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First published on LinkedIn by Garry Connolly on April 9th
2018 was a highly successful and eventful year for the data centre industry in Ireland. By far the highlight of the year only came to light recently when the Dublin Metro Area was recognised as Europe’s largest market for data centres by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), a global real estate advisory company and leading commentator on the data centre industry.
The report released by JLL in January of this year revealed that the Dublin Metro Area accounted for 25% of the overall European industry market share by year end 2018, with the nearest competitor London, recording a market share of 24%. A staggering achievement for Europe’s “Data Isle” and a strong endorsement for Ireland’s capability to supply the expertise, skills and overall regulatory environment needed to support the growth of the hosting industry.
The findings are in line with Host In Ireland’s own research conducted throughout the year tracking the state of the industry in Ireland.
A few of the key highlights include:
16 new data centres became operational over the course of 2018 with a further 28 now in development, the highest number level of activity we’ve seen yet. There are now 53 data centres in Ireland with ‘Hyperscales’ accounting for 72% of the market.
Investment continues to rise in the sector with an impressive €1bn spent by hosting and cloud providers on construction alone in 2018 a number which is expected to rise to more than €1.3bn in 2019.
A recent IDA report highlighted that the hosting industry has created approximately 2,800 high quality, well remunerated roles in Ireland as of May 2018, a figure that is continuing to rise, in line with the growth of the industry.
It is becoming increasingly evident that Data Centres are an industry of real substance providing the Irish economy and companies with growing import and export opportunities.
The level of investment into Ireland from the hosting industry has brought about substantial opportunity for many Irish companies in recent years. Some have seen significant growth enabling them to export their skills and services across Europe, US and Asia. Ireland is now seen as a hosting industry leader, not due to the size of the market share we currently hold in Europe, but because of the hard work, skill and expertise built up by Irish companies and individuals in recent years which is now recognised internationally.
The accolade of Dublin being recognised as the largest data hosting cluster in Europe builds on over seven decades of foreign direct investment to the data industry. It is an achievement that collectively we should be proud of as it positions Ireland at the centre of innovation and a leader in a high growth industry.
