Any kind of data hosting relies on fast connectivity, and respondents indicated that the UK (74%) was the primary reliance area, ahead of continental Europe (65%) and the USA (36%). The connectivity to the Middle East was relied upon by 15%, and the Asia by 14%. Interestingly, when asked if fast, low latency connectivity with any of the listed locations was a key differentiator for data hosting, the majority (54%) said no.
Mortell points out that while global connectivity to Europe and the US, combined with high bandwidth capacity and redundancy, makes Ireland an optimum location to expand companies’ digital footprint throughout the EMEA region, it may still be seen as a standard, as opposed to a differentiator.
Respondents were asked for their opinion for three reasons as to what makes Ireland attractive as a data hosting site for multinationals, with two coming out a significant margin ahead of the rest. Corporation tax was indicated as the top reason by just over two thirds (67%), with just less than that selecting climate (62%). Proximity to Europe was selected by half, followed by ease of doing business in Ireland (30%), local workforce talent (27%) and high speed connectivity to international markets (23%).
Are standards of compliance, such as PCI DSS or ISO 27001, a key differentiator when choosing your data hosting solution?
Mortell cites the “5 Ps” — Policy, People, Pedigree, Pipes and Power — as representing the most important aspects of digital asset hosting for Ireland, providing a structured foundation for data hosting for companies of all sizes and markets. These combined strengths make Ireland an attractive destination for hosting providers of all kinds, as well as the web giants that build facilities here to support their own operations.
Irish organisations, the survey shows, seem to be well engaged with data hosting service providers, of whom they expect high standards of availability and security, as well as connectivity and resilience. They mostly plan on increasing the usage of service providers, in a variety of solution mixes, to take advantage of that availability, flexibility and cost efficiencies, while reducing their own infrastructure costs and reliance. The market here seems touched with a certain amount of pragmatism as it may be argued that such things as security certification and high speed connectivity may be seen as basic standards, as opposed to key differentiators among providers.
There are expectations of pressure on data hosting for the near future, backed by the need for greater requirements for disaster recovery and business continuity, all to the backdrop of ever growing data volumes. While not specifically probed, it can be reasonably supposed that analytics will also become an increasingly valuable tool for Irish organisations, which will further shape needs in the longer term.
In your own opinion, why do multinationals choose Ireland as a data centre location? (Top 3)
While there will always be a section of the market that either does not see the value of using data hosting providers, or is unable to utilise them due to business or regulatory constraints, the overall picture from this survey is of a market that is not only already actively engaged but that sees increasing usage of data hosting providers as a key part of their business development. This is likely to see the emergence of agile, resilient and adaptive organisations that are able to compete in rapidly changing market conditions, without compromise on security, availability or service levels.
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