Syntel

Syntel Inc

Type	Public
Traded as	NASDAQ: SYNT
Industry	IT services, IT consulting
Founded	Troy, Michigan 1980 (1980)
Founder	Bharat Desai, Neerja Sethi
Headquarters	Troy, Michigan, USA
Area served	U.S.
Key people	Bharat Desai, Chairman & Co-Founder Prashant Ranade, Co-Chairman Rakesh Khanna, CEO & President (interim)
Services	IT, business consulting and outsourcing services
Revenue	$968.6 million (FY 2015)[1]
Operating income	$283.7 million (FY 2016)[1]
Net income	$252.5 million (FY 2016)[1]
Total assets	$1.22 billion (FY 2016)[2]
Total equity	$968.6 million (FY 2016)[2]
Number of employees	23,055 (Sep 30, 2016)[3]
Website	www.syntelinc.com

Syntel, Inc. is a U.S.-based multinational provider of integrated technology and business services. Headquartered in Troy, Michigan, Syntel utilizes development centers in India. Syntel is a certified minority-owned business (MBE). The company is led by CEO and President Rakesh Khanna, who was appointed on November 3, 2016.

History

Syntel was founded in Troy, Michigan in 1980 with an initial investment of $2,000 by Bharat Desai, and his wife, Neerja Sethi. Originally named Systems International, the company began by providing software staffing services to local corporations like General Motors (US),^[4] and some major Government Revenue projects, earning $30,000 in its first year.^[5]

• 1992: Syntel opens its first two Global Development Centers in Mumbai and Chennai, India – one of the first U.S.- based IT service companies to employ a Global Delivery model.^[5]
• 1997: Syntel becomes a publicly traded company in August, as the stock begins trading on NASDAQ as SYNT; 3.45 million shares were floated in its IPO;^[6] Syntel opens offices in London and Singapore; revenues pass the $100 million mark.
• 2002: Syntel opens Global Development Centers in Phoenix, AZ and Pune, India.^[7]
• 2005: Syntel's Global Development Centers achieve SEI CMMi Level 5; Syntel opens the first phase of its Pune Technology Campus. Syntel acquires a 27-acre (110,000 m2) parcel of land in Chennai for a second technology campus.^[8]
• 2009: Syntel promotes Keshav Murugesh to the post of President and CEO. Bharat Desai remains the Chairman of the Board.^[9]
• 2010: Prashant Ranade is appointed Syntel CEO;^[10] Syntel opens the first phase of its Chennai technology campus.
• 2011: Rakesh Khanna becomes Chief Operating Officer^[11] of Syntel; Syntel closes FY 2011 with $642.4 million in revenue.^[12]
• 2013: Syntel breaks ground on a new Global Development Center in Tirunelveli, India,^[13] and opens facilities in Manila, Philippines^[14] and Maryland, USA.
• 2014: Nitin Rakesh takes over as CEO and President from Prashant Ranade. Prashant Ranade promoted to the Executive Vice Chairman of the Syntel Board^[15]

Syntel sells to companies in the banking and financial services, insurance, healthcare and life sciences, retail, logistics and telecom, and manufacturing sectors.^[16] It uses offshore centers for its IT and KPO services.

Business Model

Syntel's growth during the early years prompted their leadership to explore additional service offerings to augment the core IT staffing business.^[5] In 1989, Syntel began providing development and maintenance services to its clients.

In 1992, with new development centers in India, Syntel began software outsourcing services with an onsite-offshore model, which connected software developers in India to project managers at client locations via an international telecommunications network.^[5]

Operations

Syntel's global headquarters is located in Troy, Michigan, in suburban Detroit, but has 30 worldwide facilities located in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Philippines, Australia, and Canada.^[17] The company's offshore software development centers are located in Mumbai, Chennai, Gurgaon and Pune, India, as well as Manila, Philippines. The Company's U.S.-based development centers are located in Phoenix, Arizona, Nashville, Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee and suburban Baltimore, Maryland.

Syntel's first global development centers were established in Mumbai in 1992, and the company still maintains a strong presence in that city, as well as in Chennai. According to public filings, the company has over 80% of its billable workforce in India.^[18]

In 2005, Syntel inaugurated a large technology campus in Pune, with an initial capacity of 3,000 employees, which has since been expanded.^[19] In May, 2010, Syntel also opened the first phase of a 27-acre (110,000 m2) technology campus in Chennai, India.

