance, Satyam has completely changed the scenario.
I think there are not many days left for Satyam to be acquired.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Call it Rumors or Reviews but they are Facts : Sad Satyam

All the information provided below is based on the opinions.



Some people call it rumors and some call it as opinions.But here are few facts from the Satyam employees.

These are few of the reviews and opinions shared by the employees of Satyam

Satyam Associate, Bangalore
SATYAM may not be good company at all, because RR is not taking much interest in that compaNy because of his less stake in the company. They have already started cost cutting measures, and soon start job cutting also as a measure to cut cost with less business. !! Be careful !!

Satyam Business Development Manager, Chennai
I have been with satyam for last 1 yr. its my personal experience n advise tht try to go with other company. Its the worst organisation i have seen in my 5yrs of carrier(4 yrs with couple of TOP MNCs).I think its not a gud place for talented ppl.Satyam again strated to play with its employees emotion, expectation,hiding the fact,cheating etc.As u may aware of current yr annual appraisal. If u go back to 2-3 yrs, there was a time when no one was ready to join due to its bad image in the market.It will come again very soon. Best wishes for ur bright career.

ADMS Employee, Hyderabad
as a satyamite,i feel shamed to say this....its simple "W-O-R-S-T" .
No directional procedures followed in Satyam. Joining in satyam is getting back to "bonded labour era".. forget everything....Every manager has ego and bossism to drive his own rule.


Around two years back, Satyam was having an image of encouraging back door jobs (bribing the managers, HR people). And now Satyam is adding few more recognitions from employees. Better Be aware of it!!

Friday, October 24, 2008

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Salary Hike..Money..पैसा..డబ్బు..টক..ದುಡ್ಡು.. காஸு..etc.




After talking about Pink Slip n layoffs..next thing is Salary Hike.The next thing in the Newspapers was Cut in Salary Hike

Due to the economic crisis in US, people in India are struggling. Because Indian companies rely on them. (Its known fact)

Salary hikes in all the companies have been brought down this year. Few companies didn't even give the hikes. Instead of giving hikes, they started laying off employees.

Satyam Average hikes are expected to be about 11-12% for India-based employees compared with last years’ 16.5-18%. These hikes were supposed to happen in August (was told that they can expect 14- 15%), but even now they haven't done it.

TCS announced a 10% salary hike for this fiscal, compared with 10-13% in the previous year

Infosys Technologies offered a 11-13%increase against 12-15% a year ago.

Wipro which normally announces salary hikes for India-based employees in the September quarter, expects raises to be in the range of 8-9%.

People say that it will get more worse during the month of December. If it is so, what will be the situation of employees.At the same time, all these MNCs wants their employees to work for 14- 15 hrs daily. Since, there is no job security, people are forced to do. Till when, we have to face this situation :(..Wait n Watch

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Pink Colour chosen by Big corporates instead of fashion in the form of Pink Slip















For the past one month, If you are reading Newspaper or watching TV, then you might have come across the word "Pink Slip" and that too along with many big MNC's like Satyam, Wipro, Infosys, TCS and recently now Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines.


Few articles:
12/ Sep/2008 Satyam fires 400 employees
Hyderabad-based company has reportedly given pink slips to some 400 engineers and associates at its Hyderabad, Pune and Visakhapatnam centres.

9/ Sep/2008 Wipro gives pink slip to 1,000
Wipro Technologies has put about 4-5 per cent of its workforce, about 2,400-3,000 employees, under the scanner for non-performance. Company sources reveal that about 1,000 employees have been asked to leave.

No idea, what exactly this Pink Slip means and where did this concept come from. This led to write this post about Pink Slip. My next thind to do was Google about Pink Slip. Infact there is a Lingerie company by "Pink Slip" [:P] (Search Pink Slip in Google, 3r result is Pink Slip Lingerie fashion...)

According to Wiki, Pink slip refers to the American practice, by a personnel department, of including a discharge notice (printed on pink paper) in an employee's pay envelope to notify the worker of his or her termination of employment or layoff.
The term is first recorded in 1906; originally the color of the paper had no particular significance.

In the UK and Ireland the equivalent of a pink slip is a P45, in Belgium the equivalent is known as a C4.

