Dell has launched the first of four planned Asia Pacific Solution Centers in Shanghai. The facility includes a data center lab used for solution validations.

The company is planning to open similar facilities in Tokyo, Singapore and Sydney, according to a Dell blog post. To date, active solution centers in other regions include Frankfurt, Austin, Washington, D.C., and Chicago.

In addition to data center labs, Dell Solution Centers are used for customer briefings, solution design sessions and software-vendor certification, according to the company's website.

The solution centers are part of a US$1bn investment into development and implementation of solutions and services the company announced in April. Other centers due to come online later this year will be in Paris, New York City and Sao Paulo.