Microsoft investing US$130m to expand data centre

23 Feb 2012

Microsoft is investing an extra US$130m to expand its data centre in Dublin, which will employ 50-70 people and will create 400 construction jobs over the next 12 months.

This investment builds on the original US$500m investment Microsoft has already made in its Dublin data centre, which has been operational since July 2009. It provides computing capacity to customers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The expansion will add a 112,000 sq-foot Generation 4 facility.

The data centre makes extensive use of wind energy to cool the facility year round, which aims to offer greater power efficiency with a resultant reduction in Microsoft’s carbon footprint. It will offer an annual power usage effectiveness (PUE) average of 1.25 across the facility through peak usage hours.

Ninety-nine per cent of all waste at the facility will be recycled, including packaging, pallets, crates and cabling. It will also use 1pc of the water used by other similarly sized data centres in the facility, according to Microsoft.

Peter Klein, chief financial officer of Microsoft, said the expanded facility will be “50pc more efficient than traditional data centres.”

“This investment shows where we are placing our bets for the future. As customers embrace Microsoft cloud services, such as Office 365, Windows Live, Xbox Live, Bing and the Windows Azure platform, we are investing in regional cloud infrastructure to meet their needs,” said Klein.

“We are delighted to build on the long history of Microsoft investment and partnership in Ireland, starting in 1985,” he said.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny welcomed the announcement from Microsoft, saying that Ireland “continues to regain its international reputation for investment and business.”

“Now central to our Action Plan for Jobs we are delighted that our strategy to become the country of choice for data centres is coming to fruition,” he said.

“We very much recognise the role that cloud computing can play in transforming our public sector, as well as being a catalyst for economic growth.

“Through the Action Plan for Jobs we will continue to make the necessary changes to make Ireland more attractive to companies, such as Microsoft. As a long-term investor we welcome this commitment by Microsoft to Ireland,” he said.

Barry O’Leary, CEO of IDA Ireland, also welcomed the announcement.

“Ireland has been a leading location for ICT investments over the last decade and I am delighted to see a long-standing economic partner like Microsoft, with such a significant global presence, continue to recognise Ireland’s talent, track record and positive business environment,” said O’Leary.

“Investments like this, by a company of Microsoft’s calibre, reinforce our growing reputation as a leading worldwide location in cloud computing,” he said.

Microsoft was recently listed as the best large company to work for in Ireland for the fourth year in a row, as part of a study of Ireland’s workplace culture.

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