Network Appliance to set up center in B’lore

BANGALORE: Network Appliance announced today that it will be opening a facility in India to add engineering, customer support, and professional services staff in Bangalore, India’s leading technology development city.

Network Appliance expects to begin staffing the facility by June of this year. The increased investments in India complement worldwide engineering and customer services staffs in Europe, the United States, and Singapore, and reflect the ongoing global expansion of Network Appliance as an enterprise storage leader.

“Leading storage companies and our solution partners have created operations in India,” said Dan Warmenhoven, CEO of Network Appliance, Inc. “We need to be close to that development work, and closer to our customers in all parts of the world. Increasing our investment in India strengthens our leadership position in enterprise storage and expands our global capabilities.”

Network Appliance has long maintained concurrent engineering staffs on both coasts of the United States. Adding engineering resources in India increases overall engineering productivity for the company by enabling ongoing global development in the areas of solution maintenance as well as leading edge development around Network Appliance’s core intellectual properties.

The Network Appliance customer support and professional services organization has also operated under a “follow the sun” strategy with four global support centers: one in Europe, one in Singapore, and two in the United States. Additional support and services personnel in India will help Network Appliance provide even greater value to its enterprise customers around the world.

In related news, Network Appliance has named Manish Goel as President-Network Appliance India Technology Operation. Manish joined Network Appliance in March 2002 in corporate development and has been instrumental in strategic business initiatives, including the company’s recent relationship with Hitachi Data Systems. He joined Network Appliance from Copper Mountain Networks, where he was the vice president of business development responsible for mergers and acquisitions, OEM relationships, and strategic business endeavors.

Manish continued, “India is especially appealing for Network Appliance as we expand our engineering and customer support capabilities. The workforce is highly educated and technically savvy, government and industry cooperate to create a harmonious business climate, and legal infrastructures help protect corporate intellectual property. Over the years, technology workers in India have impressed the world with not only their formidable skills, but also their zeal for quality value-added work that contributes to the success of India-based operations and divisions.”