By IANS
Bangalore : Cisco Systems Inc., the $35-billion networking equipment major, is betting on India’s engineering talent to make its subsidiary here a hub for expanding its business worldwide.
“It is not low-cost or labour arbitrage but India’s best and brightest engineering talent pool that made us locate our largest research and development (R&D) facility outside the US here (Bangalore) and groom a quarter of our next-generation leaders from the sub-continent,” Cisco chairman and chief executive officer John Chambers told IANS.
Outlining Cisco’s globalisation vision at its own campus on the outskirts of India’s silicon hub, Chambers said Wednesday that besides talent, converging technologies, a rapidly-growing economy and a huge market for networking products and services have made the global firm invest in human capital in India.
“Our decision to invest an additional $100 million in Indian start-ups and smart firms as venture capital is aimed at stimulating local entrepreneurship and facilitate innovation to make India a global hub for next-generation products and solutions in the networking arena,” Chambers said.
He hinted that the company could consider acquiring the venture-funded firms if they become strategically fit. “Our strategy for venture investments and buyouts depends on how innovative they become to enhance our product offerings.”
Referring to the singular contribution of the Indian team to Cisco’s product development and service support, Chambers said the Bangalore campus would serve as a global platform to roll out smart products and solutions applicable and affordable in developing countries for bridging the digital divide.
“The India centre will be at the heart of our globalisation vision and a platform to tap the potential in the emerging markets, with disruptive technologies such as Web 2.0, IP (Internet Protocol) phone and Tele-Presence, which connects people in different locations to see and talk to each other in a virtual environment,” Chambers pointed out.
Former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who unveiled the new campus Tuesday, witnessed a live demo of Tele-Presence. It showed Chambers interacting with his executives in California as if they were at the same place in person.
“Tele-Presence can be used for a wide range of collaborative applications, eliminating distance as a barrier for communications between individuals or groups of people,” Chambers affirmed.
Cisco’s chief globalisation head Wim Elfrink said the India centre would also develop products and services required for its customers in the Asia-Pacific region.
“We have created a collaborative work environment at this India centre to attract and retain top talent. Collaborative technologies such as Tele-Presence will help us to scale our support services across the emerging markets, keeping in view the changing business models of our customers and partners,” Elfrink noted.
As part of its collaborative efforts, Cisco has tied up with the Hyderabad-based Satyam Computer Services Ltd. to provide healthcare solutions in global markets. The proposed joint venture, in which Cisco will have a minority stake, will develop solutions for health management, especially for handling distress situations.
According to Satyam’s chairman B. Ramalinga Raju, technology convergence has brought about a paradigm shift in healthcare, creating a compelling need to provide an integrated single-point service.
“Our integrated health solution provides individuals with access to first response, professional healthcare advice and support from medical experts either at designated health centres or over a fixed/mobile phone network,” Raju said.
As announced in New Delhi earlier this week, Cisco will more than triple its India headcount to 10,000 over the next three years from about 3,000 presently. The $50-million integrated campus, christened Cisco Globalisation Centre East and spread over a million square feet, will house about 1,200 employees in the first phase and double of that in the second phase by 2010.
During his previous visit here in 2005, Chambers had announced Cisco would invest $1.1 billion in the Indian subsidiary, including $750 million in the R&D facility and $100 million for venture funding over a five-year period.
The new facility will also host Cisco’s global briefing centre to showcase its latest technology solutions and facilitate collaboration with partners to identify solutions for emerging markets in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Middle East.
Similarly, the largest data centre outside the US will serve as a platform to demonstrate the company’s next-generation virtualisation technologies and SoN (service-oriented network) architectures for its global customers.