Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Avid establishes product engineering center in China

By Mass High Tech Staff

Digital media software maker Avid Technology Inc. reports it has partnered with Dextrys Inc. to draw product engineering services from China by establishing a global engineering center.

Under the deal, Wakefield-based Dextrys will provide product development, enhancement, testing and localization services to Avid (Nasdaq: AVID). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Dextrys said China was attractive to Tewksbury-based Avid because of its high-quality, low-cost labor force, established infrastructure, low turnover, controlled inflation and market potential.

Dextrys was originally founded as IT consulting firm Darwin Partners Inc. in 1987. That firm merged with Chinese development firm Suzsoft Co. Ltd. in 2006, creating what executives called the first U.S.-based IT consulting firm with application development in China. After changing its name to DarwinSuzsoft, the firm landed $48 million in funding in 2007 and relaunched as Dextrys — with local IT consulting veteran Brian Keane at the helm — earlier this year.

Two years ago, Dextrys had 350 workers in China, while today’s China workforce is more than 1,000. In addition to IT, the privately held company has expanded its number of wireless application developers, with about 30 percent boasting skills in the mobile arena.

Avid reported a 2007 loss of $8 million on revenue of $929.6 million.