The man in charge of the UK public relations for Indian IT
services supplier Satyam when the company was hit by India's
biggest fraud scandal was a software engineer who had only been
working in marketing for a few months.
Sandeep Thawani was in the early stages of a new career when he
was confronted with the biggest professional challenge of his life.
He says his experience in developing software helped him through it
- solving one problem at a time.
IT service provider Satyam was thrown into disarray on 7 January
2009 when
its former chairman admitted to cooking the company books to
the tune of $1bn. In the media storm that followed, Thawani had to
act quickly or Satyam faced losing customers and billions of
dollars worth of business.
He faced a vertical learning curve. After learning of the
scandal in the early hours of 7 January, Thawani says his mind was
numb for a few minutes. But he was soon on the phone briefing his
colleagues so they could prepare to answer questions from
customers.
Computer Weekly caught up with Thawani to see how a software
engineer coped with the media storm that followed the Satyam
scandal.
Q. Was dealing with the aftermath of the fraud the biggest
challenge of your career?
"It was the single biggest challenge. Suddenly, the definition
of normal had changed. Nothing I had done in my working life
prepared me for what was thrust on us as individuals or as teams
with regard to choices and priorities."
Q. How did you feel when news of the fraud broke?
"Nothing at first. The first few minutes were mind-numbing. But
then it was action stations, as it was inevitable that we would all
have to seize the initiative and manage the situation within our
local regions. This constant communication allowed us to respond to
rumour, speculation, fabrication and even challenge facts."
Q. Why did you move into marketing from engineering?
"Marketing is something I had not been involved with previously.
I thought my understanding of the business and what customers want
would stand me in good stead. I felt it would be an opportunity to
demystify a role for myself and help prepare me for a general
management role in my career in the future."
Q. What training did you do for your career switch?
"Nothing. I just kept an open mind and spent time with my
internal customers [sales and relationship management teams] to
understand their needs and challenges. Having been part of the same
operations teams, I did have first-hand experience, but I also took
the opportunity to look at things outside-in."
Q. How did your engineering background help you?
"It allowed me to think objectively; helped me set a goal for
the day and solve one problem at a time. Crisis is a great unifier
and is also an effective tester of the planning process. Being an
engineer also helped me handle personal challenges and maintain
transparency of the downsides of the situation with my family.
Their support in all this was amazing and it allowed me to
effectively craft a personal contingency plan."
Q. What was the first thing you did when you found out about
the fraud?
"I called the sales teams and told them what was coming so they
would be prepared to handle their customer calls. The news broke at
05.15 UK Time, so we had about three hours to compose
ourselves."
Q. As a software engineer you must be used to being
challenged to solve a certain problem. Do you think being faced
with the challenge of restoring Satyam's good name so early in your
new career will make you a better marketing executive?
"I believe so. I often joke and say that it is a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Just once in this lifetime would be
great - no encores here!"