NEWS
...during the times of uncertainty."
"The people from the CIO down were definitely happy to stay with the company," he added.
"But the people who questioned the wisdom of the CIOs were the chief risk and compliance officers because to them it was not about a single restatement of accounts, it was more about uncertainty of the future status of employees as things stood on 7 January."
Now Gurnani is in the process of meeting former clients who ditched the company, reassuring them that the company has a mostly new board of directors and new executive team, a revamped governance structure.
"We want to win back everybody as the reasons for separation have disappeared. We have got a very strong win back programme," he said.
"We have shown that we are a financially stable company and the governance is moving to the new ownership structure."
His no-holds barred strategy appears to be beginning to pay off - since April the company has signed 24 new customers, mainly based in Asia, India and Africa, and with two in Europe - including an automotive giant and chemical manufacturer.
Last month one of Satyam's existing clients, pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, affirmed its commitment to stay with Satyam's progeny, signing a five year contract for Mahindra Satyam to provide SAP and other critical system support.
Further deals with old clients are on the cards, according to Gurnani, who added there are "at least another 10 major firms in the UK and Europe that are about to reveal their faith in Satyam".
But it's not just customers that the outsourcer will need to have faith in the company: it's workers too.
A wave of staff jumped ship after the news broke, with Satyam losing 1,602 employees in February 2009, more than double the 746 who left the month before. The company is keen to hold onto the skilled staff that remain and Gurnani admits that when he is not courting customers, he has been reassuring employees.
Still, Gurnani believes the company is now getting itself back on track: "The cash flow is positive, it [Mahindra Satyam] has some cash after paying debts and legal liabilities. We believe that in six months we will align our operating metrics with the industry benchmarks."





