Storage vendor NetApp is expanding in North Carolina and Kansas and will add 860 jobs between the two sites. NetApp plans to invest about $75 million in a new research-and-development center in Research Triangle Park, near Raleigh, N.C. It will also add 460 jobs there over the next four years. The new positions –  for researchers and developers of both software and hardware, and customer support personnel –  will pay an average of $103,043. The Triangle Business Journal confirmed the company's written "master plan"  foresees the Triangle Park site potentially hosting four more buildings – the first being a data center announced in July – on a 78-acre tract of land there, in addition to its current four buildings. So it has room to expand further should need arise – but that's not a sure thing in a lukewarm tech market. In Wichita, the data storage vendor will add 400 positions over the next five years. It plans to invest $85 million in equipment and renovation to its facility there, which employs 450 people. The new jobs will include new product development for its E-Series product line, positions such as software developers and engineers, as well as customer support across its entire product line. The jobs will pay an average $73,000. The North Carolina jobs will be with different product lines, the Wichita Eagle reports. The company, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., has 12,000 employees at 170 offices worldwide. NetApp recently introduced Flash-based storage and new partnerships to compete with the storage bundles offered by competitors such as VMware and EMC.

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