Riverbed Expands R&D Facility in India

Riverbed Technology, Inc. has opened a new R&D facility in Bangalore, India, and will expand its engineering team in the region three-fold over the next several years as part of its effort to accelerate the delivery of next generation cloud networking and application performance solutions worldwide.

The center will be the largest Riverbed R&D facility outside the US, and focus on solving some of the challenges businesses face in the digital era. The building will also serve as the HQs for Riverbed’s sales and operations in India.

Riverbed has a reputation for pioneering solutions that make applications work better – whether they are delivered on-premise, as a service, or in the cloud. The company is redefining the networking market with an application-focused approach.

“At our core, we are an engineering company that builds its own technology, and India is a central player in our strategy of global shared development,” said Jerry M. Kennelly, chairman and CEO, Riverbed. “The availability of world class talent, advanced infrastructure and proximity to other fast-growing emerging markets of the world are key reasons behind this. The decision to open the new facility in Bangalore reinforces India as a global R&D hub for Riverbed – one that will play a vital role in the future of the company.“

Riverbed opened its first R&D facility in India in 2014 with the intent to integrate the team into its mainstream product innovation pipeline. Since then, the team has played a role in advancing development of the company’s product, Riverbed SteelHead – specifically in the areas of mobile, SaaS and cloud. The expansion of the R&D center in Bangalore will enable the team to take on a greater share of development in emerging technology areas such as software-defined edge and software-defined WAN (SD-WAN).

The Riverbed India R&D Center will be led by Kartik Subbanna, VP of engineering, reporting to US-based Vineet Abraham, Riverbed’s SVP of engineering.

Since going private in April 2015, Riverbed has increased its investment in R&D as a percentage of its overall revenue as part of the company’s broader strategy to evolve its products to address the demand for a different approach to networking, fueled by the rise of cloud and hybrid IT environments.

“We live in an era of great disruption – and it is only through the strategic use of technology that businesses can evolve at the speed and scale needed to thrive,” said Nandan Nilekani, former chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India, and co-founder and former chief executive of Infosys Ltd. “Riverbed has embraced this change, and has transformed its own business in order to help organizations better seize opportunities in the digital era.“