The Satyam Fiasco : VPP - The positives & the negatives

Sorry again for the delayed blog update. Have been busy preparing for my higher studies since I no longer am required to go to the office. This for sure is a huge take-away from the VPP.

Yes, for a change, I am writing something positive about Satyam! Well, I am a human and after all, who doesn't wanna get paid for a 6 month holiday!

The key take-away, apart from the free time is the money that they are giving out to the employees. Although it is the basic salary, but if a person has savings, which is highly unlikely, the survival is possible. Of course, you'll have to borrow from friends and family, but whatever!

And the rosy stuff comes to an end out here.

Think about the guy who has just got married a couple of months back, and has been shown the door through VPP. There are people who had liabilities running into thousands of Rupees in EMIs. They are screwed for sure!

I can say that I am enjoying my time on this 6 month holiday that has been doled out to me. But it gets frustrating after some time. If a person is living in the hope that they would be called back for projects, that is highly unlikely to take place.

Analyze this : If they could not find a project for you when you were present in person in the office, how and why the hell would they call you back?

There are many people who are getting out of billable roles, every day. They would be the ones who would get a priority over you in terms of project allotment.

Another thing. If you had thought that your FLCL (Full Life Cycle Leader) would be working in the office to bring you back, the chances are that they themselves would have been fired or would have been asked to 'let go' of the job.

There is utter chaos in the Satyam campuses these days. This what I have come to know from my friends who are still hanging in there. The senior management structure has undergone a thorough restructuring and there are many who are on the wrong side of the line. They eventually would be jumping the ship, or a dhow, if I may call it.

The point is, no one's job is safe. I am talking about the people not on VPP. As far as my brethren and the ladies on VPP are concerned, you'll keep getting that odd mail from the management regarding more people being taken back from VPP, but somehow, you would still be reading it from home on a Wednesday afternoon.

By the way, we're on Technorati now. I said Hello! They replied by saying epyh23st58 !

The Satyam Fiasco : Raju & Sons

The Times of India has reported that Raju stashed away millions in foreign accounts even before the money could reach Indian shores. This surely doesn't come as a surprise to me!

I still remember the 7th of January, 2009 and the week following the dreaded date. There were so many 'ardent Raju worshippers' who believed what Raju had written in his hog-wash of a letter. I for one, a sworn skeptic, could not digest what was written in the letter.

The perpetrator of crime wanted to leave as a sage. And he sure did succeed in luring many of his followers in his spell.

Now the questions that I want to ask, and answers to which are pretty obvious, are :

Why has Raju and his family's property not been confiscated and frozen?

I'm sure the answer to this question would be that the matter is sub-judice and that no action can be taken till there is a verdict in the case. The question that arises is that why the Indian legal system is so incompetent so as to allow perpetrators of a crime, who have wreaked havoc on lives of thousands of innocent people, still living lives of luxury?

Why can't there be a provision in the law that prima-facie evidence should be enough to confiscate the property and assets of the perpetrators when the evidence is glaring at the reality?

Why is he in a VIP jail when lives of over 200k people have been screwed up by that shameless creature?

This one surely beats me! I mean, this cheat is languishing in a VIP jail when the very people who worked hard for building his company are now living on subsistence salaries! Many people who had faith in Satyam and who had contributed in its growth have been put into VPP. Why in the world is he not in a regular cell? I would love to see him sharing a cell with petty thieves!

The Satyam Fiasco : VPP Call-back a lie

The recent media reports had suggested that 380 associates had been called back from VPP within the first week of being doled [pun intended] out to them.

The real picture is a bit different. These 380 associates include people whose Reporting Managers did not take proactive stand to ave them from VPP earlier on, and realised later on that the ship had sailed. Not a problem. They promptly assign these associates to other projects just to keep them in. They would not be doing any credible work as they would not have the know-how of the new projects. Its just that the associates had been licking the soles of these RMs for a long time and they have been 'rewarded'!

