What is the India Systems Development Lab?
The India Systems Development Lab (ISDL) is the largest development hub in IBM’s Infrastructure division, which includes the Systems, Cloud and Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS) business units. It was established in 1997 and has development teams in Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad. The teams work on projects across the IBM Infrastructure, Hardware and Software portfolio, including Development, Test, Product Support, Design Engineering, Cloud Platform and DevOps/SRE activities.
We recently spoke to Akhtar Ali, Vice President of IBM India Infrastructure Lab, who told us about the lab’s history and its critical role in driving IBM’s Systems business. Akhtar discusses the Lab’s growth and mission, along with the job opportunities available for engineers looking for a rewarding career at the forefront of tech innovation.
From humble beginnings to giant strides
“In its exciting journey of 27 years, ISDL has made giant strides since its humble beginnings. ISDL has partnered with IBM’s US Labs on a number of projects, like the software development and testing for the Power Systems, and the design of ASIC chips. Ultimately, ISDL owns and drives several global missions across the Power, Storage and IBM Z businesses. This has been accompanied by the significant growth of the Lab, with ISDL playing a pivotal role in delivering the Systems division’s business commitments.”
A unique systems development lab in India
“This lab is a microcosm of the IBM Infrastructure organization and is the only one with significant co-located presence across all segments of the portfolio that includes Power, Mainframe (IBM Z), Storage and Cloud businesses. We also work extensively with other IBM organizations in India like Software, Consulting, Research and Sales. This provides a great collaboration opportunity for the engineers in ISDL and cross pollination of skills.”
Innovation and skill growth
“Innovation is at the core of our organization’s technical vitality. At ISDL, we have a community-driven platform called Sangam that enables employees to contribute ideas and collaborate in translating some of these ideas into product features and enhancements, which generates valuable Intellectual Property. Top contributors are rewarded to encourage continuous improvement and drive efficiencies across business, technology and processes.
We also encourage our engineers to engage with the developer community through participation in conferences, meetups and university programs.
There is also significant focus on growth and career development through a structured Learning & Development framework implemented across the organization. It comprises of comprehensive learning plans and journeys, experiential learning, classroom training and a culture of mentoring.”
Employee engagement and diversity
“At ISDL, we put people first and strongly believe that Career Development and Inclusive Culture are two of the most important dimensions that determine the performance of an organization and well-being of its employees.
We have various initiatives focused on all aspects of the employee journey across both management and technical tracks. These include structured learning programs, innovation platforms and Diversity & Inclusion initiatives. We also have a very active Business Resource Group (BRG) called Pragathi (meaning “progress” in many Indian languages) which focuses on support and growth of our women employees through programs like Taking the stage (focused on career development), TechNova (improving presentation skills) and Targeted Innovation (mentorship for patent mining and conference presentations).”
Great place to work
“At ISDL there is an opportunity to work on cutting edge technologies across hardware and software development. Whether you are a chip designer interested in any aspect of processor or ASIC design or a software developer working on the System stack – from Firmware, Operating Systems, Systems Management, to Cloud Platform, Security, Generative AI and Storage Software – there are always challenging projects to meet one’s professional interests.
There are well defined career paths in ISDL for entry level bright minds to pursue in areas of their interest across technical and management. You will work on real world problems, learn from experienced professionals, develop skills on cutting edge technology and build a great professional network.
At ISDL, you will get an opportunity to lead global projects using latest technologies and collaborate with colleagues around the world. The breadth of scope of the lab’s mission ensures exposure to a wide range of subjects, which in turn, ensures that no one gets bored or stagnant in their careers.”
Discover your potential at the India Systems Development Lab
If you want to discover new frontiers of technology, pursue a challenging yet interesting career, focus on innovation and grow as a professional, then join us to create a better tomorrow for everyone. Visit our career website and take the next step in your professional journey!
If you don’t see a role that aligns with your skills and interests at this time, we invite you to join our Talent Network to receive updates on career opportunities and events from IBM.