On April 24, 2013, Syntel broke ground on a new Global Development Campus (GDC) in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu^[20] as an expansion of its campus-based infrastructure strategy. When complete, the campus will feature green design features such as an on-premises wind and solar farm for generating renewable energy.^[21] The company has also been allotted 25 acres of land in ELCOT IT Park, Madurai.^[22]

Leadership and Board of Directors

Bharat Desai

Bharat Desai is the chairman of Syntel. He co-founded Syntel in 1980 along with his wife, Neerja Sethi,^[23] and served as the company’s Chief Executive Officer from April 1980 to February 2009. He also handled presidential duties from April 1980 to December 21, 2006. Desai is an Electrical Engineer from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai,^[24] and received an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan,^[25] specializing in Finance.

He was named "Entrepreneur of the Year"^[24] by USA Today, NASDAQ and Crain's Detroit Business in 1996.^[26] He also received the IIT Alumnus of the Year award^[27] from the Indian Institute of Technology in 2004.^[25]

Prashant Ranade

Prashant Ranade, Co-Chairman of the Board, has been Syntel's former Executive Vice Chairman^[28] and a former Chief Executive Officer and President, a position to which he was appointed in February, 2010.^[10][29] He has been a Director of Syntel since June 15, 2007.

Prashant previously served as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Dematic GmbH & Co. KG (formerly known as Siemens Group Logistics and Assembly Systems, NA) from May 2003 to November 1, 2006.^[30]

Prashant is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai and the University of Cincinnati. He completed his MBA at Xavier University in 1982.^[31]

Rakesh Khanna

Rakesh Khanna was appointed interim CEO and President on November 3, 2016^[32] after serving as Chief Operating Officer since January 2012.^[33][34] He previously served as President of Syntel’s Banking and Financial Services Business Unit from 2005 until 2012. Khanna joined Syntel in 2005 from i-flex solutions after spending 10 years in various roles.^[35] Khanna holds a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute (VJTI) and an MBA from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai.^[35][36]

Finances

According to Syntel's Third Quarter 2016 financial results, the company posted revenue of $241 million, and loss per share of $2.58.^[37] Q3 2016 EPS was negatively impacted by $3.21 per share of one-time tax expense associated with a one-time repatriation of cash.^[37]

Awards and Recognitions

• Crain's Detroit Business "The Fastest Growing Companies" (#30 in 2013)^[38]
• CRN's 2013 Solution Provider 500 (#44 in 2013)^[39]
• Gartner’s Top 10 India-Based IT Services Providers (#10 in 2013)^{[40] [41]} #38 in 2012,^[42] #48 in 2011^[43])
• Ranked among the top performing 344 public companies by Harvard Business Review
• NASSCOM’s Top 10 players in IT Services (#9 in 2012)^[44]
• NASSCOM’s #15 BPO Export Company in India (2012)^[44]
• NASSCOM’s #16 IT - BPO Employer in India (2012, 2011)^[44]
• Forbes "200 Best Small Companies in America" (2012,^[45] 2011,^[46] 2009,^[47] 2008,^[48] 2002,^[49] 2001,^[50] 1998^[51])
• "Best Innovative Lean Project" award, 10th Annual Asian Six Sigma and Lean Process Improvement Summit (2009)^[52][53]
• Golden Peacock Innovation Award-Special Commendation for creating innovations through lean approaches (2009)^[52][53]
• The Black Book of Outsourcing's World's 50 Best Managed BPO Vendors (2008,^[54] 2007, 2006, 2005)
• Crain's Detroit Business "Largest Computer Service Companies" (2007, 2003, 2002^[55])
• IndUS Business Journal, "Largest Indus Outsourcing Firms" (2005,^[56] 2004^[57])
• Business Week's "Hot Growth Companies" (1999,^[58] 1998^[59][60])

References

76. ^http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Syntel-layoffs-NDLF-claims-sacking-of-3000-employees/articleshow/47155667.cms

77. ^http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Genpact-eyes-Syntel-acquisition/articleshow/47422616.cms

External links

• Syntel's Official Website
• Syntel's Official Blog