Another group that has been recalled would fall in the category of associates whose presence was demanded by the client. This shows how incompetent and blind the process was. The client had to force a recall as Satyam management had put deserving and critical employees on VPP.

The projects follow a rotating billing policy. Deserving associates were put into VPP because they were in between billing periods.

The HR department claiming that it was a fruition of their efforts that 380 associates were called back within a week is farcical and a blatant lie.

The Satyam Fiasco : Total Layoffs

The question of the hour is : How many people at Satyam are going to be put on VPP?

The answer : A total of 16,000.

In the first wave, 9,000 associates and their fate was consigned to VPP. There would be another round of VPP assignment process and would encompass another 7,000 associates.

There is another aberration that might lead to more people being accommodated in VPP.

A few of the associates who had been handed over VPP in the first wave had already been shortlisted to be absorbed into TechMahindra. There was some miscommunication on part of the management of the two entities, and thus, these people would be called back from VPP and will ake way for others to get into VPP.

The Satyam Fiasco : Layoffs for HR

So, the mess-makers become the target now. A total of around 30 HR personnel are responsible for handling 20,000 odd TechMahindra employees. Compare that to the 800 HR personnel at Satyam to manage 40,000 odd employees.

Today is the 'D-Day' for layoff/sabbatical for almost 600 HR personnel and around 300 Finance people.

These people were made to do the dirty work of putting many a deserving associates in VPP and now they are going to be a part of the same team.

Talk about time!

The Satyam Fiasco : The Betrayal

In the previous post, I had highlighted a few questions that need to be answered in light of the recent developments at Satyam. The questions that I had put forth were:

What does this mean for people who tried to believe what the leaders had been saying?

Well, effectively, the VPP that has been forced on to associates puts to rest any assumptions that the people had made regarding the humane factor of the whole exercise. Doling out basic salary and an Internet allowance of 250/- could be humane to some, but not to the self respecting few who have been literally kicked out.

Post January 7, 2009, we had been fed messages of standing for the organization and defending it on any forum that the issue of Satyam being tainted came up.

• I did my bit for defending the organization as a whole when I appeared for a GD/PI interview at SIBM, Pune.
• I considered it my duty to defend my employer when questions about the integrity of the 40,000 employees came up.
• I defended my organization during the CSR assignments I took up at Satyam Foundation.

I did all that because I believed that with Raju behind bars and a new board in place, there would be a change in the working culture of the company. I did that because I was the 'Brand Ambassador' for brand Satyam. I stood for the management which would consider me unsuitable to continue in the organization and let me go, in a 'humane' manner.

But you know what, I was a fucking idiot to have done so. I always credited myself with a great gift of sensing the hunch. But I faltered.

I believed in change (Mr. Obama was an inspiration as well :P). I bought the shit that the so called leaders were doling out for free.

What does this mean for those who had resolved to consider all the management talk as bull, the whole of it? And they still felt that things would change.

The associates who had had a taste of the Satyam medicine right from the first day of joining, knew that the future wasn't all rosy. I was one of them. But I faltered on my way.

I am a strong believer in change. I have always believed that change is good. But here, at Satyam, it was the other way round. It is very simple to see why things have not moved for the better. You cannot expect the DNA of the organization to change if the powers that be are not replaced.

You cannot expect Satyam to to move on a path of revival if the regional bias that engulfs the organization is not tackled (yes, it is there).

I'll quote a very simple example. This friend of mine, a hard-working chap, got into VPP, in spite of working 14 hour days and meeting deadlines. He was instrumental in developing an application that could earn Satyam millions in royalty if marketed properly. He worked under an utterly incompetent Reporting Manager (the sole criteria for promotion and galore in Satyam is the years you have put in). But surprisingly, his RM was not sacked, nor was his RM. Why? Because they hail from the same state. Imagine a team discussion taking place in a regional language, where the team constitution is pan-India!

