IBM has announced the opening of the IBM Service Management Centre of Excellence in Pune, India, which will act as the regional hub for IBM Tivoli service management software and strategy. The Centre has been designed to develop specialised focus and skills in high value areas such as telecom, security, automation and asset management.

The Centre will be staffed by IBM Service Management experts from around the world and will provide infrastructure and resources for enablement and education; client engagement support to sales teams and business partners; and facilities for proof-of-concept, demos and workshops. It will also offer certification and joint education programmes with local universities, access to industry models, best practices and proven methodologies based on IBM's worldwide service management experience.

"At India Software Lab, we encourage the blending of technology and domain expertise with industry relevance," said Ponani Gopalakrishnan, vice president, India Software Lab. "Our Centres of Excellence are designed with the objective of spurring innovation initiatives in partnership with clients and business partners. This IBM Service Management centre will bring together worldwide experts, product developers and business process consultants to promote service management excellence."

Pune is a strategic location for India Software Lab for IBM Tivoli software development, support and service teams. IBM has chosen Pune as the location for this Centre to harness the local presence of deep technical skills and the ability to collaborate with several top engineering universities and institutes based there.

"As Asia Pacific is one of the fastest growing markets for IBM Tivoli Service Management, we are responding strategically to this growing demand," said Pradeep Nair, director, Software Group, IBM India/ South Asia. "IBM has always supported the advancement of service management best practices and open standards, and this Centre is an extension of IBM's commitment to service management capabilities in this region."