New Delhi: Almost 18 months after facing a crisis brought on by its top leadership, one of India's largest IT services companies is looking to jump back into the spotlight with some help from this year's Fifa World Cup.
"It's a marketing event for us, because our name is going to be on the stadium. Fifa World Cup will give us a major brand image," said Manojeet Chowdhury, Mahindra Satyam vice-president and head of the Mena (Middle East and North Africa) region. He said the event gives the company a chance to be seen outside India. "It also gives us a higher brand valuation," he said. "People won't have to say ‘who is Mahindra Satyam' when they've seen us on the TV."
He described the working with the World Cup as a high-risk event, but one with a high gain. "There can be no failures," he said. But the payoff is huge for the company's image, as it will allow the company to put its previous problems behind it.
In January 2009, Sat-yam's founder, B. Ramalinga Raju, announced that the company's profits had been overstated for a number of years. On January 10 the company's board of directors was replaced, and both Raju and the company's CFO Vadlamani were later arrested. Satyam's stock price, which had reached a high of Rs544 (Dh42) in 2008 fell to Rs11.50, although a previous scandal with a company owned by Raju's sons had already driven the price down to Rs158 in December 2008.
The company was renamed Mahindra Satyam in June 2009 after Tech Mahindra purchased an equity share in the company. Satyam began working with Fifa under its newly created sports division in 2006.
According to the person in charge of overseeing the company's work at the World Cup, Dilbagh Gill, who is also head of the sports division, Mahindra Satyam is providing software services that make up the core of the event's IT services.
"We have developed and maintained the event's IT backbone," said Gill, who spoke to Gulf News from South Africa.
The software is helping Fifa with over 250,000 accreditations for personnel and media, maintaining the volunteer and transport systems, and keeping track of over $1 billion in assets, such as mobile phones and notebooks.
Gill said the company has put nearly "300 man years" of work into the project and other "200 man years of support" into the project over the last three years. It is the second time that the company has provided IT services for Fifa.
The first time was at last year's Confederation Cup, which was also held in South Africa.
"This is a vertical that is going to grow," Gill said.
According Chowdhury the company moved into the sports industry because of the potential for growth.
"Traditionally, we have focused on areas where maximum IT is required, so we would go for IT intensive industries like telecom, banking or the travel industry," he said.
"You always look for niche areas where you can be one out of the pack and I think this one is a niche where we can develop and there isn't much competition."
Chowdhury said the company is in discussions with other sports leagues, including those in the Middle East, but it has not finalised any agreements yet.
