IBM Opens Its Largest Software Development Lab in North America in Massachusetts

IBM (News - Alert) has opened the IBM Mass Lab - IBM's largest software development lab in North America.

The IBM Lab is located in Littleton and Westford, Massachusetts, and brings together 3,400 of IBM's employees to find first-of-a-kind solutions to computing challenges. 

According to company officials, the Lab is creating software that responds to some of the world's most complex process and infrastructure problems, such as modernizing and automating the world's physical infrastructures - from railroads, water management, food traceability and healthcare modernization.

Much of the demand for software is being created by the need to automate and modernize systems, such as electronic medical records, fraud detection and energy management through smart grids. 

The IBM Mass Lab is also developing software for enterprise mobile computing, and more effective collaboration and integration to support an increasingly mobile workforce. The explosion and sophistication of devices have generated a mountain of data and transactions, and increased complexity leading to a convergence of IT and mobility.    

This Lab is one of 70 IBM software labs around the globe.

Since 2003, IBM has acquired 14 Massachusetts-based companies to broaden its software portfolio including Rational Software, Cognos (News - Alert), Ascential Software Corporation, and most recently Ounce Labs and Guardium Corporation. IBM has partnered with more than 100 venture-capital backed, small-technology companies in Massachusetts, and has more than 1,600 business partners in New England. 

'IBM views Massachusetts as an innovation hotbed,' said Steve Mills, senior vice president and group executive, IBM Software. 'Through the new, state-of-the-art IBM Mass Lab, IBM is committed to nurturing the human talent and economic strengths of the growing Massachusetts tech hub. The IBM Mass Lab is a critical component of our growth strategy for the state of Massachusetts.' 

IBM selected the towns of Littleton and Westford due to the proximity of its geographically dispersed employee population and burgeoning high-tech belt along I-495. IBM's Massachusetts presence also includes IBM Research in Cambridge, Mass., and the IBM Innovation Center in Waltham, Mass., now on its 15th year of helping local companies enable skills and applications around IBM products. 

This Mass Lab meets requirements set by nationally recognized standards for minimum energy use and incorporates many sustainable design and construction elements. When designing the Mass Lab, focus was placed on energy efficiency, recycling and reuse of materials and water conservation. 

In addition, the Mass Lab can accommodate 59,000 square feet of lab server space and contains 31 miles of copper and fiber-optic wiring for data networking, virtualization and power monitoring. Also, there's over two petabytes of data in the Mass Lab.

This Lab will strengthen the company's continued contribution to the state's economy. Currently, IBM is the second largest technology employer in Massachusetts. Since 1995, IBM employees in Massachusetts were awarded 2,950 patents.

In a related matter, IBM recently announced the opening of a major research lab in Brazil.