B Ramalinga Raju ( An IT giant & an Affable Businessman from Hyderabad)

B Ramalinga Raju (born September 16 1!"#)

$%o&s surname is Byrraju is an Indian
businessman and a pioneer of t%e Information
Te'%nology industry in India (r)Ramalinga Raju
%as built a $orld 'lass IT empire rig%t from
Hyderabad) He is t%e *%airman of Satyam
*omputer Ser+i'es ,td) It $as founded in t%e late
1!-.&s after +enturing earlier into ot%er
businesses su'% as 'onstru'tion and te/tiles) Raju
%ad a'0uired a B) *om from And%ra ,oyola
*ollege at 1ijaya$ada prior to re'ei+ing an (BA
degree from 2%io 3ni+ersity) He %as attended t%e 2$ner45resident 'ourse at
Har+ard) It is absolutely ama6ing t%at %e %ad t%e guts t%e $ill po$er & t%e +ision
to set up a 'ompany in Hyderabad itself and fa'e all t%e odds to s%ape up
&Satyam&) His entrepreneurs%ip is indeed an e/ample for generations to 'ome) Till
t%e ot%er day if anybody $ere to tal7 about Business in India it $as only t%e
pla'es in (umbai and ot%er nort%ern 'ities t%at people often tal7ed about )
8o$ t%an7s to Satyam and ot%er neig%boring giants Sout% India %as 'ome
into t%e forefront after being left be%ind for de'ades) 9%at Infosys & 9ipro
'ontributed to t%e re+i+al of Sout% India from :arnata7a Satyam did it all alone
for And%ra 5rades%)
Ba'7
Ho$ it all began ;
Ramalinga Raju&s grandfat%er $as an enterprising
farmer $%o +entured out of traditional
agri'ulture into agribusiness and boug%t a sugar
mill) T%e +enture ba'7fired and t%e family lost a
fortune) It t%en s'attered into different parts of
And%ra and Satyanarayan Raju Ramalinga Raju&s
fat%er $%ose name inspired t%e group&s name
Satyam mo+ed to Hyderabad and be'ame one of
t%e first farmers to start 'ommer'ial grape
produ'tion around Hyderabad) T%e family re'o+ered and Ramalinga Raju t%e
eldest son $as sent to t%e 3S in 1!<" to get an (BA from 2%io after %e 'ompleted
%is B)'om from ,oyola *ollege at 1ijaya$ada)
In India as a 'ommer'e student at 1ijaya$ada %e %ad been a 'arefree young
man from a $ell=to=do farming family $it% not a $orry in t%e 9orld) To begin
$%en Ramalinga Raju 'ame ba'7 from t%e 3S in 1!<< armed $it% ambition and
ne$ ideas %e tried to build ne$ business for t%e family) He $ent into 'otton=
spinning and 'onstru'tion) T%is earned %im %is bread and butter) 2ut of 'uriosity
%e %ad broug%t a small 'omputer ba'7 $it% %im from t%e 3S)
It $as a glorified programmable 'al'ulator) He reali6ed t%at information
te'%nology $ould be big in t%e future and too7 t%e plunge in t%is ne$ business
about $%i'% %e %ad limited 7no$ledge) Satyam Computer Services $as
in'orporated in 1!-! t%oug% it too7 of only in 1!!1=!>)
Ramalinga Raju +ery soon reali6ed t%at t%ere 'ould be %ig%er margins if one 'ould
'on+in'e 'ompanies abroad t%at Indian 'ompanies 'ould de+elop t%e soft$are in
India and upload it to t%e 3S 'ompanies mainframe 'omputers t%roug% a satellite
data lin7) Satyam $as one of t%e first 'ompanies to get a dedi'ated 6#7bps data
lin7 for su'% ?offs%ore? de+elopment) Satyam $as among t%e first Indian 'ompanies
to ma7e t%e uni0ue paradigm s%ift from onsite=led operations to offs%ore dri+en
ones)
Ba'7
(etamorp%osis;
Satyam also be'ame one of t%e fe$ 'ompanies in
t%e $orld to attain t%e top rating =le+el"= in t%e
'apability maturity model (*(() instituted by
*arnegie=(ellon 3ni+ersity&s soft$are engineering
institute)
Satyam&s foray into 'orporate data and Internet
ser+i'es too $as pat% brea7ing) 9%ile se+eral e=
mail 'ompanies $ere languis%ing in t%e pre=Internet days due to unreasonably %ig%
li'ense fees and port '%arges by @ot Satyam Info$ay mo+ed into t%is spa'e in
1!!") It in+ested %ea+ily in T*54I5 net$or7s $%en t%e only internet ser+i'e
pro+ider $as t%e go+ernment monopoli6ed 1S8,) At t%at time 'ompanies 'ould
only be listed in India after t%ree years of profitable business $%ile Internet play
re0uired large funding for infrastru'ture and a'0uisitions) Satyam 0ui'7ly mo+ed to
list Satyam Infoway (SIFY) on 8asda0 $it% great su''ess) 2n 1! 2'tober 1!!! it
be'ame t%e first internet 'ompany from India to be listed in t%e global mar7ets) In
Aune Satyam info$ay rea'%ed a milestone $it% its subs'ribers base 'rossing t%e
t$o la7% mar7) SIBC posted a profit of Rs 6< 'rore for t%e year ended (ar'%
D1>... against Rs 1. 'rore in t%e pre+ious year)
Ba'7
Ben'%mar7s;
9%ile %ig%=flying SIBC %as 'aug%t people&s
imagination t%e flags%ip Satyam *omputer
Ser+i'es a soft$are ser+i'es 'ompany %as gro$n
from a turn o+er of less t%an Rs#)< 'rore in1!!D
to Rs6<! 'rore in >...(1#6 times) and its net
profit 1#! times from Rs !. la7% to Rs1D# 'rore)
Satyam today has become folklore in Andhra
Pradesh.
Satyam no$ %as si/ de+elopment 'enters in India se+en o+erseas and mar7eting
offi'es in D. 'ountries) T%e 'ompany ser+i'es o+er 1#. multinational and Bortune
".. 'lients many of t%em among t%e largest 'orporations in t%e $orld)
To in'rease te'%nology 'ompeten'y 'ontinuously t%e 'ompany %as started a Te'%
Euru s'%eme) T%ese are top line te'% professionals from t%e global IT industry
$%o 'ome to t%e impressi+e Satyam Technology center (STC) Hyderabad and
'ondu't 'ourses for about t$o $ee7s) Already nearly D. su'% professionals %a+e
been to t%e 'enter) A brain'%ild of Ramalinga Raju ST* is per%aps t%e most
impressi+e 'orporate 'ampus in India and $ould be $ell pla'ed in t%e rest of t%e
9orld)
Ba'7
5artners in su''ess;
*%oosing t%e rig%t partner in soft$are
ser+i'es t%e $orld o+er %as been t%e 7ey
strengt% of Ramalinga Raju) T%e 8o+ember
1!!! t%e all='as% Rs#!! 'rore India=$orld
deal loo7ed astronomi'al) It made se+eral
people to sit up and ta7e noti'e) 8asda0
'ertainly did) It ga+e an e+en %ig%er
+aluation to Satyam&s subsidiary = Satyam
Info$ay (Sify) t%an before) *onse0uently its
mar7et 'ap $ent up by F-.. million)