These Pink Slip was associated with Indian IT MNC's and now with Airlines. So, which is going to be the next successor of Airlines..Lets wait and see

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Upaid Systems claims Fraud N Forgery on Satyam Computers



Abstract
1996 - Upaid developed the idea of converting any telephone into a de facto pay-phone by using a pre-paid account and a caller personal identification number. Software development was outsourced to Satyam

1997 - Reached a ‘short and relatively informal memorandum of understanding’

1998 - Upaid applied for US patent
Had to demonstrate 'unity of ownership' of the IP rights in its invention
Satyam normally transfers such rights in the products it creates for its customers, but there was no formal agreement to that effect in this instance
MOU was silent
Parties finalised an Assignment Agreement transferring Satyam's IP to Upaid for a cash consideration. This agreement referred also to a Service Agreement, for which negotiations had begun contemporaneously but which were concluded only in 1999.

2002 - Ended relationship
Settlement agreement superseded all previous agreements; exclusive jurisdiction of English courts

2005 - Patent infringement proceedings in Texas against Verizon, qualcomm
Upaid lost case due to allegedly forged documents by Satyam

April 2007 - Case filed by Upaid in Texas against Satyam
Pertaining to forged documents provided by Satyam

Sept 2007 - Satyam – High court injunction in London
Counter Argument:
1) Upaid’s claims against it in Texas were in breach of the Settlement Agreement, which compromised all such claims
2) The exclusive jurisdiction clause in the Settlement Agreement meant the claims had to be brought before English courts

June 2008 ruling - Case need not be heard in England, can be heard in Texas

2009 - Case to be heard by Texas Jury

In 1996, Upaid was a very small client in terms of project revenue for Satyam computers (i.e 8- 10 million only). But now Upaid says that the amount of losses borne because of the patent, are above USD 1 billion dollars right now. How is Satyam going to handle this situation

DETAIL STUDY FROM OTHER SOURCES
BACKGROUND
Indian IT companies (like Satyam, Infosys and Wipro) operate on a ‘services’ model - where products are created for and on behalf of other clients (such as Upaid). Thus, it is the client who owns the IP rights. When statistics of IP ownership in the Indian IT sector emerge and there is criticism (especially in domestic media) of the near-absence of such ownership, it is usually because of a lack of understanding of the fundamentals of the service model.

This model stays afloat because of the assurance of a continuous revenue stream, and an abundance of comparatively cheap IT skills. It is little surprise then that IT in India appears to have entrenched itself in a risk-averse ethic, creating an environment that discourages innovation.

So companies like Satyam continue to remain predominantly 'service' providers, with insignificant IPR of their own, even though their engineers develop most of the software. Given such a situation, at the very least, service-providers should ensure that their terms of reference are reasonably lucid and straightforward. The case at hand seems to have come about because of poor drafing of, or indeed the absence of proper agreements for, IP rights Assignment and general Service Agreements between Satyam and Upaid, its client company. The dispute might have been entirely avoided if there had been some foresight in the timing and drafting of agreements by both parties.

The Case

Upaid, a UK-based IT company, is a mobile payments specialist. In 1996, Upaid developed the idea of converting any telephone into a de facto pay-phone by using a pre-paid account and a caller personal identification number. Software development was outsourced to Satyam and, in 1997, they reached a ‘short and relatively informal memorandum of understanding’.

In 1998, when Upaid went about applying for a US patent on this product, it had to demonstrate 'unity of ownership' of the IP rights in its invention. Satyam normally transfers such rights in the products it creates for its customers, but there was no formal agreement to that effect in this instance. The judgment says that the Memorandum of Understanding ‘dealt only briefly with the ownership of inventions and was silent as to any intellectual property rights’. To meet the requirements of the US Patent and Trademark Office, the parties finalised an Assignment Agreement transferring Satyam's IP to Upaid for a cash consideration. This agreement referred also to a Service Agreement, for which negotiations had begun contemporaneously but which were concluded only in 1999.

The 1999 Service Agreement, which related to a dedicated unit at Satyam working exclusively on Upaid products, retrospectively dated the commencement of activities to September 1998 (around the time the Assignment Agreement was concluded), suggesting that the two Agreements were to be read together. The Service Agreement also contained a clause that provided for the rights to revert to Satyam in the event of non-payment for services rendered.

