By Kalpana Shah

In what seems like a global merry-go-round, India-based software outsourcing firm Satyam Computer Services said Thursday it will build a new facility in Malaysia.

Malaysia

The announcement came a day after Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers said he would triple the company’s workforce in India and open a new factory there (see Cisco to Set up India Plant).

Cisco to Set up India Plant

Satyam said it will set up a 2,000-seat software engineering global delivery campus (GDC) in Cyberjaya, about 50 kilometers south of Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Lumpur

The center will serve as a technology development and software support facility for Satyam’s ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asia Nations), American, and Middle East customers. Satyam first set up a 100-seat global solutions center in Malaysia three years ago.  

Malaysia

“Satyam was one of the first organizations to recognize Malaysia’s potential as an IT hub,” Satyam CEO Ramalingam Raju said in a statement. “We did so as early as 2003. Malaysia’s advanced infrastructure, rich ICT talent pool, and competitive cost environment make it a strategic destination, an excellent place to establish a business presence.”

Malaysia

The GDC will be established in conjunction with Malaysia’s Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), which oversees the country’s Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) initiative. The MSC, Malaysia’s government-designated high-tech zone, is spread across a 750-square-kilometer area and features state-of-the-art infrastructure. 

Malaysia

“This is a landmark achievement in the MSC Malaysia’s vision of realizing Malaysia as a global hub for ICT and multimedia innovation,” Encik Badlisham Ghazali, chief executive of MDeC, said in a statement.

MalaysiaRising costs in India are pushing local software giants to seek talent in alternative, sometimes cheaper locations. There are other benefits too. A presence in China gives Satyam’s competitors TCS, Wipro, and Infosys access to the difficult, but potentially lucrative, Japanese market.