Mr B. Rama Raju is co-founder and CEO of Satyam Computer Services Ltd. He has been on the company’s board since its inception in 1987. Mr Rama Raju was appointed managing director in 1991 and CEO in April 2005. He has a master’s in economics and an MBA, with a specialisation in international trade.Excerpts from an interview with S. UMAMAHESHWAR:Given the current macro-economic environment around the world, there are concerns about volatility in technology spending of companies. What is your take on itYes, there has been a slight decline in the IT spend of companies. However, this is only a short-term phenomenon. If companies cut IT spending, they will look out for more competitive deals and we are well poised to cash in on the price factor. So, a bit of a slowdown is good for the Indian IT industry. However, if the US goes into a deep recession, then it will be a cause for concern as it may slowdown other markets.Do you see any pressure on pricingCustomers are not so touchy about pricing. We have not witnessed any pressure on pricing. Since we are expanding our service offerings to match top global IT companies such as IBM and Accenture, customers have a lot of confidence in our capability.How significant is the Eu-ropean market for the Indian IT industryNot long ago, the IT industry used to have almost 85 per cent of revenue coming from the US. In the last few years, we have been witnessing a shift towards diversifying customer base. It was the US, which was first to outsource its work, but now Europe is also following the trend creating more opportunities for Indian IT companies. Today, Satyam gets 58 per cent revenue from North America, 21 per cent from Europe and the rest from other areas.We have been hearing that Europe is also not completely untouched by the slowdown. How are European companies reacting to it in terms of IT spendingEven if there is a slowdown, Europe looks better than the US. Since we deal with 180 Fortune-500 companies, which have a presence all over the world, slowdown in certain areas will not have an impact on us. We used to get only two per cent of revenue from Australia, now it has grown to 10 per cent. We have our second biggest development centre in Melbourne, Australia, outside India. However, this will soon be overtaken by China, where we are building a 2,500-seat facility.There have been reports that Satyam is looking for 20 big deals. What are theyThese deals are quite spread out across areas where we are strong such as telecom, banking, retail, etc.How tough is for you to work in countries, where brand Satyam is not so popularWe are the first to recognise the importance of branding. Even where the brand is not well established, it is not stopping us from demonstrating that we can add value to service. We are the only IT service provider for Fifa 2014 World Cup. We are one of the sponsors of the tournament, which we believe will give a great brand recall for us in markets where we are less known.What is your strategy for inorganic expansionWe have planned to go for niche acquisitions which can add value to some of our areas. We need deep domain experts to strengthen our capabilities. We are strong in enterprise implementation, engineering ser-vices, and automotive sector. So, domain expertise will add value to our company and will help us to know our customer needs.Do you have any plans for big ticket acquisitionsRegardless of the size of the acquisition, we want to go for niche acquisitions, which could add value to our company. It is easy to acquire firms for size, but the important thing is how to integrate them because the culture of an organisation is something which is not easily copied and could lead to mismatches.How strong is Satyam in SAP space Will you be scouting for any buys in this spaceNo plans for acquisitions in the SAP space, because we are the strongest in this space. If you look at Oracle implementation, we have been rated as No. 3 globally. Forty-five per cent of our revenues come from ERP implementation and consulting. So, competitors are trying to cover these areas by some acquisitions. Similarly, we are also covering areas where we are not so strong through our acquisitions.Is there any budget for thisMoney is not a criteria. We can also make big acquisition deals. Of course, we will not be borrowing money for this. We will fund the deals with whatever reserves we have.Is there scope for consolidation in the Indian IT sectorThere is always scope for consolidation. Generally, Indian companies are looking at acquisitions abroad because of the value it imparts. In Indian companies, 80 per cent of investors and 98 per cent of customers are outside India. But 90 per cent of employees are from India. Top 5 global IT giants have to expand their operations in developing countries just like IBM and Accenture. They still have a high cost business model since 90 per cent of their human resource is in developed countries. So, they ha-ve to increase their presence in developing countries to get a competitive edge. This could be achieved through acquiring Indian.