Big-ticket clients drawing up Plan B

The firms major application,development and maintenance contracts,spread across four major suppliers EDS,IBM,Infosys,and Satyam are up for renewal.

We expect to finalise our new arrangements early this year and,obviously,will take the current issues into account, said Telstra spokesperson Martin Barr. Its been learnt that Telstra has invited pitches for its consolidation plans Satyam has not been invited. Satyam got Telstras business in 2004 with a reported contract size of around 100 million and 130 employees working out of a dedicated centre in Bangalore.

Switzerland-based Nestle,ranked 57 in the Fortune 500 list,also said that alternative solutions are being considered even though Satyam has guaranteed Nestle the normal continuation of their services. Nestle spokesperson Ferhad Soygenis said,Nestles own internal resources are in a position to provide the company with the necessary IT support.

Coca Cola spokesperson Crystal Warwell Walker said that the company worked with various IT vendors including Satyam. We are assessing their situation and will determine our next steps after the review is complete, he said.

Some of Satyams other Fortune 500 clients,including British Petroleum and health insurance company CIGNA said they were monitoring the situation closely. CIGNA,which has a six-year relationship with Satyam,said it has detailed contingency plans so that regardless of what happens with any of our vendors,processes are in place that are designed to ensure that our customers continue to receive service from CIGNA.

Among Satyam8217;s clients,GE and Cisco have gone on record with continuance of their support to Satyam.