Re'ently it %as tied up $it% Computer !ssociates international to pro+ide online
a''ess to ad+an'ed G=business appli'ations for small and medium enterprises) T%e
+enture $ill %a+e an initial in+estment of FDmillion)It %as also entered into an
agreement $it% Te/as=based "nterprise Inc# to enable G=mar7et solutions for
traditional businesses and dot'om 'ompanies $orld$ide) Bo'using on t%e auto
se'tor Satyam de'ided to tie up $it% TR$ under $%i'% t%e latter $ill outsour'e to
t%e +enture at least F>.. million $ort% of proje'ts spread o+er a fi+e= year
period) Satyam Info$ay ,td too7 >"H sta7e in t%e popular *ri'7et $ebsite
Cric%etinfo#com by issuing FD< million $ort% of Ameri'an @epository s%ares (A@S)
in an all sto'7 deal)
SIBC&s buying spree 'ontinues) It %as re'ently signed an agreement to buy=out 1..
per 'ent of India5la6a)'om for F-)1 million) It is an all=sto'7 deal)
8o$ Satyam 'omputers is tying up $it% **(B(*entre for *ellular and (ole'ular
Biology) in bio=informati's a %ot ne$ field $%i'% 'ombines mole'ular biology $it%
data mining and $are%ousing in information te'%nology) An &(23& to t%is effe't is
to be signed soon) True to its reputation for speed (r)Raju is in ad+an'ed
dis'ussions $it% **(B for setting up an International training 'enter in bio=
informati's among ot%ers)
Ba'7
*ompany Affairs;
Raju %as al$ays felt t%at to really su''eed one
must %a+e a +ision and must be ready to ta7e
ris7s) T%at&s t%e reason Satyam&s management
style is uni0ue) It does not fun'tion as a normal
pyramidal %ierar'%y) G+ery department or di+ision
is formed as a 'ir'le $%ere t%e %ead operates as
a *G2 of an enterprise $it% all t%e responsibility
of running an independent 'ompany in'luding
ma7ing profits) G+en t%oug% t%e per7s in Satyam
are lo$er t%an t%e industry standards 9%at %olds
t%e staff toget%er is Raju&s uni0ue ?po$er in one? p%ilosop%y t%at promotes
toget%erness on t%e mind&s plane in'luding t%e singing of a 'orporate ant%em
toget%er) Its staff attrition rate is a %alf of t%e industry&s turno+er of 1" per 'ent
per annum) *ontent $ise t%e 'ru/ of t%e p%ilosop%y is Aapanese) Raju re'ently
re'ei+ed t%e "rnst & Young "ntrepreneur of the Year !war' for t%e Ser+i'es
se'tor) In t%e manner true to %im %e e/plained t%at %e $as re'ei+ing t%e a$ard on
be%alf of all Satyam asso'iates)