All was well for some time. Satyam acquired a quarter of Upaid in a debt-equity exchange. But by 2002 their relationship had deteriorated: Upaid complained about Satyam's quality of work; Satyam said it had not been paid and that the IP rights should revert to it; there were issues about Satyam’s representation on the Upaid Board; and there were allegations of IP infringement from both sides.

Wisdom having dawned, eventually, by the end of 2002, Satyam and Upaid finalised a Settlement Agreement under the exclusive jurisdiction of English courts. This was expressed to supersede all previous agreements.

But there was more trouble to come. In 2005, Upaid began patent infringement proceedings in Texas against two other parties, and sought Satyam's assistance in its defence. There followed an interlude involving allegations of forgery by the Texan defendants and consequential allegations of forgery by Upaid. The alleged forgeries threatened the validity of the original Upaid patent that had been applied for in 1998. Eventually, Upaid claims, it had to settle the Texas case on unfavourable terms because of Satyam’s conduct.

Presumably still smarting from the result of its last lawsuit, Upaid then applied to the Texas courts inter alia for damages for Satyam's alleged fraud, and for a consequent alleged breach of the Assignment Agreement of 1999.

In the latest round, the English case brought by Satyam, an injunction was sought by Satyam. It argued that either Upaid's claims against it in Texas were in breach of the Settlement Agreement, which compromised all such claims or that the exclusive jurisdiction clause in the Settlement Agreement meant the claims had to be brought before English courts.

The Commercial Court for England and Wales eventually refused the injunction and held that the Settlement Agreement did not deprive Upaid of future rights to sue for breach of assignment or for alleged fraud in relation to that agreement. After a lengthy discussion on the jurisdiction issue and conflict of laws generally, the court decided that the claims for damages did not concern the validity of the patent itself and there was no clause in the agreement that required these particular claims to be necessarily litigated in England.

Update till now
Now Satyam has to return to Texas to tackle the old Upaid lawsuit. At least, it should have learnt from this not to enter into MoUs that are ‘short and relatively informal’, without assessing the costs and risks of future litigation.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

World Bank shows the EXIT door to Satyam Computers








Recently there were lot of rumors in the market regarding Satyam Computers and World Bank deal. This topic motivated me to create this blog to make an analysis on this rumors. I hope this blog will not stop @ this topic.

About the deal

June 2003:
World Bank made a deal with Satyam Computers for a period of 3-5 years, where the bank will outsource $10 million worth of application development to the Hyderabad based IT firm every year
The World Bank-Satyam Offshore Development Center in Chennai was started with 150 dedicated staff strength, which is considered on par with 110 World Bank country offices around the world. According to the deal, Satyam delivered ERP,Java & .Net solutions(i.e. Extend Document Management and Integrated Messaging System) and the contract is for offshore services with provision for onsite projects.

Reason for the termination of the deal

Major breach of the bank's treasury network in Washington was discovered in April 2008. The World Bank's Treasury manages $70 billion in assets for 25 clients including the central banks of some countries. It carries out substantial collaborations with the world's finance ministers on public wealth and debt management, runs an active bond-trading desk in Washington, and does everything from currency trading to capital markets financings.

After a forensic analysis of the treasury breach, bank investigators discovered that spy software was covertly installed on workstations inside the bank's Washington headquarters, by one or more contractors from Satyam Computer Services.

The software installed operates through a method known as keystroke logging enables every character typed on a keyboard to be transmitted to a unknown location via the Internet.

Once this was discovered, World bank officials immediately shut off all the links between Washington and Chennai, where Satayam use to operate the bank;s sole offshore computer center, which is said to be responsible for all financial and human resources information

Satyam is banned from any future projects with the bank.
This was the statements commented by World Bank Senior Executive “I want them off the premises now," -Zoellick.

After the termination

Satyam Computers comments that the story was wrong and was riddled with falsehoods and errors. “The story cites misinformation from unattributed sources and leaked e-mails that are taken out of context,” .
“Like other public and private institutions, the World Bank has repeatedly experienced hacking attacks on its computer systems and is constantly updating its security to defeat these,”.

Satyam has lost its brand value. Future of Satyam with this kind of reputation cannot be assured. It might loose many other existing clients and will be a difficult task to attract new clients. Considering the present industry scenario, Satyam might get more worst compared to the other IT firms


The information in the blog might not be true. This is analysis of information collected from many sources and news articles