Alain Azagury is to be the director for IBM’s new STG lab in Israel.IBM’s enthusiasm for the technological talent and creativity of Israeli engineers received another boost this week after news that the multinational giant is forming a new Systems and Technology Group (STG) Lab in the country.
IBM hopes the new lab, IBM’s third major lab in Israel, will create a unique R&D organization that will attract top talent to IBM’s System & Technology Group. The lab will specialize in storage products, microelectronics and chip design.
The STG lab is to be headed by Alain Azagury, who has held a number of senior positions at IBM including director of service product technology at the IBM research division in the US. At the STG Lab he will be responsible for coordinating storage development activities in Israel, and leading circuit and logic design technologies.
IBM has been active in Israel since it acquired Ubique in 1998 and has a development lab in Haifa, directed by Oded Cohn, and another, the Software Lab, headed by Daniel Yellin.
The company also has a smaller lab in Ramat Hayal, a suburb of Tel Aviv. This will form the basis of the new STG Lab, which will also operate out of the Haifa lab.
Since the start of the year, IBM has acquired three Israeli IT storage solutions start-ups: XIV, FilesX, and Diligent Technologies. FilesX was incorporated into IBM’s Software Lab, while Diligent will be incorporated into the new storage lab. XIV will remain independent for the time being, according to Joseph Shoval, IBM Israel’s marketing communications manager.
“The establishment of the new STG Lab in Israel creates a strong momentum for our development activities in Israel,” said Meir Nissensohn, general manager of IBM Israel.
“Our vision is to go forward, excelling in development methodologies while embracing the most advanced development standards,” said Azagury.
The company announced that with the establishment of the new IBM STG Lab, the IBM R&D Labs in Israel have a firm representation of the IBM divisions dedicated to infrastructure solutions and technologies.
IBM said the new STG Lab will work closely with its sister labs in Israel. More than 100 people are likely to be employed there, according to sources. IBM currently employs over 700 researchers and developers in Israel.
“This new lab demonstrates IBM’s firm commitment to Israel,” Shoval told ISRAEL21c.
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