BMC Software to raise headcount, invest $5 million

Enterprise management solutions provider BMC Software India will invest around $5.5 million in its Pune offshore development centre (ODC) by early next year, raising its total investments to $12 million. The company is also planning to recruit around 350 employees in the city, increasing its total headcount to 1,000 by the end of 2006.

"Pune is the second most important destination for us across the world, with over 10 per cent of our employees based in the city. The centre also supports 80 per cent of the company's research and development (R&D) activities, apart from being a major contributor to its information technology (IT) infrastructure," Nitin Deshpande, president and chief executive officer, BMC Software, told Business Standard.

The company is a subsidiary of Texas-headquartered BMC Software Inc and has 50 centres in places such as Amsterdam, Paris, London, Tel Aviv, Singapore, Beijing and Boston, apart from its Pune ODC. The Pune ODC is one of the company's big centre, second only to Houston (Texas) centre.

The increase in investments and headcount is due to an expected hike in offshoring business and is based on the company's strategy to increase its R&D and IT infrastructure and project support activities from the city. The Pune ODC is a 100 per cent export-oriented unit (EoU) and is registered with the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI).

BMC Software has recently moved to a larger premises, a move to accommodate an expected increase in headcount that would be added in the next 12-14 months. The company is also planning to commence financial business processes from its Pune ODC, even as it mulls moving specific operations to the city. Deshpande, however, did not elaborate on this.

The company had opened its Pune ODC in August 2001 and is working with IT majors such as Wipro, Infosys on security products. It had also entered into a global partnership with Wipro to offer system integration services, while the Bangalore-based company was to resell BMC's Control-SA product suite as part of its enterprise solution offerings.