IBM opens 1,000-seat IT centre in Hyderabad

IBM Global Services India has opened its global delivery centre in Hyderabad to cash in on the increasing demand for IT application development and management.

The 1.64 lakh sq ft facility can house up to 1,000 professionals and the full strength may be reached by the year end.

"Indian market conditions are highly encouraging to IBM and we will continue to grow here," IBM General Manager (Asia Pacific) Frank Kern said at the inaugural function of the GDC.

IBM has been growing in India with 5 GDCs at Bangalore, Kolkata, Gurgaon, Pune and Hyderabad with a total headcount of 23,000. "In the last four years, we have grown by 49%," Frank added.

IBM India MD Shankar Annaswamy said the main focus of the centre would be design and development and applications in mainframe, SAP and web technologies.

"The centre is fully networked with our other centres in india," Kern said.

Participating as the chief guest, Chief Minister y s rajasekhar reddy said IT and ITES are growing in the state in a rapid manner. "In the last one year, AP has registered highest growth in the country with 64.5% against the national average of 35%," Reddy said.

Visakhapatnam can be developed as a major IT hub and IT companies should consider setting up facilities there, Reddy added.