Blue Coat extends Malaysia operations

KUALA LUMPUR--Blue Coat Systems has expanded its global service center (GSC) here as the company aims to increase support for its growing operations in the Asia-Pacific region.

Matt Young, vice president of Asia-Pacific sales for Blue Coat Systems, said its Kuala Lumpur center--first established in 2005 and staffed by about 30 people--has grown to about 50 people, and is now the company's second-largest office.

The Asia-Pacific region is the fastest growing region for Blue Coat, Young told ZDNet Asia at the sidelines of the GSC launch Thursday. "We aim to double our [headcount] in Malaysia, hopefully, by year-end."

The new GSC is housed in an 11,000-square-foot facility in Menara IMC, in the heart of the city center. Built at a cost of US$500,000, it is equipped with state-of-the-art labs and has a high-availability infrastructure, company executives said.

Young added that the facility will support enterprises in the region during its primary working hours from 8am to 6pm, and will also be integrated with five other GSCs and distribution centers across three regions.

He said Malaysia was chosen for the region's center because of several factors. Among them are the people's ability to speak in a variety of Asian languages, a good telecommunication infrastructure, access to a skilled workforce and good travel connectivity.

Asked what the new GSC means for Blue Coat's Asia-Pacific customers, Young said: "This new facility embodies our commitment to the region and shows our support to our clients in this time zone. It also means we will continue investing in this region."

On Blue Coat's financial performance, Young expects its revenue to grow in the coming year following its acquisition of rival equipment maker Packeteer, but declined to give details. Blue Coat completed the Packeteer merger in June, in a deal worth US$268 million, giving the company an additional 10,000 customers, 50 sales teams and a combined revenue of about US$500 million, said Young.

Edwin Yapp is a freelance IT writer based in Malaysia.