Force10 Networks Opens New Innovation Center in Olympia Technology Park; Company's India Growth Strategy Accelerates Employment Ramp

CHENNAI, India, Sept. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Force10 Networks, Inc., a global technology leader that data center, service provider and enterprise customers rely on when the network is their business, today formally unveiled its new Innovation Center, a 44,000-square-foot facility that houses its India headquarters, development lab and data center in Olympia Technology Park.

At a ceremony marking the new facility, the company said it had expanded its research and development (R&D) and support teams some 50 percent since April, 2010. Moreover, the company's India-based strategic partner, which has been engaged to augment the skill sets of Force10's Chennai team, has hired 80 engineers to carry out Force10's development work in India. As part of its ongoing growth strategy, Force10 expects to nearly double its engineering team again by 2011.

Participating in the traditional "lamp-lighting" inauguration ceremony were U.S. Consulate General Andrew Simkin, executives from high-tech firms Aricent Networks, Tata Communications, and Ixia, and Force10's Chennai employees.

The move to its new Innovation Center -- some 30 percent larger than its former facility -- comes on the fifth anniversary of Force10's India operations. During that time, Force10 has invested $18.5 million to establish and expand a Chennai-based world-class R&D team as an extension to its U.S. engineering operation. The company said it plans to invest another $10 million to outfit and operate its new 3,500-square-foot development lab, which is more than twice the size of its former lab. The new 1,500-square-foot data center also has doubled in size.

Today, Force10's Innovation Center is the global center of competence for leading-edge core/switch product development, including software development and testing, for Force10's E-, S- and C-Series product lines and multi-protocol label switching (MPLS). The company's high-performance products deliver resiliency and unmatched port density per square inch to help customers deploy an agile and standards-based Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and 10 GbE data center network fabric, while reducing power and cooling costs.

"We have achieved critical mass at our Chennai Innovation Center and we provide our engineers with the best-in-class work environment, including the opportunity to develop bleeding-edge technologies," said Prakash Sripathy, vice president, India Operations for Force10 Networks. "The Chennai Innovation Center is well positioned and geared up to match the pace and scale of growth in new product development at Force10. We will continue to play a major role in expanding Force10's footprint in the data center and enterprise market space."

College Graduate Program Key Part of Hiring Plan

Force10's "New College Graduate Program," implemented in 2007, targets high-caliber students in engineering and other disciplines at leading area universities, including the College of Engineering, Guindy, Madras Institute of Technology, and the IIT Madras.  New college graduates from these institutions make up 30 percent of the company's total Chennai workforce.

Additionally, another element of Force10's growth strategy here is to leverage partnerships with  India-based tier-one engineering consulting firms. Given the accelerated product development plan the company has in place, Force10 is working with partners to maximize its flexibility and speed its time-to-market needs in the ever-growing data center and enterprise network market.

"Force10's heritage is steeped in pioneering new networking technology and industry firsts with the Chennai team playing a strong central role in that legacy," said Ebrahim Abbasi, executive vice president, corporate business development and technology at Force10. "Given that strong foundation and the world-class quality of the engineering talent in Chennai, we will continue to invest in India to grow our footprint in terms of our workforce, development capability, strategic partnerships among customers and, lastly, consulting firms that can add value to our expanding product portfolio."  

About Force10 Networks

Force10 Networks is a global technology leader that data center, service provider and enterprise customers rely on when the network is their business. The company's high performance Ethernet switching and routing solutions virtualize and automate Ethernet networks to deliver new and distinct economic advantages by increasing network availability, agility and efficiency while reducing power and cooling costs. Force10 provides 24x7 service and support capabilities to its global customer base in more than 60 countries worldwide.  For more information on Force10 Networks, please visit www.force10networks.com

Force10 Networks, the Force10 Networks logo, Force10, E-Series, Traverse, and TraverseEdge are registered trademarks and ExaScale, S-Series, TeraScale, and FTOS are trademarks of Force10 Networks, Inc.  All other company names are trademarks of their respective holders.

SOURCE Force10 Networks, Inc.