HP acquires land for large software campus

Hewlett Packard India has acquired 18 acres of land to house its HP India Software Operations (HP ISO) in Bangalore. According to property market sources, the deal is valued over Rs 50 crore.

The company has bought land near the Outer Ring Road (Sarjapur-Marathalli section) on Whitefield main road. HP ISO in Bangalore was established in 1989 as a fully-owned subsidiary of Hewlett Packard Company and has grown rapidly in the last few years.

The company is now operating out of seven to eight locations in Bangalore's central business district (CBD). When contacted, spokesperson for HP India said that like many growing companies HP is constantly evaluating options to accommodate its employees but "as of now we cannot talk about any specific plans".

Hewlett Packard is a late mover to the suburbs. The company felt comfortable staying in the CBD for various reasons "" closer to the airport, hotels and residential localities.

"But now realising the cost effectiveness of owning a campus, it has decided to move out," a realty analyst observed.

The stretch of Outer Ring Road between Sarjapur and Marathalli, located south east of Bangalore city, is becoming popular as a location for campus development and commercial office space, largely due to the easy availability of large plots of land for built-to-suit buildings and easy accessibility and proximity to the IT industry locations.

Prominent companies which have already moved to the area include Intel and Hughes Software.

This move by HP ISO will enable it to co-ordinate with other arms of the HP family. HP ISO develops high-end software products, solutions and technology that accelerate the delivery of software systems for HP and its extended enterprise customers.

In partnership with other HP divisions and businesses, HP ISO is playing a strategic role in developing and enhancing many HP products.

The company's key R&D programmes span operating systems, networking and network management and framework and application development. Industry segments covered include financial services, manufacturing and telecom.

HP ISO is playing a lead role in developing software services that will form the core of the next generation internet. It regularly files invention disclosures and patent applications in diverse technology areas.