IBM has opened the Mass Lab, its largest development lab in North America, at two sites along the I-495 corridor in Littleton and Westford, Mass. Most of the lab's 3,400 workforce will come from the estimated 14 Massachusetts-based acquisitions IBM has made over the last several years, according to Beth Friday, vice president of IBM Software Services. 

Will the massive investment translate into job creation? While IBM doesn't disclose its number of hires, Friday notes, "this business is fluid and one advantage of locating in Massachusetts is that it has a great pool of talent. We feel we're positioned very well to acquire talent. We're still acquiring companies."

The Mass Lab will house software developers, architects, QA testers, support, finance people and marketing folks, to name a few.

The move to consolidate the disparate software companies stems from IBM's belief that software is becoming more integrated. "The lines between software are getting blurred," observes Friday. The company has grand plans for the Mass Lab as a central location that will modernize and global infrastructures through cutting-edge software. The facilities will create software that manages some of the most complex process and infrastructure problems faced by railroads, water management, food traceability and healthcare modernization, among other things.

-- Sonia R. Lelii