India Telecom

August 5, 2003
SAS appoints Vivek Gokarn as CEO and MD

NEW DELHI -- Fuelled by the fact that consulting services play a critical role in the overall delivery of SAS Solution, SAS has decided to synergise consulting operations of SAS India and SAS Global Services in the country. In line with this, it has appointed Vivek Gokarn as CEO and managing director of SAS India and SAS Global Services.

Being with SAS for close to five years, Gokarn has been instrumental in successfully establishing and running the SAS Global Services (SGS) operations in Pune, India. He has a total of 18 years of experience in the IT industry, and prior to joining SAS he was with Citicorp (now i-Flex) for 11 years.

Phillip Beniac, vice president -- Asia Pacific, SAS International, said: "We have had a direct presence in the Indian market for over six years. This clearly highlights SAS' commitment to India. We will continue to invest in India as we see a huge potential in this market. Vivek has successfully run the SGS operations in Pune, and this will help him focus on the Indian market and provide incremental value to SAS customers."

Vivek Gokarn, CEO and managing director, SAS India, added: "I am delighted to take on the mantle of SAS operations in India. Currently SAS has a leadership position with a 22.5 percent marketshare in India. As per Frost & Sullivan, the business intelligence market is poised to grow at a CAGR of 33.9 percent to touch $30.4mn by 2005. I look forward to maintaining this leadership position and further increasing marketshare in the country.

Contact:
SAS
www.sas.com