Ireland is now the first choice in Europe for many tech giants’ expansions based on a proven track record, especially in cloud.
This was proven today when Oracle revealed 450 new jobs to accelerate its ambition to be No 1 in the cloud business.
This morning, Oracle revealed plans to create 450 jobs in Dublin as part of a worldwide recruitment drive for 1,400 new staff.
Additional recruitment will take place in Amsterdam, Cairo, Dubai, Malaga and Prague.
The fact that the lion’s share of the new jobs went to Ireland was based on a proven track record, said Oracle’s Ireland country manager Paul O’Riordan.
“We’ve been in Ireland since 1987. We started small, but this campus in EastPoint started ramping up significantly in 1996 and it has served Oracle really well as a platform for growth.”
‘Employment in the IDA portfolio is now at an all-time high’
– MARTIN SHANAHAN, IDA IRELAND
Oracle came to Ireland 29 years ago to manufacture software. Today, its 1,400 staff in Dublin are spread across areas as diverse as operations, software development and inside sales.
“The inside sales model has been pioneering everything in the technology world.”
Experience and insight are the key to cloud selling
O’Riordan said that the new jobs aren’t aimed at technologists but people with a variety of backgrounds and experiences.
“The cloud business is not just about deep technologists, we already provide that through our software. What we are trying to do is take those products and capabilities to our customers. Therefore, we need people who understand what we are trying to do and who can work with our customers to explain how they can get value out of the products we have.
“That’s why they are not technology skills but really it’s about sales and marketing, and the more industry experience you have the easier it is to explain what it means in terms of business.”
‘Agility is key to the cloud and that means you are consuming technology as a service. The whole infrastructure side you don’t need to worry about, the cloud provides that for you’
– PAUL O’RIORDAN, ORACLE
Ultimately, O’Riordan said the investment is about agility for businesses in a variety of industries.
“In the traditional IT world, it took months before we got an IT environment up and running – the time to value was ridiculous.
“We now live in a time where businesses can be spun up in a matter of months and go on to achieve big valuations,” said O’Riordan.
“Agility is key to the cloud and that means you are consuming technology as a service. The whole infrastructure side you don’t need to worry about, the cloud provides that for you.”
Ireland has the most important ingredient of all for the cloud: people
The 450 jobs announced by Oracle come early in a new year that follows a record-breaking 2015 that saw IDA Ireland supported companies create 19,000 jobs.
This included 1,000 new jobs announced for Cork by another Californian company, Apple.
“Employment in the IDA portfolio is now at an all-time high,” said IDA Ireland CEO Martin Shanahan.
“I think it is a function of the fact that we [as a country] continue to improve our offering in terms of education, talent availability, a stable pro-enterprise environment and a favourable tax regime, but the key element is the availability of talent.”
Shanahan also said that careers in technology today, as seen by the Oracle announcement, don’t necessarily require deep technology skills but actually well-rounded, experienced individuals with the right attitude.
“Oracle are looking for experienced individuals, people with sales backgrounds, graduates and people with a lot of experience in areas like HR and finance.
“While Oracle are announcing 450 additional jobs, they also have 1,400 people employed here at EastPoint that has been built up over 29 years.”
In terms of the cloud, from cloud sales jobs like those of Oracle to data centres built by Apple, Google and Microsoft to the chips being manufactured by Intel, Ireland is the home of the cloud in Europe.
As a result, Shanahan said he believes Ireland is well placed to reap the whirlwind.
“You can see from the multiple announcements, specifically around cloud, that Ireland is the first choice in relation to expansions by technology companies of all kinds from internet to software.
“We need to continue to ensure that we are competitive. We need to continue to focus on the things that are important to multinationals, and this is why the availability of skills and talent and the infrastructure is key. The job is never done, we just need to continue to make the case for Ireland,” Shanahan said.
