Abb To Outsource Software Coding Projects

ABB, the European power equipment and industrial engineering group, which has set up a global research and development centre in Bangalore, plans to outsource coding projects from Indian software companies.

Senior corporate officer, group R&D and technology, Markus Bayegan said the centre will work in industrial IT.

He said a core team will develop intellectual property and tap into available resources in India. "There will be significant transfer of technology to the team," Bayegan said.

Bayegan said the centre is part of ABB's programme to make its products more intelligent and also central to its strategy for Asia as a long-term growth market.

He said ABB wants to utilise the technical manpower strength which India provided, adding the centre will initially have around 50 engineers.

Bayegan said the centre's contribution to ABB's global operations will depend on the number of patents that they can get. ABB owns nearly 20,000 patents and adds around 1,000 patents a year.

Nearly 28 per cent of the 20,000 patents are in the software sector compared with a mere 5 per cent five years ago.

ABB spends around $700 million on research and development every year, which works out to around 7 per cent of its total revenues. ABB has three more global centres in the US and Europe.