Wine Technology Blog @ WineWeb.com

OK, so this isn't directly about wine, but sometimes a news item is just so amazing that I have to comment on it. The news was that Satyam, one of the large Indian software companies, had been misstating their revenues and cash. Having spent nearly 10 years directly competing with Satyam for outsourcing projects and having spent almost 10 years as a CPA with one of the Big 4 accounting firms, I feel qualified to comment on this.

The company reported a cash balance of 53 billion rupees (about 1 billion US$), when in fact they had only 3 billion rupees in the bank. It seems that a white lie made several years ago just kept growing until it was out of control, and they had to come clean. What's amazing here is that PriceWaterhouseCoopers missed it in their audits (and no, I used to work for Deloitte). I don't have to pull out one of my CPA textbooks to remember that verifying cash is one of the most basic auditing tasks. How do you miss a billion dollars?? Heads will roll at PWC, partners will be shot (or maybe should be). What a mess!

What's sad it that this situation will likely tarnish all Indian software companies. I'm a firm believer in leveraging a global workforce to provide value, quality and competitiveness in any industry. In my own industry, I've not been surprised at a company having to layoff many people after bragging about spenging $100/hour to develop a software application. Those economics just aren't sustainable in these times.

So, to happier times, and a Happy New Year. Cheers!