Sify's top team quits; company targets growth

19 July 2006

Chennai: Time to call it quits, seems to be the prevailing mood at Sify Limited. While the exit of R Ramaraj as the company's managing director and chief executive was officially announced on 18 July, 2006, along with the company's first quarter results, it is learnt that two senior managers — Ajit G Abraham, chief human resources officer, and Rustom Irani, chief technology officer — have already put in their papers.

Even after issuing a formal communication about Ramaraj's exit and Vegesna taking charge on 18 July, 2006, the company's website still states Ramaraj as the managing director and chief executive.

Two more — Rahul Swarup, president, enterprise solutions, and Durgesh Mehta, chief financial officer — are rumoured to have also decided to quit.

All of them are long time employees of Sify; Ramaraj had headed the company since it started operations. The exodus comes soon after Raju Vegesna became the company's chairman after his Infinity Capital Ventures acquired 31.61-per cent stake in Sify from Satyam Computer Services. Vegesna is now Sify's chairman, managing director and chief executive.

While Vegesna was not available for his comments on the exit of top managers, addressing the investors during a conference call, he said, "People exit based on their priorities. Like a basketball team, Sify has a deep bench, a great pool of talent." He also mentioned that the employee pay hikes would be based on performance. "We are looking at responsibility and performance based-incentive."

It has been a long and hard grind for Sify ever since its started operations eleven years ago. A high profile company with a Nasdaq listing and the acquisition of India World portals for around Rs500 crore, the company was not able to generate profits for a long time while suffering cash burns.