Quantum opens first R&D center in Asia

Data storage tape company Quantum unveiled Thursday its first new research and development (R&D) facility in Asia.

Located in Hyderabad, India, the R&D center was officially opened today and is expected to be operational in one or two weeks' time, Richard Belluzzo, chairman and CEO of Quantum, told ZDNet Asia in an interview Wednesday.

Quantum will invest US$10 million over the next two years in the 13,406 square feet facility, dubbed Quantum India Development Center, he said. Belluzzo added that the current team of 12 staff at the lab will be expanded to 75 people over the next 12 to 18 months.

The research center in India will complement its existing labs in the United States--namely Minnesota, San Jose and Colorado--and develop software for the company's DXi series of disk backup and replication appliances, as well as its tape automation product range, he said.

Quantum also has an R&D center in Adelaide, Australia, which it inherited from its 2006 acquisition of Rocksoft, that focuses on the data de-duplication technology, he added.