Citrix creates 20 new jobs at Irish operations

13 Oct 2009

Software giant Citrix is to grow its workforce in Ireland by 20 additional workers, bringing its total headcount in the country to 120 people. Ireland’s recent Lisbon Treaty “Yes” for Europe was a decisive factor, says Citrix management.

The company, which evolved from a thin client vendor to become a leading force in server and desktop virtualisation as well as network management, runs its customer technical support for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) from Dublin.

The headcount at the operation has been growing steadily over the last three years. In 2007, the company employed 70 people in Dublin and this latest hiring round will grow employment to 120 people in a variety of positions.

John Kelly, director of technical support, EMEA, said the growing rate of adoption of Citrix products, including server, desktop and networking technologies, drove the expansion in the workforce.

Citrix activities expansion

“To support the overall business we have to scale up our operation, not just in the traditional technical support areas, but significantly in engineering. In fact, the Irish operation now has approval to expand its activities into software engineering areas, such as code modification, in support of delivering solutions to our customers.

“These activities require a higher level of technical skills and add increased value for our EMEA customers, as it will enable us to solve any problems faster, as well as providing exciting career opportunities for our technical engineers.”

Kelly said the company is on the lookout for the best technical talent it can find and is immediately seeking to fill roles, such as technical support engineers, escalation engineers and technical relationship managers for the enterprise market.

“We are also keen to hear from engineers with software development skills and an interest in working with the global leader and the most trusted name in application-delivery infrastructure,” Kelly added.

Availability of talent behind success

According to Kelly, a key strategic success factor in growing the Citrix business in Ireland is the availability of talent with the required skills or with the appropriate education on which to build the required skills.

The Dublin operation has forged links with some of the universities and third-level colleges and sees this as a vital component to continue Ireland’s growth as a knowledge-based economy.

Other success factors, particularly for Citrix’s EMEA technical support, is Ireland’s inclusion as a proactive and participating member of the EU.

“As a team employing a diverse workforce, serving predominantly an EU customer base, this operation has a clear focus on Europe. The continued investment that results in job creation is built on our close alignment and integral part of Citrix’s European business,” Kelly said.

The chief executive of IDA Ireland, Barry O’Leary, welcomed the Citrix jobs expansion. “Citrix has had a strong presence here for the last 10 years and the addition of a new business function demonstrates Ireland’s ability to compete for, and win, new, high-value technology functions.

“We look forward to building on our already established relationship with Citrix as this new business mandate evolves and grows,” O’Leary said.

By John Kennedy

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com