What does this do to the optimism of a young technical graduate in his first job?

This question sums it all up. This is my first job. We were trained in a technology which had no future scope in Satyam. There were 350 people already on bench, trained in the same technology, when our training started. This was the first straw. Then I realized that if you have contacts, this place can be a heaven for you. You could exploit several loopholes in the system as well. But when you are under a bond of two years and the collateral amounts 200,000, you can do little but work according to the whims and fancies of the 'higher-ups'.

I was optimistic that some project would come along one day. It has been two years, and my batch mates, including me were not put in a billable role even for a single day!

I was optimistic that things would change for good. I can assure you, had it not been for my family and my better half, I would have cracked out of frustration.

But then I learnt to utilize the loopholes in the system to at least ensure that I get the maximum out of the system.

I am still optimistic that good things would be there for me, somewhere. An eternal believer in Karma, I had not done bad to anyone in this organization, no petty politics, no regional bias, no bull shit.

But I am not optimistic about this organization. I have seen people who work like donkeys being retained, and smart workers being put into VPP.

I have seen people who find it hard to write three lines in English properly, getting the highest rating for communication in the annual appraisal, and those with excellent communication skills being shown the door.

I have seen people with awesome creativity being dumbed down because of the useless work that they had been assigned.

In my first job, I have seen an organization go down the drains and have seen valuable talent kicked out because they never got the chance to show their capability.

I have seen bright engineers with dreams in their eyes, broken and dejected with no idea about the future. The dreams have been trampled upon.

The Satyam Fiasco : Virtual Pool Program (VPP)

Finally, the time has come and Satyam's management has found a 'humane' way to 'deal' with the issue of excess resources. The solution is called : Virtual Pool Program.

The interesting fact about this VPP is that the 'excess' employees would be virtually working for the company, just like the presence of many leaders who consider themselves as messiahs of this godforsaken company.

I believe, these good for nothings should have been put into virtual mode before any of the 7000 or so associates who have been paid in such a grand manner for staying back at Satyam.

All the bull shit that was doled out in the past months about staying back and rebuilding the company, about bringing Satyam back to its glory days and 'keeping the faith' has fallen squarely on its face.

I was one of the 'Brand Ambassadors' at Satyam. My job was to pacify associates in peer-to-peer meetings and quell any rumors that might be going around. I was given the responsibility to hold discussions with my peers and answer their queries pertaining to job-losses, salary delays and the likes. I was the point of communication between the higher-ups (a word that I have learnt at Satyam, as it is used more than the word quality). I had been given specific instructions to project the views of the management in an unbiased manner, keeping my thoughts to myself.

I was pretty successful in doing the same and there were many a queries that we could answered. But here I am, writing this blog, giving a personal side of the VPP. I am in the VPP.

What does this mean for people who tried to believe what the leaders had been saying? What does this mean for those who had resolved to consider all the management talk as bull, the whole of it? And they still felt that things would change. What does this do to the optimism of a young technical graduate in his first job?

I believe these questions need to be answered in a different post altogether.

P.S.: I have been a bit occupied with my personal issues, so wasn't able to update the blog. Now that I have time, lots of it, I would try and update this place regularly.

The Satyam Fiasco : The Buyer

The golden question doing the rounds these days is : Who would emerge as the highest bidder for Satyam?

I would put my money on a dark horse : Anil Ambani.

Why? Here are your answers.

1. He has been foraying into niche fields like media & entertainment, communications and the likes. 

2. He had stated his intention to get into IT space quite some time back.

3. He sees value in acquiring a company whose worth is down to $743 million from $7 billion, a year back.

4. He likes being a news-maker.

5. He is the silent killer. 

The Satyam Fiasco : The Client Exodus

There have been contract terminations, and there are many in the offing as well.

Let's have a look at the terminated contracts.

