Microsoft opened a state of the art R&D facility in the heart of Bangalore’s business district. This 1,54,000 square feet building will house the Bangalore Microsoft India Development Center (MSIDC) team that contributes to Microsoft Corp’s adCenter technologies, as well as the researchers from Microsoft Research India. Microsoft’s first R&D center was set up in Hyderabad in 1998, while Microsoft Research India was established in Bangalore in 2005.

“For the last one decade India has been a key player in Microsoft’s strategy of global shared development. The availability of world class talent, advanced infrastructure and proximity to the booming emerging markets of the world are key reasons behind this. The decision to set up our second R&D center in Bangalore reinforces Microsoft’s commitment towards India,” says Qi Lu, President, Online Services Division, Microsoft Corp.

Last April Microsoft had announced the extension of its engineering efforts to Bangalore as part of the Search alliance between Microsoft and Yahoo. With the combined strength of Yahoo and Microsoft Corp’s Search marketplace the process of transition is now complete, and together the companies are ready to deliver greater and improved innovation for consumers, better volume and efficiency for advertisers and better monetization opportunities for web publishers.

“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. The design of the space continues our quest to provide a comfortable working environment that encourages creativity and collaboration while being energy efficient and environment friendly,” says P. Anandan, Distinguished Scientist and Managing Director, Microsoft Research India. Microsoft India R&D plays an important role in contributing to innovation at Microsoft. Its development team work closely with the key product families of Microsoft and, with a headcount of 3900 plus people, is one of Microsoft’s largest research and development centres outside Redmond.