Brocade to set up India lab to boost market

BANGALORE: Computer storage network maker Brocade Communications Systems Inc

teamed up with India's technology infrastructure provider on Wednesday to set up

a $100,000 laboratory in the southern city of Bangalore to expand the market for

storage network in the country.

State-run Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) is a data-communications

and service provider for the computer software industry and offers international

connectivity exclusively for software exporters.

"This is a joint effort to support the rapid growth of the SAN market in

India," B V Naidu, director of STPI, told a news conference in the

country's technology capital. San Jose, California-based Brocade, co-founded by

Indian-born Kumar Malavalli, is the industry leader in mid-range switches that

tie data networks.

The company, which lists telecoms and financial services firms among its

Indian clients, aims to boost demand for its products through its alliance with

STPI, said James LaLonde, Brocade's vice-president for the Asia-Pacific. Brocade

will invest in hardware in the laboratory and train STPI staff on storage

network and also assist it in offering consulting services.

The Indian storage systems market, one of the fastest growing in Asia, is

forecast to boost revenue threefold to $426 million by 2005 from $135 million in

2000, Brocade said, citing a study by market researcher IDC.

STPI plans to offer SAN services to India's rapidly growing software services

industry, which is spearheading the demand for data storage, officials said.