1. State Farm Insurance (SFI)

Deal Size : Over $100 million

Relationship Duration : 15 years

Top 10 Client : YES

Satyamites involved  : 400

Satyamites absorbed : 25-30

Moved to : TCS or Wipro

Brighter side : None

2. National Australian Bank (NAB)

Deal Size : $50 million to $100 million

Relationship Duration : 5 years

Top 10 Client : NO

Satyamites involved : 100 (onsite. Offshore data unavailable)

Satyamites absorbed : NA

Moved to : In-house IT operations

Brighter side : Satyam retains the support operations for the work done till date.

3. EA Sports

Deal Size : $10 million

Relationship Duration : 3 years

Top 10 Client : NO

Satyamites Involved : 250

Satyamites absorbed : NA

Moved to : TCS. KT starting this week.

Brighter side : None.

The Satyam Fiasco : A.S.Murthy : New CEO

Now, as has been the case with Satyam in the past, there are decisions which are difficult to rationalize. ASM has been appointed the CEO of Satyam. The question that arises is, WHY?

It is out in public domain that ASM sold 40000 Satyam shares just before the announcement of 'Strategic Merger' with Maytas was announced. Either he knew how bad the situation was, or he was just caught on the wrong foot. But the point to ponder upon here is that there were more eligible people in the fray.

Take for example Mr. Homi R. Khusrokhan. He would have made an amazing CEO. The reasons:

1. He did not have the Satyam DNA in him, like ASM has. (We'll come to that later)

2. He is a highly respected person in the business circles.

3. He has TATA in his DNA. If Satyam had approached any client with HRK as the CEO, they wouldn't have had any reservations because of the high levels of ethics followed at TATA.

4. He is leading a retired life. So, he would have been the ideal choice as an interim CEO.

Why ASM is not the best:

1. He has broken bread with Raju for almost 12 of the 15 yrs he has spent at Satyam. When the scam is of such huge proportions, ASM getting the benefit of doubt is....lucky!

2. The clients are wary of speaking to anyone who might have been hand-in-glove with the Rajus. They have specifically mentioned severance of contacts in case the people responsible for the scam are still in the company.

3. If ASM is great with clients, as stated, he should have continued doing so in his current capacity. If his stated contacts were amalgamated with the stature and integrity of HRK, the Satyam stock would have jumped a full 50%, at least.

There is a rat somewhere. And it is stinking more by the day. 

The Satyam Fiasco : Board Members : Updated

Just for the record, here is the list of all the board members who have been given the charge of 'reviving' Satyam..

Chairman : Deepak S. Parekh (Chairman HDFC Bank)

Member : Kiran Karnik (Former President of NASSCOM)

Member : C Achuthan (former presiding officer of SEBI)

Member : Tarun Das (Chirf Mentor, CII)

Member : T.N. Manoharan (former President, ICAI)

Member : S.B. Mainak (eminent economist, representing LIC)

Special Advisor : Homi R. Khusrokhan (ex-MD, Tata Chemicals)

Special Advisor : Partho S. Dutta (ex-Group Finance Director, Murugappa Group)

The Satyam Fiasco : Credit Card Limits Reinstated

So, the credit card limits have been brought back to similar levels that existed before being slashed down in a frenzy. The amount of cash that can be withdrawn from the credit card also shows a non-zero value now. :)

But it still brings to fore the fact that at the end of the day, it is all business for the banks. No amount of 'relationship building' with the bank would do you any good, if bad times beckon you.

The Satyam Fiasco : The Long Break

I haven't been able to give you the inside dough for a month now. A lot has happened in the past month. Will recap that in the following post and then try keep you updated about the atmosphere inside the company.

The Satyam Fiasco : The HDFC Angle

Just when things were not going right at Satyam, Satyamites got another shocker, a rather more embarrassing one. All HDFC credit card holders got their purchasing limits revised, automatically, and reduced by drastic levels.

For instance : A fellow Satyamite with a limit of Rs. 50,000 got an SMS from HDFC stating that his credit limit is revised to Rs. 2,000 with immediate effect! Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 2,000! You can't even book a frikkin air ticket on that card!

