The Beginning

More than fifteen years ago, before India became recognized as the dynamic force in information technology that is known to be today, Oracle was one of the first multinational software companies to set up operations in India. Beginning with a distributorship through Tata Consultancy Services in 1987, the company established direct operations with a liaison office in 1991, and in 1993 formed Oracle India Private Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oracle Corp., focused on the sales and marketing of Oracle software in India. In recognition of the significant pool of highly educated software development engineers based in India, Oracle opened its India Development Center (IDC) in Bangalore in 1994. This early commitment to the country marked Oracle's vision for India as both a domestic market and a center for research and development. The company became the first multinational company to establish core software development operations in India to support its global product development strategy and to address the needs of the local market. Initially, the India Development Center took on development work on a project basis for different development divisions as determined by the company's headquarters in Redwood Shores, California. As word spread throughout the company of the India team's record delivery time of development projects that met the highest standards of quality, the IDC was tasked with more strategic projects and increasingly demanding requirements. Today Oracle has its India Development Centre located at Bangalore and Hyderabad and sales and marketing offices across six Indian cities.

A Turning Point

In 1996, the India development team was challenged with taking on a strategic research and development project. Ultimately the team's success on the project would propel the IDC into the development spotlight at Oracle. The India team was given three months to develop the first version of what would become the basis of Oracle's Internet computing technology, driving the shift to simplified, low-cost computing machines which could access information stored on larger, professionally managed servers.

With no additional resources, the IDC, having been asked only to show version one of the technologies, delivered instead a second-generation version three months to the day from the start of the project. Concurrently, the team also met all deadlines and quality standards for the other 16 projects with which the IDC was tasked with at that time. The world-class development abilities of the India development team were impressed upon the highest levels of the company, garnering praise and recognition from Oracle founder and CEO, Larry Ellison. This became a turning point for the India organization, transforming the India Development Center into a growth engine, integral to the future and vision of the world's largest enterprise software company. From that point forward the India Development Center was integrated into Oracle's global software development organization, working on the latest technology for Oracle customers around the world. At the same time, Oracle's increasing success in the country established the company as the dominant provider of database and enterprise software to the government and corporate sectors in India.

India Development Center - Critical To A Global Team

Today, the combined resources of the India Development Center in Bangalore and Hyderabad contribute to core software development across the entire Oracle product family, including Oracle Database 10g, Oracle Application Server 10g, Oracle Collaboration Suite and Oracle E-Business Suite. The work carried out in India includes new product design, development, technology and feature enhancements, quality engineering, documentation, curriculum for instructor-led and online training, integration, as well as support and maintenance of existing products. The IDC has made major contributions to the research and development of key focus areas for the company including the future of grid computing, technology and applications deployment on Linux, security, Java application development, XML, and Warehouse Management Systems, to name a few. The IDC also contributes significantly to Oracle's online developer community, Oracle Technology Network, showcasing new technology, best practices, sample applications, discussion forums, white papers and through participation in global events.

Working hand-in-hand with their counterparts on the other side of the globe, the U.S. and India development teams work on joint projects round-the-clock, taking advantage of the 12 and a half hour time difference between India and the US to pass development, support and consulting projects between teams overnight. In essence, Oracle's computers never sleep. When developers in the U.S. retire for the night, their development colleagues in India take over. The result is greater quality assurance, more innovative products and the ability to deliver new technology to market faster. This joint cooperation enables the company to operate as a global organization in a "follow the sun" model, effectively accomplishing two days of work in one.

While some multi-national companies outsource work to teams in India on a project basis, Oracle takes a different approach. The India development teams belong to the same organization as their U.S. counterparts, and have as much input into product design and direction as developers at the company's headquarters in Redwood Shores, California. There is no distinction between developers in the U.S. or India when it comes to working on the latest cutting edge technology and strategic development that is critical to the continued growth of the company.

In addition to growing its employee resources, the company is expanding its Bangalore and Hyderabad development centers. The Bangalore facility spans 213,000 square feet of space with an 11-storey multi-level car park, a modern cafeteria that accommodates more than 500 people, recreational facilities including a gymnasium, table tennis and a billiards room, and a fully stocked and computer-accessible library. In Hyderabad, expansion plans include a 500,000 square foot, state-of-the-art campus complete with a multi-level 1,000 car park with recreation and library facilities on ten acres of land acquired at HITEC city in Hyderabad. An important center for Oracle India, Hyderabad presents considerable opportunities for the growing local team to continue with the creation of the high quality, global products that have been the hallmark of Oracle's success.

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