Satyam loses Telstra contract

Telstra has reportedly dropped an IT outsourcing contract with Satyam, the second major Australian company to do so since the disgraced Indian outsourcer's accounting scandal came to light.

According to the Australian newspaper, the applications support contract worth $32 million annually would be picked up by EDS.

Telstra pointed to the fact that a number of its major IT contracts with EDS, IBM GS, Infosys and Satyam had come up for renewal and that it had announced its intention in November to lower the number of contractors to two.

Yet when asked whether Satyam had been outed, Telstra would not comment. "Decisions about supply arrangements with individual vendors will not be announced to the media by Telstra at this stage of the process," a spokesperson for the company told ZDNet.com.au.

This is the second major Australian contract Satyam has lost since it became embroiled in an accounting scandal because Satyam's former chairman B.Ramalinga Raju had inflated cash and bank balances by US$1.04 billion.

The National Australia Bank decided in February to suspend future work with the Indian outsourcer until the future of the company became clearer.

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Talkback 7 comments

    Quality v Quantity Anonymous -- 17/03/09

    it's a pity ANZ isn't following the lead of NAB & Telstra.

    I would love to see the numbers on the cost saving by off-shoring versus the lost business from the poor quality and customer service experience that seems to be part an parcel of off-shoring.

    Quality v Quantity Anonymous -- 17/03/09 (in reply to #320125884)

    offshoring do not necessarily means poor customer service..it can be part of a learninig curve and as a process/function is outsourced and expertise is built it can be improved.

    I agree at the same time that business critical processes should remain onshore and more rule based jobs can be outsourced thus ensuring higher productivity and better margins for companies. This gets passed to end consumers eventually. Outsourcing /offshoring is a rality and we all are enjoying our comfartable lives as a reult of this activity

    Not True Anonymous -- 17/03/09 (in reply to #320125884)

    There is no tangible proof of loss in quality due to offshoring, infact, on several instances offshoring to good vendors gives awesome results, that too at a lower cost !!!!

    Yes it is Anonymous -- 17/03/09 (in reply to #320125909)

    So everyone who called an offshore helpdesk and couldn't understand the operator (or, couldn't make themselves understood by the operator) is racist and/or a liar?

    Offshoring works sometimes, for some types of work, with the right people involved, but a lot of the time it doesn't - usually when the client is shortsighted and goes with the false economy of the lowest price tag, which is often, because saving money is usually the motivation for considering offshoring.

    Offshoring is definitely worse Mel Sommersberg -- 18/03/09 (in reply to #320125909)

    I've never once dealt with an outsourced call centre - in or outside Australia that was able to help me better than a call centre owned by the company I was paying my money to.

    Any company who includes in their advertising "No offshore call centres - guaranteed!" is likely to pick up lots of punters as at the end of the day their service stinks, the line quality is dreadful and their fake Australian accents stand out like dogs balls.

    Offshoring is definitely worse MAP -- 18/03/09 (in reply to #320125965)

    Could not agree more, and I wonder how many other Satyam's there are out there ? But when it comes down to paying more for a better service, too many of us are simply not prepared to cop it !

    Not sure about the benefits Anonymous -- 18/03/09

    I'm doubtful of the benefit if you take all the factors into account, which many companies do not - that is to consider the complete TCO (total cost of ownership) and TAC (total acquisition cost) and its not just about call centre work.

    I also see off shoring as a typical abrogation of management responsibility. A failure to make what you have as efficient as possible even before there is a consideration of off shoring.

    The above comments are naive - reducing cost (cheap labour) is the key driver as nobody seriously considers the aesthetics of the change as this adds no value. In any event the following factors are relevant:

    1. The arbritage between low cost providers and and on shore is in decline as realtive wage costs change;
    2. Some companies are realising that doing things 'remotely' can be a burden and have had the balls to 'onshore'
    3. Increased use of computers to handle routine calls (capital will replace jobs no matter where they are)
    4 Some are realising that off shore environments are actually high risk - political stability, poor infrastructure, etc so mission critical will stay at home

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