RSA Security to set up devt centre

RSA Security Inc., a global player in protecting online identities and digital assets, has announced the company's first development centre in India. The centre, which will come up in Bangalore with an initial investment of $2.4 million, is scheduled start in September this year.

Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday, Stan Swiniarski, vice president, engineering (identity and access management), RSA Security said the Bangalore development centre would oversee the company's award-winning identity and access management software products.

"The centre will expand RSA's presence in India and will play a key role in building mission-critical consumer solutions for authentication apart from extending our current fraud protection offerings," Swiniarski said.

RSA, which claims to have 70 per cent market-share in the authentication sector, is headquartered in the US and has development centres in Australia, and Israel. This apart, RSA security had been working with HCL Technologies in Chennai where there is a 120-member dedicated team.

The initial headcount at RSA's India development centre will be 100, going up to 400 by 2008.

"This would be our largest team at any development centre and subsequently the company plans to station 50 per cent of its workforce in Bangalore," Swiniarski added.

"The universities and educational institutions here produce a lot of new graduates and we plan to sponsor research activities within the universities in Bangalore and outside to promote development of best-of-breed security products," he added.

Another reason for choosing Bangalore is its proximity to RSA's security partners like Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and Juniper Networks which already have a strong presence in the city, he added.

RSA's centre is expected to come up somewhere close to Koramangala.

RSA's turnover in 2005 was $310.1 million.