The Irish market is booming!

The need for effective IT Service Management is on the rise.

As I sit here and ponder on what to write, I think back to why we thought long and hard before we established our new office in Dublin, but in retrospect it seems like a pretty obvious thing for us to do! Let’s look at the facts.

• A fast-growing economy and tech-savvy workforce have turned Ireland into one of the world’s most important commercial hubs.

• This, coupled with a favourable tax climate, is attracting more and more global corporations and new start-ups to establish centres of operations in the country. Today, Ireland is home to a vibrant digital ecosystem with the world’s leading technology providers and enterprises, eight of the top 10 global IT companies have established a significant presence here, including Intel, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Amazon, AirBnB, PayPal, eBay and Twitter. That’s impressive!

• The surge in Irish data processing means that Ireland is set to profit from the boom in cloud computing and the supporting datacentres which are being established in the country. Which incidentally, while attractive commercially, complicates Ireland’s response to the climate crisis. Industry analysts forecast that cloud computing could experience annual growth of 40% in Ireland in the short-term.

• The Public sector in Ireland shows signs of ICT spending growth with ICT Budget boosts in the Defence Force, Schools, the Revenue Commissioners, the Police and the Health Service.

• At a recent meeting with Apple chief executive Tim Cook, The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said “Ireland has become the tech capital of Europe. We succeeded by looking to the future, opening our country to trade and competition”.

By looking at the facts above, more IT means more IT to manage. As the scale and complexity of IT systems used by these corporations’ doubles and re-doubles, so does the need for effective management of these behemoths if they are to avoid poor service, inefficiency or worse.

Traditionally the management of a corporation’s IT resources and tech support is not at the glamorous end of the spectrum of IT. It falls into the “keeping the wheels on” category and as such, the market for IT Service Management expertise in Ireland has lagged behind that for the glitzy Tech innovators. But, this step-change in tech growth and the demand for cost efficiency, service and quality means it needs to catch up very quickly.

There is no quick fix when it comes to good IT Service Management, yes, a variety of tools exist to help, some good, some not so, but put simply “a fool with a tool is still a fool”. Good IT Service management requires an in-depth understanding of the processes, organisation and tools as well as the local market plus the experience and expertise to select, set up and manage.

Murray Sherwood
Chairman, Xcession