Microsoft opens new R&D facility in Bangalore

BD Narayankar

Press Trust of India

Bangalore, July 26 (PTI) Microsoft today announced the opening of its new state-of-the-art R&D facility in the city.

"The availability of world class talent, advanced infrastructure and proximity to the booming emerging markets of the world prompted us to set up Microsoft R&D facility in Bangalore," Microsoft Corp (Online Services Division) President Qi Lu said after inaugurating the facility here.

The 1,54,000 sq ft building will house the Microsoft India Development Center (MSIDC) team that contributes to Microsoft Corp’s adCenter technologies and researchers from Microsoft Research India.

“Bangalore has been our home ever since we established the Microsoft Research India lab, and moving to the new, larger lab space is indicative of the increasing interest in research in the country," Microsoft Research India scientist and MD P Anandan said.

Last April, Microsoft announced the extension of its engineering efforts to Bangalore as part of the Search alliance between the company and Yahoo Inc.

"With the combined strength of Yahoo and Microsoft Corp’s Search marketplace, we are ready to deliver greater and improved innovation for consumers, better volume and efficiency for advertisers and better monetization opportunities for web publishers. The Bangalore team has a charter to make significant engineering contributions to Microsoft Corp’s adCenter product,” Qi said.

Microsoft’s first R&D center was set up in Hyderabad in 1998 with about 20 people. At present, it has 3900 people contributing to global and internal product engineering for Microsoft Corp and its Global Technology Support Center at Bangalore.

"Apart from ensuring that the Yahoo India employees who joined Microsoft India R&D have a smooth transition, we worked hard on designing our new home," adCenter team General Manager Sanjay Anand said.

Microsoft India R&D plays an important role in contributing to innovation at Microsoft. The centre's development teams work closely with the key product families of Microsoft Corp and makes it one of the software giant’s largest research and development centers outside Redmond.