Novell to ramp up B'lore R&D

Novell, which specialises in enterprise-class solutions and supporting open source software, plans to ramp up its Bangalore R&D centre significantly this year.

The centre, started in 1994, is Novell's largest lab outside the USA. "Ever since it was incorporated, the Bangalore R&D centre has evolved as an integral part of the company developing internationally-acclaimed products. We have an aggressive hiring programme for Bangalore," Novell executive vice-president & chief technology officer Jeffrey Jaffe said on Wednesday.

At present, the Bangalore R&D centre, which has a headcount of 325, accounts for 25 per cent of Novell's worldwide research. "We expect this to increase significantly in the coming years. We are committed to growing Bangalore operations strongly," he added.

The firm's R&D spending during 2006 was $176 million. With India emerging as a major market for Novell, it is "engaging and partnering various firms. The state governments are also showing active interest in adopting open source software for various education-related projects. We intend to support all such programmes," Jaffe stated.