Veritas Software Corporation today announced a range of investments and commitments to lay a solid foundation in China. Investments in China include establishing a wholly foreign-owned enterprise and creating an engineering development center.

"According to IDC's latest report, China Packaged Software 2004-2008 Forecast and Analysis, issued early this month, Veritas ranks number two among the top five storage software providers in China," said Zhang Zongshun, Market Analyst, Software & Service Research, IDC China.

Other Veritas commitments in China include in-country support, a localized version of Veritas NetBackup software and an array of partners. The company's commitments are intended to dramatically simplify the process for customers in Asia doing business with Veritas.

Zhang says, "In 2003 China's storage software market maintained a steady year-on-year growth of 18.8%, and looking forward we anticipate this market to continue to grow at a CAGR of 24.9% between 2003-2008 driven primarily by steady economic growth in the region, improvements in IT infrastructure, and increasing demand from enterprises."

Veritas is opening the China Development Center (CDC) in the Haidian district of Beijing, where it will hire and develop local engineering talent. The center officially opens in late September 2004 and will complement the company's other engineering development centers located in the United States and India.