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IBM builds largest software lab in Mass.

Big Blue consolidates acquisitions to Littleton

IBM Corp. plans to stay at the top of the list of largest high-tech employers in Massachusetts with a new software operation, the company said.

Last week, the New York-based computing giant announced the opening of its largest software development lab worldwide, a facility divided between a building in Littleton and a building in neighboring Westford, together employing 3,400 of the 5,000 total employees the company has in Massachusetts.

The new facility will eventually consolidate eight or nine locations the company has scattered around the commonwealth, said Bob McDonald, vice president of technical support for IBM.

That will improve software development and innovation, and will also make IBM (NYSE: IBM) a more attractive place to work, McDonald said. “You can have a much more rich career experience when you’re in a location where there is innovation across the entire software spectrum,” he said.

The Littleton location will bring together employees from the 12 Massachusetts companies IBM has acquired in the last five years, McDonald said.

IBM’s Massachusetts shopping spree has focused on data storage this year, with the twin purchases in April of Newton-based FilesX Inc. and Framingham-based Diligent Technologies Corp.

There will be some positions shifted from IBM’s facility on Rogers Street in Cambridge, a spokeswoman said, but the former Lotus Development headquarters building will remain a hub for research, marketing and social networking software.

IBM is looking forward to integrating with its other software teams the employees it has gained in its acquisitions, McDonald said. The three companies most recently acquired employed about 254 Massachusetts high-tech workers combined.

“In IBM’s view, it’s the skills of the base employees that are most valuable to the innovation cycle,” he said. “We absolutely are committed to skills retention.”