On calling up the customer care, he was hit in the place that hurts the most.

Satyamite : Hi! I have just received a message stating that my card's credit limit is revised from 50,000 to 2,000. What is the reason?

Call Centre Guy : Sir, you are right. This is a result of an exclusive policy that we have adopted for Satyam employees!

Sunofabitch! True, when a ship sinks, it is the rats that run the first. And a rat HDFC has turned out to be! This colleague of mine had been using the card for at least 2 years, without missing out on payments. Now this is the way that HDFC rewards loyalty.

Never in my life, would I go for an HDFC Credit Card or Account. Never!

It is just disgusting to hear something like that!

The Satyam Fiasco : CBI Enquiry; Funds Diverted to Maytas

My suspicion and belief that the profits from Satyam were diverted to Maytas were confirmed when TOI reported a huge trail leading to the siphoning off of funds. I has mentioned in my earlier post that diversion of funds to Maytas was highly possible. The same sentiment was shared by many in the financial circles as well.

The AP Government will as for 'forensic auditing' of Satyam accounts, and thus, bring the CBI in picture. I hope the process doesn;t get caught in the legal time-warp that Indian judicial system is so notorious for.

And as for the Save Raju mails, I doubt they will stop. I doubt that the stupid freaks at my office would have a change of heart and realise that they have been taken for a ride. I know, that the miniscule brained masses at Satyam would still revere Raju as a demi-god. 

Just watch this space, I'm sure my fellow Satyamites would not betray their feudal-age reverence of the 'job-doling-Raju'.

The Satyam Fiasco : CFO Arrested

The CFO, V. Srinivasan had to take time out from being 'at home', and be arrested for the fraud. He, amongst the battery of co-conspirators would be answerable to the investors, the shareholders and the employees. Raju's statement that he alone was responsible for the fiasco is like saying that Hitler was responsible for the genocides, and that his deputies had no idea that they were targeting the Jews. 

And the worst thing is that the people are believing it as well.

Mr. Raju's parting letter portrayed him as a saint. 'The Maytas deal was the last attempt to set the record straight'. My colleagues are intrigued by his generosity.

Guys, wake up! He did this to save his own sorry ass! He knew that his greed had led him to this state, and he had to do something desperately to cover up the gaping hole in the books. We wouldn't be facing this situation had the company guidance taken a hit for 3-4 quarters on the trot! After filling the gaps, the company could have come out stronger and better! But that was not to be.

I am not surprised if the investigations reveal that money was diverted to Maytas and other entities.

Accountability was missing at every step!

I would urge the new board to bring in a high level of transparency. If a subordinate sees that the billing rates are being fudged beyond limits, the cat must come out the bag.

The Satyam Fiasco - Rajus Arrested

So, the brothers were finally arrested. At their convenience, if I must say. But, better late than never.

But there are questions galore.

Why is Ram Mynampati, the right hand man of Raju, at helm of affairs?

Where is V. Srinivasan, the CFO? (Ram's answer : At home)

What lies in store for the employees of Satyam?

The Satyam Fiasco : The Ass-Licking

One of the numerous SMSs sent by my office-mates:

(Non-verbatim) All of us, the Satyamites, should stand together and work for the company. We should put in pur best efforts and maintain the highest levels of work ethics. Pray for Raju...

I stand by the thoughts in the SMSs above, but not entirely! Work must go on. That is for sure. And there should not be a case where the client feels that the work quality has gone down. I, for one, am putting in my 10 hours into the job.

But I can't digest the last line. Pray for Raju...? What for?

The people have to realise that it's the company that has provided them with jobs, not this person you are idolizing. Why must I pray for him? Did he think of me when inflating the records? Did he think of me when he was minting money by the millions? Why in the whole fucking world must I pray for him?

