BANGALORE: International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is betting big on India. The `Big Blue', as it is often referred to, will triple its investment in India to nearly $6 billion in the next three years, the US-based computer giant's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Samuel J. Palmisano, announced before a mammoth gathering of 10,000 IBM employees in a huge make-shift auditorium at the Palace Grounds here on Tuesday and through satellite to thousands of other employees in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Pune.

The increased investment will go towards setting up of infrastructure and hiring more employees to add to its existing staff strength of 43,000 spread across 14 cities, besides education and training.

Emerging economies

"India and other emerging economies are an increasingly important part of IBM's global success. If you are not here in India, making the right investments and finding and developing the best employees and business partners, then you won't be able to combine the skills and expertise here with skills and expertise from around the world, in ways that can help our clients be successful. I'm here today to say that IBM is not going to miss this opportunity. In the next three years, we will triple our investment in India — from $2 billion over the last three years to nearly $6 billion in the next three years. That investment will ensure that we make the most of the opportunities to grow this marketplace, while it also enables IBM to fulfill its vision to become a globally integrated company,'' Mr. Palmisano told the gathering in the presence of President of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Karnataka Governor T. N. Chaturvedi, Karnataka Chief Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy, IBM India Managing Director Shanker Annaswamy, and a score of analysts from Wall Street who are here to attend the IBM's first-ever financial analyst meeting in India.

He said IBM was "so excited about the opportunities in India,'' where its business grew by 55 per cent in 2005, that the company decided to commit an investment of $6 billion over the next three years in this "wonderfully exciting part of the world.'' "India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world... a truly vibrant economy. We are so encouraged about the domestic opportunity that India represents to our local business that we decided to invest in large service delivery centres, extend research facility in Delhi to focus on telecom and exploit the technology and high quality workforce available in India,'' Mr. Palmisano said on his fourth visit to India since May 2003.

Automated IT service

A bulk of the investments is expected to flow into IBM's operations in Bangalore. The enhanced investment in India will go towards setting up of a new breed of Service Delivery Centres in Bangalore, and deploying new processes and technology that will greatly automate IT service delivery to provide clients with enhanced flexibility and increased worldwide access to skills, service offerings and continuous availability at lower cost.

It will also be utilised for creating the IBM Systems and Technology Group (STG) Innovation, Development and Executive Briefing Centre in Bangalore focussed on IBM infrastructure solutions, technologies and innovations and providing performance benchmarking, testing, data migration and competency building capabilities.

A part of the investment will fund a Telecommunications Research and Innovation Centre at its India Research Lab in Delhi that will serve as key resource to IBM's telecommunications clients around the world.

Further, the investment would be utilised to increase the capabilities and staff of the High Peformance On Demand Solutions (HiPODS) Lab in Bangalore, a specialised software and services lab driving automation and virtualisation of complex IT infrastructure.

It would also open `The Great Mind Challenge', that is designed to improve the software development skills of Indian students as they work to solve issues facing businesses today.

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