Ted Pretty said the relationship between Tech Mahindra and Telstra has been “reignited”. Photo: David Mariuz
Paul Smith
Related Quotes
ASX Announcements
 |
09/08/13 | Transcript from Full Year Fin Results – analyst briefing | |
| 09/08/13 | Initial Director’s Interest Notice | ||
| 08/08/13 | Letter to Shareholders | ||
| 08/08/13 | CEO/CFO Analyst Briefing Presentation | ||
| 08/08/13 | Director Appointment/Resignation |
Indian outsourcing giant Tech Mahindra has kicked off a week-long Australian charm offensive, with a target of winning new business from Telstra firmly in its sights.
The program of local client meetings and briefings began on Monday with a day-long analyst briefing in Sydney, as the $US2.7 billion ($2.95 billion) revenue company attempts to reposition itself after the completion of its merger with Satyam.
Non executive chairman of its Australia and New Zealand operations, Ted Pretty, a former group managing director at Telstra, said the door to winning business with Australia’s largest telco had been re-opened now the company had sorted out its internal changes.
He said that during his time at Telstra, Satyam had been a trusted supplier to then chief information officer Jeff Smith, who is now CEO of Suncorp Business Services.
“Tech Mahindra already had big customer relationships in the Australian market, including customers like Vodafone, but now it has been able to recapture the interests of people like Telstra,” Mr Pretty said.
“The relationship with Telstra has been reignited . . . We can’t go into the detail, because some of it is sensitive about different projects they have under way that are competitive in nature, but certainly we are seeing an ability of the combined company to be able penetrate clients such as Telstra on a broad array of service offerings.”
The merger of Tech Mahindra and Satyam occured after Satyam became embroiled in scandal when its founder Ramalinga Raju admitted to having falsified company accounts for several years to the tune of $1.45 billion in fictitious assets.
Tech Mahindra stepped in to take control of a merged company, which has since made strides in putting the negative stories in the past. It is now in a position where it wants to expand its Australian presence, and hired Mr Pretty to advise on local business development.
“I think, because the merger is out of the way, there is great expectation that Tech Mahindra will now significantly seek to expand its operations in the Australian market,” Mr Pretty said.
“That means to have a significantly stronger domestic base by acquisition, and the second one is to grow organically in Australia, with a strong mix of onshoring as well as offshoring activities.”
This could lead to speculation about the nature of any work won with Telstra, in the light of the telco’s plans to cut internal roles as part of a restructuring of its operations division.
Chief executive David Thodey told reporters last week that this could involve more work conducted offshore.
“We will continue to look at where it’s best to put the work because we are an Australian company doing business in Asia and that’s the big transition we have to [make] for the future of this company,” he said.
“I know it’s difficult and I emphasise with people who say ‘what about jobs in Australia?’ but we’ve got to grow our business outside Australia and therefore we’ll continue to re-balance it.”
Asked about Mr Pretty’s claims on Monday a Telstra spokeswoman said no big deals had been signed with Tech Mahindra.
“Tech Mahindra aren’t engaged in any significant work with Telstra currently, but we understand they are participating in our tender for a new IT Professional Services Panel which is currently under way,” she said.
Outsourcing specialist Mohit Sharma, director at Mindfields, said the completion of the merger would help Tech Mahindra win more significant deals in the Australian market and said it needn’t focus too heavily on its traditional strength in the telecommunications sector.
“Tech Mahindra has more than 44 per cent of its global revenue from telecom vertical and it is more than 47 per cent in the Asia-Pacific region. This percentage is without having Telstra as one of its clients, whereas other peer IT vendors have less than 15 per cent of their global revenue from the telecom vertical,” Mr Sharma said.
“The delay in the merger has been a blessing in a disguise as it has provided enough time to consolidate the offerings, people and the processes of the two companies. The merger will also give a boost to the tarnished brand equity. It might take some time to actually result in new business win but it is definitely the first step towards building the confidence among the user community.”
Source Article from http://www.afr.com/p/technology/tech_mahindra_woos_telstra_iVaopKcKRrVSd138XYNxvK