Guys, open your eyes! This guy has fucked you in the behind! He could have filled the 'gap in the books'. But he did not. Why? Because he would have 'lost the control of the company and a takeover would have been imminent'.

You are eulogizing a person whose greed has made you insecure about your jobs! I reiterate, it is the organization that gave you the job, not that guy!

For God's sake, come out of the feudal mentality that gives a demi-god status to the owner of the company! Have some self-respect! You are here because you have it in you.

Numerous mails end with 'Save Raju'. Bull-shit! absolute crap! 

One of the guys had written : 'I was fortunate enough to meet him during my ELTP (training) days. He is a very soft spoken person and cannot commit such a crime'.

Wow! I mean, how naive could you be, mate! Jack-the-Ripper was also soft spoken! (I admit, inappropriate comparison)

Guys, stop the ass-licking, please. I feel like being slapped in the face whenever I read a Save Raju plea.

The Satyam Fiasco : Mud-slinging

"We will not touch tainted company like Satyam", said Mr. N R Narayanamurthy.

With due respect sir, it is common knowledge that cooking the books is the proverbial "Rabbit in the Magician's hat". Everyone knows that it's there, but they are still awed when the rabbit appears. Acting dumb and fool is human nature. 

We all know that all companies indulge in this practice and it would be unwise to point finger in such a derogatory manner at a competitor who did not turn out to be a diligent magician.

Mr. Murthy, had all the corporate czars been as pure as the water from the holy Ganges, as your statement portrays you as, there would not have been a necessity to have the PWCs and the E&Ys of the world at all. It is human to err.

I am not defending the erstwhile Chairman of my current employer, but as a responsible and self-respecting Satyam employee, I am disgusted by the level of allegation that you have made. I have the highest respect for you, but I had never expected that you would also take to 'gully-style-lingo".

It is common knowledge that Infosys misses it's guidance every 8th or 9th quarter. This is known as the 'filling the gaps' exercise. Take the hit for 2-3 quarters, and clean up the books. And it is commendable the way this has been done by your organisation to protect investor interests.

The person at the helm of our corporate affairs did not fill up those gaps and ended up with a crate-ful of eggs in the face and the places that you don't want the eggs to hit.

Reiterating my point of view, we must refrain from mud-slinging and ostracizing an Organization on the whole. An organization makes an individual, not the other way round, when you have grown to 50,000+ associates.

Mr. Murthy, I expected you to reply to the situation by setting up higher standards of corporate governance at your esteemed organization. (not lickin :P). 

For pointers, maybe you should have communicated to your employees beforehand, that their swipe-in, swipe-out details would come back to haunt them after 2 quarters. 

Corporate Governance. Poses challenges, Mr. Murthy, doesn't it?

The Satyam Fiasco

The world is abuzz with news of startling revelations by Satyam Computer Services Chairman, B. Ramalinga Raju, pertaining to the cooked-up books of the fourth largest IT company in India.

The repercussions are horrible, by pessimist standards, and awesome, by optimist viewpoint.

Pessimist

1. Zero value, overnight

2. Tarnished image

3. Exodus of clients to other IT companies

4. Future of 45000 employees (its not 53000, they had 'forced' almost 8000 employees to resign)

Optimist

1. Dead-wood managers to be shown door in case of a takeover

2. Worthy employees would finally have a say

3. Professionalism by elimination of regionalism (ya ya, u can screw me on that, but it is existent in huge proportions), in case of a take-over

4. Amazing human capital would not be lost for the greed of a few

The issues

1. Why would another company 'touch' a tarnished company like Satyam?

2. What is the fair price for a buyout, considering the fact that the whole company was built up on space-ship-loads of lies?

3. If the human capital leaves, and so do the clients, what is left to buy?

Why am I writing this?

A. I am a Satyam employee, hardly a year into the organization. I have been the hardest hit. My future is bleak. I have credit card debt. I have a personal loan to re-pay. My total liability : Huge!

Wish I could cook the books to 'fill the minute gap'.