They are aware of the brands that commonly relate to them, like Microsoft and Linux, but there is a world within the IT world that only businesses are aware of, in which companies provide services to large corporations that need to implement IT systems and other large software projects.

One such company is Satyam Computer Services. The company is India's 4th largest IT firm and sells services to over 521 companies worldwide, of which 157 are Fortune 500 companies.

"Satyam was formed in 1987 and has been operating on a global scale since the early nineties. The company however is less known to the general public because our customers are usually large companies," said Virender Aggarwal, director and senior vice president of Satyam Computer Services Asia Pacific.

 "Satyam as an organisation has been making extensive investments globally to improve on the brand image by focusing on all constituents - employees, investors, customers and society. We play in the same arena as the global system integrating organisations, however they have had a lead against companies such as ours due to the brand and the way they are perceived. We are ready to move into the next phase of investments to create a strong brand," he added.

The company's Thai division was set up to support the ASIS Consortium, which was responsible for implementing the information-technology system at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

"We started in Thailand with only one project, but our clients have grown to over 15. There is much growth potential in Thailand, where there is an abundance of skilled labour. This is why we are considering expanding our development centre in Thailand. We already have centres in Singapore and Malaysia," said Aggarwal.

The firm's investment in Thailand is about US$500,000 (Bt17.92 million), but Aggarwal said people were the company's main asset and that for a software company, this was more important than any other resource.

"The Asean region is expected to see tremendous growth over the next few years, and the banking and telecom sectors are forecast to experience the fastest growth. With our expertise in the field and the purchase of Knowledge Dynamics in Singapore, we expect to be among the front runners for customers' choice," Aggarwal said.

The growth in these sectors was mainly due to the huge population in Asean, he said, which will require these services as the countries become more developed. In 2005 Satyam added Knowledge Dynamics to its group due to its specialisation in risk assessment in the banking sector.

He stated that a big problem in Thailand was bringing in expatriates. Current policies make it very difficult for them to work in the country. Visa regulations are strict and involve a lot of red tape, which makes bringing in foreign nationals a time-consuming process.