Mahindra Satyam in talks with integrators

Recruits Daryn Mckay as country manager

Indian-headquartered Mahindra Satyam has recruited Daryn Mckay as local country manager and is weighing partnerships with system integrators locally in a bid to fast-track market penetration.

Mckay says the company usually sells directly to customers in verticals such as retail, banking and manufacturing, but works with vendors and systems integrators “where it makes sense”.

He says it is in talks with at least two system integrators here, but could not say who the companies are, or which projects are involved, until a deal has been signed. Mckay expects to sign a contract with an integrator within six months.

Mahindra Satyam changed its brand in the market last year from Satyam Computer Services after a financial controversy and the subsequent acquisition of a stake by a subsidiary of Tech Mahindra, an outsourcer that is part of India’s Mahindra Group. Tech Mahindra works locally with Gen-i on projects.

Satyam Computer Services was incorporated in New Zealand in 2005 and had a partnership agreement with local services company Optimation for about eight years until 2009.

Mckay is the sole local employee for Mahindra Satyam and is a former executive at Fujitsu and past country manager of US-headquartered software provider Vignette.

He says the company will hire more staff as required and the roles are likely to be in the service or technical areas. The company has sales offices in Canberra and Perth.

Asia Pacific senior vice president Rohit Gandhi says partnering is necessary for the company. “If a system integrator has a great relationship with a client, and can bring in extra value, then we are quite happy to work with them.”