When a company as well-known as Apple decides that they will invest $1 Bn in your country it’s always a day to celebrate.
Since their announcement in March the Host in Ireland team have been answering calls, sending email responses and being interviewed by the media hungry for Sound Bytes, Clarity and Reasons in some cases to say that this investment is somehow bad news because it only benefits X, Y and Z.
Data Centre’s and Ireland are nothing new, If you breakdown the word into Data and Centre’s it becomes clearer.
Over the past 6 Decades Data has been processed and delivered via a number of mediums , Mainframes, Mini Computers, PC’s, Local area networks and now the Cloud. We call this the 5 Waves of Change.
When we then transpose onto this Ireland’s relationship with these 5 Waves of change it is easier to see why that Data Centre’s being located here are just the evolution of our relationship with data and how it is delivered to the end user, machine or device.
From Mainframes in the 1950’s and 1960’s to Data Centre’s in 2015 Ireland and Data have had a relationship that has brought both Employment, Skills, insights and opportunity.
So the “Centre’s” are Just the Floppy Disks of this Era and the magic will always be in the attractiveness of Ireland to cherish the “Data”.
As we look forward to the 6th Wave called the Internet of Everything (IOE) Internet of Things (IOT) the Size, Scale and reliance on the Data Centre’s will grow as they become more and more the backbone of our everyday lives
Is Ireland ready for the next Wave.
The Answer to this is YES and Apple, TelecityGroup, Digital Realty, Microsoft, Citadel100, Dataplex, Interxion, Amazon and Google are validating this via their current facilities and future expansion plans. Backed up by Viatel, Sea Fibre, Hibernia Networks, Zayo and others who are building out and updating the communications links to US – EU.
A simple way to remember why Ireland has become a powerhouse in this space is based on what we have called the 5 x P’s.
Policy: Data Protection Compliance, Fiscal, IP
Pedigree: Ireland has 60 Years of understanding Data
People: Adaptable, Educated, Youthful and Ambitious
Pipes: Connectivity US – IRE, IRE-EU, Resilient, Diverse and competitive
Power: Commitment to Renewable Sources ( 40% by 2020) , Grid recognised a
global exemplar.
So Datacentre’s are Just an evolution for Ireland, the scale of investment and size of facilities are something new on the landscape however so was Microsoft’s new facility in 1983 in Sandyford when they where packing Mice and Manuel’s into boxes.
In the same way as my 6 Year Old does not see a “Smart Phone” as technology Datacentre’s should be seen as a very positive addition to any country who wants to lead and not follow in the Data Centric era we live in.
Oh and not convinced that Data Centre’s assist in creating, maintaining and fostering Job creation check out the link below to Host in Ireland / Sigmar Recruitment from “Electrons to Neurons , Why Hosting maters White Paper”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Garry Connolly is Founder and President of Host in Ireland a global initiative to raise awareness to raise awareness of Ireland as an optimum location to Host Digital Assets (Content).
