‘Motorola–Looking Ahead’

Communications major Motorola Computer Group recently had a low-key launch of
its Hyderabad R&D center. MCG vice-president and general manager Wendy
Vittori elaborates on the company’s plans in the country and explains how the
acquisition of Netplane Systems fits into its scheme of things. Excerpts from an
interview:

In what areas will MCG’s Hyderabad R&D center work in?

The center will work in the communication space–telecom and networking.
MCG is into intelligent building blocks for standards-based embedded computing.
These building blocks include open-architecture hardware, rich software and
application-ready platforms that enable equipment manufacturers to quickly and
cost-effectively embed leading-edge functionality into next-generation systems.

Why have you chosen Hyderabad for your R&D facility?

MCG has expanded its vision with this latest development center at Hyderabad.
We take all the technology, build software and give a complete integrated
solution. People can simply deploy their systems on our platforms. And Hyderabad
is very conducive to growth. We have just the right infrastructure and talent
available, besides the fact that the location also reduces our time-to-market.

Where does acquisition of Netplane Systems fit into the scheme of things?

By the time I came on board at MCG in January 2003, the acquisitions of Netplane
Systems and Paceline Systems Corp, a US-based company similar to Netplane in
size and area of operation, was underway. Netplane had figured out as early as
2000 that IP was the way to go. Then the industry took a downturn and it had to
look for partners with whom it could move forward. Motorola, with its strong
background in telecom, is just the right company for the technology Netplane has
been working on. Motorola is the premier supplier of hardware to OEMs.

So the relationship is not a partnership? Why acquisition?

It could have been just about any relationship but outright acquisition came
across as the most appropriate. Together as one unit, MCG, we can focus on next
generation cutting edge telecommunications computing architecture. We are
talking about applications enabling platforms with high voice, video and data
switching speeds. And, all our work here is

IP related.

When will the center start contributing to productivity?

It already is. In May 2003 the team even showcased what the next generation
platform would look like. By early next year, we should be able to bring out our
hardware-software pre-integrated platforms. In terms of when it will be
available to an average consumer, it should be another two years, say 2005-06,
before one can have the technology, say on a cell phone.

Any specific plans for the Hyderabad center?

Currently, we have 40 people in a 15,000 sq. ft facility at Vannenburg IT park.
This will increase to about 80 in two years’ time. There are other plans also
in terms of locating our marketing team at Hyderabad. It would all happen in due
course of time depending on the rate of recovery of the industry.

Nandita Singh (Cyber News Service) in
Hyderabad