Mahindra Satyam has said it is cautious but not worried about the US and Europe markets.

“Caution should not be mistaken for worry. There is nothing to believe that the markets are significantly slowing down,” Hari T, Chief Marketing Officer of Mahindra Satyam, told Business Line .

The industry was witnessing a muted growth in the European Union. Emerging IT markets such as Australia, Asia-Pacific region and the Gulf were showing promise, he said.

For Mahindra Satyam, Americas contributed to 53 per cent as of the end of second quarter ended September 30, 2012, a tad higher than the contribution of 52 per cent in the same period previous year. The EU contribution fell to 22 per cent from 24 per cent in the comparable period. The rest of the world showed a slight increase in contribution at 25 per cent (24 per cent.)

Acquisitions

He said the company was looking at acquisitions and forming joint ventures to open up new markets.

“Apart from the normalised organised growth, we have a definite appetite for inorganic growth. It could either be through buying companies and forging strategic joint ventures with firms operating in niche technology or consulting areas and geographies,” he said.

Billing pressure

Asked whether the industry was witnessing demand from clients for reduction in billing rates, he said price points were not under pressure. “There is no appetite for new wins at reduced prices to win any project. In fact, there is no way we will call down the price point given that the cost of operations is only going up,” he said.

On the utilisation rates, he said the alert systems were robust that allowed the company to track the deployments and utilisation at the granular 'project' level. “Dashboards alert us well in advance about the project loading,” he said.

As a result, the company has decided to recruit freshers only on the basis of the immediate need. “We will go for not more than 1,500-2,000 campus offers this year,” Hari, who is also the Chief People Officer, said.

He, however, indicated that further additions would happen through off campus, leveraging social media and employee referrals.

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