EMC (NYSE: EMC) plans to invest at least $1.5 billion in India over the next five years to ramp up its research and development program and consolidate its customer service operations.
The data storage equipment and software maker said the cash infusion, which augments the $500 million it has already spent in the last five years, will go a long way toward bolstering the company’s global services capabilities in Asia and add more technologists and customer support personnel.
“India offers tremendous opportunities in innovation and market potential,” EMC CFO David Goulden said in a statement yesterday announcing the investment. “In these economic times, leaders get stronger by their ability to make smart investments.”
“EMC’s commitment of $1.5 billion over the next five years illustrates the important role India will play in the company’s global growth plans,” he said.
EMC isn’t the only top-tier tech company loosening its purse strings in the hope of tapping into the expansive small- and mid-sized business market in India. SAP (NYSE: SAP), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) have all ramped up their financial commitments to India in the last two years.
EMC officials said the company will consolidate its local R&D, global services and various technical groups into a new 495,000 square-foot facility opening this week in Bangalore. The new India Centre of Excellence customer service and R&D hub will employ 3,500 workers.
“This investment is an important milestone in our journey to having world-class R&D and services organizations located in India,” Sarv Saravanan, EMC vice president and the Centre’s managing director, said in a statement. “The new campus provides a state-of-the-art facility that will help us attract quality talent to drive innovation and growth out of India.”
Article courtesy of InternetNews.com
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