Rivals set to gain from imbroglio

International Business Machines Corp and Accenture Ltd are in a stronger position to win new contracts after the fraud at Satyam Computer Services Ltd tarnished the credibility of India's outsourcing industry.

Companies seeking to outsource some of their operations - such as handling customer calls or testing software - may turn to US firms in the short term as they grow wary of the risks of working with smaller companies abroad, said Moshe Katri, an analyst at Cowen and Co. IBM and Accenture are the two largest US computer-services providers.

"It's going to create a temporary or near-term crisis of confidence in the sector," said Katri, who is based in New York. "This is really the first time this has happened in our industry."