IBM Plans Major Dublin Data Center

IBM will build invest 30 million euros ($43 million) in a new data center at its Technology Campus in Dublin, Ireland, the company said today. The next-generation facility will provide IT services for the Irish market, and also serve as a global hub for delivering IBM Software to clients in 84 countries worldwide.

The data center will feature IBM's latest energy-efficient designs for power and cooling, and provide clients with access to "massive internet-scale computing capabilities," the company said.

The project continues a data center building boom for IBM, which wns and operates more than 8 million square feet of data center space. IBM said last month that it would build a $360 million cloud computing data center in Research Triangle in Noirth Carolina, as well as 13 disaster recovery centers around the world. In June IBM opened its largest data center in Boulder, Colorado. 

 "This investment is excellent news for Ireland and is the 3rd significant investment so far this year from IBM for Ireland," said Mary Coughlan, the Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. "Building and investing in this data center is further proof of this commitment to providing world-class services both to clients here in the local Irish market and internationally, and combined with the location of IBM's global software delivery hub in Dublin, is an endorsement of Ireland's reputation for excellence and innovation."

As part of its data center strategy, IBM said it is introducing new tools to measure and manage cistomers' energy consumption and security. "We are hearing from our local clients that they have an increasing need to manage costs, and improve their operational efficiency while not compromising the security and integrity of their systems," says Anne Fitzsimons, Country Manager, Integrated Technology Services, IBM Ireland. "This new data center expands our capability to deliver on these requirements. For example, reducing costs through providing Infrastructure Managed Services or improving communications through the convergence of voice and data."