The Hindu Business Line : Symbol plans $30-m investment for expanding Indian centre

US-BASED Symbol Technologies plans to ramp up its India centre with additional investments of $30 million, double headcount in the next year and move next generation enterprise mobility product development to the Bangalore centre.

Announcing this, the Senior Vice-President, Global Products Group, Mr Todd Hewlin, said the company had recently doubled its manpower in the country and expected to double that again as product and software development work increases. Symbol has invested $10 million in its India facilities so far.

The Bangalore centre will initially have 180 people with planned development for 500 people. ``This will be a significant part of the global development facilities we currently have,'' Mr Hewlin said. The company is planning to develop mobile computing devices, mobility service platform and a whole set of embedded and application software, he said.

``Going beyond sustaining existing products, the Symbol India development facility is playing a central role in new development on Symbol's market leading wireless switches and mobility software products,'' said Mr Anthony Bartolo, Senior Vice-President, GM-Wireless Infrastructure.

Symbol products and enterprise mobility solutions increase workforce productivity, reduce operating costs, drive operational efficiencies and realise competitive advantages for the world's leading retailers, transportation and logistics companies, manufacturers, wholesale and distribution centres, government agencies and healthcare facilities, Mr Hewlin said. ``A large number of technologies and applications are going to become mobile and Symbol is favouring the concept of an enterprise digital assistant that lets the organisation keep in touch with a large number of hitherto mobile but unconnected workers.''

``The Indian centre is one of four worldwide and will become the largest outside of the US," said Mr Amit Phadnis, Managing Director, Symbol Technologies India. ``Symbol also plans to partner with other Indian technology companies for product development activities and to extend its enterprise mobility reference architecture,'' he said.