VeriSign to up India presence expand

VeriSign, which had seen revenues of $1.66 billion last year, is set to expand its team in India by hiring people with experience and those working on cutting-edge technologies. It will develop engineering products and solutions for various business units.

"We did not come to India for the cost advantage, but came here to tap the talent," said Aristotle Balogh, executive vice president (operations and infrastructure), VeriSign.

"Bangalore is not that cheap considering the total cost of operations," he added.

VeriSign announced the opening of its new India headquarters in Bangalore on Tuesday. This will help VeriSign integrate and unify its three business units.

VeriSign, which has a headcount of 315 employees, will expand with the help of the facility that has a capacity to accommodate 800 people and is spread over 1 lakh square feet.

VeriSign that entered India in 2004 will consolidate its footprint in the region and house employees that support VeriSign's communications, security and information services groups. Until now, employees had been operating from separate offices in Bangalore.

VeriSign considers India a strategic market and believes that it can create a unified culture with the facility and serve regional customers.

VeriSign set its foot in India when the company acquired two companies that formed the foundation of VeriSign's short messaging service (SMS) and picture messaging businesses.

The firm's picture messaging group has a product development centre and has employees in India working on improving the services offered by the mobile operators.