Dell Computer has set up a software development facility in
Bangalore, India, to design, develop, and test software for
enterprise-system products, company chairman and chief executive
officer Michael Dell announced today.
"We are also looking at further opportunities to take advantage of
the large, skilled labour pool that you find in India," he said.
Software and services account for about 42% of Dell's revenue. "We
are not developing operating systems, nor applications," said Dell.
"We are developing systems software that go with our products." The
software development centre will also develop software for Dell's
own information-systems requirements.
The Texas-based company is also evaluating moving some of its
internal business processes to India, according to William Amelio,
Dell's president for the Asia-Pacific region and Japan.
The company already operates a customer-support centre in
Bangalore, called Dell International Services, offering technical
support via phone and e-mail to its customers in the US, Europe,
and the Asia-Pacific region. "Since we started this facility a
little over a year ago, we have grown the number of people from
about 180 to 800," said Dell.
Dell dismissed reports making the rounds in the Indian press that
the company was considering assembling computers in India in
partnership with Bangalore-based computer maker Wipro.
Dell's manufacturing facilities are generally located where there
is a large base of suppliers of materials required for computer
manufacture, which India does not have, Dell said.