Satyam to set up delivery campus in Malaysia

Satyam Computer Services, the Hyderabad-based global consulting and information technology services company, is establishing a 2000-seat software engineering global delivery campus (GDC) at Cyberjaya in Malaysia, about 50 km south of Kuala Lumpur. It will be the company's largest and first GDC outside India.

According to Satyam, the GDC will serve as a major technological development and software support facility for the company's ASEAN, US and Middle Eastern customers in addition to the 100-seat global solution centre (GSC) established about three years back.

A memorandum of understanding to this effect was signed on Thursday between the Multimedia Development Corporation, an agency of the Malaysia's ministry of science, technology and innovation, and Satyam in the presence of Malaysian prime minister Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and deputy prime minister, Dato' Sri Najib Tun Razak.

Satyam's vice-president for Asia-Pacific, India and Middle East, Virender Agarwal, told Business Standard that the GDC would be set up in a two-lakh square feet built-up area, which is expected to be ready over the next 15 months.

Meanwhile, the company would be starting the global delivery operations with a 500-seat capacity from another building. He declined to disclose the cost of construction of the GDC.

The GDC will be established in conjunction with Malaysia's Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), which oversees the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) initiative.

The MSC, Malaysian government-designated high-tech zone, is spread across a 750-square kilometre area, and features a state-of-the-art infrastructure.

Commenting on the development, Satyam's founder and chairman B Ramalinga Raju said that the company was one of the first organisations to recognise Malaysia's potential as an IT hub.

With a growth plan of increasing headcount to 2000 associates over the next 4 years and better consolidation plans, he said, Satyam was set to emerge as the biggest player among its peer group in Malaysia.

"This is a landmark achievement in the MSC Malaysia's vision of realising Malaysia as a global hub for ICT and multimedia innovation. We will continue our endeavour to attract and nurture leading-edge and world-class organisations like Satyam to partner with the Malaysian government to harness the full potential of ICT and take advantage of our capabilities" , Encik Badlisham Ghazali, chief executive officer of MDeC, stated in a press release.