Why Ireland Could Be a Hot Destination in the Frozen Euro Zone?

1.Surprisingly, Ireland's Economy Is Growing!

Where Greece’s economy will contract by 6 per cent of GDP this year and the euro zone by 0.4 per cent, the IMF forecasts the Irish economy will grow by 0.4 per cent and is credited with making a “bumpy recovery”. ----International Monetary Fund

As a non-core Euro zone country, Ireland's status has always been a matter of debate. But an interesting fact is that despite all the confusions that surround it, Ireland's economy is showing signs of recovery.

Its performance in recent times looks more convincing than most parts of the troubled economy. The country is seeing a remarkable improvement in its manufacturing activity, whereas others still present a grim picture. Its exports are visibly going up. Even if these parameters are not enough to depict an overall improvement, the possibilities of an export driven recovery looks reasonably high and there are enough grounds for optimism.

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2. Dublin Is Growing into a Business Hub...

Positioned in between the United States and Europe's mainland, Dublin, the capital of Ireland, is an important business location for various reasons. The city was ranked recently by Forbes magazine as one of the six best global cities that are hotbeds for start-ups and innovation.

With its low corporate tax and labor cost, it is said to be comparatively cheaper than London. Another important factor that attracts attention to Dublin, is its favorable geographical location.

Banking on its surging opportunities, many big businesses have established there headquarters here. The 'Silicon Docks' area houses business giants like Google, Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter.

Dublin has also been recognized as the top western city in the Global Services' Top 100 Outsourcing Cities List.

3. Good At High-end Technical Skills

Known for their hospitality and kind nature, Irish people also have some niche technical capabilities. The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2012 has ranked Ireland first for the availability of skilled labor. The country has a rich pool of niche, specialist talent especially in areas where cost is not the only consideration. Testing, application development, life sciences are key areas.

“Both Galway and Leixlip are Centres of Excellence within HP and Irish based engineers are increasingly developing new leading edge capabilities servicing the needs of clients in the USA, China, India, Europe and Asia.” ----Martin Murphy, Managing Director HP Ireland, which added around 150 R&D jobs in Ireland recently, said in a company press release

4. Ahead In the Global 'Cloud' Race

With some leading cloud computing providers like Salesforce and Amazon setting up operations in the country, its increasingly being touted as an emerging leader in cloud.

The Irish prime Minister, Enda Kenny, was quoted saying, “We are well on the way to establishing Ireland as one of the cloud computing capitals of the world. Seven of the world’s top ten Cloud Data Center operators are already in Ireland, including Amazon, Google and Microsoft.”

What supports the trend is the country's technological expertize and strong infrastructure capabilities. Cloud is currently a big opportunity that Irish businesses can capitalize on, but this would require some rapid developments so that they are able to do it before any other country does it. Salil Dani, Everest, adds, “Role of Ireland will emerge not just in cloud but in other high-end technology areas as well.”

5. BPO Story Is Evolving

India and Philippines debate in the global BPO scene is heard and discussed often. Moving away from that for a while, emerging countries like Ireland too have got some unique ingredients for a successful BPO story.

The country has excellent multilingual skills that are difficult to find in most parts of the world. This gives it an edge in the contact center outsourcing space. Along with that the country is also showing growth potential in F&A and back office work.

Its geographical and cultural proximity and time zone similarity with rest of Europe are some key factors that are strengthening its position as a nearshore destination.

Indian service providers too have forayed into the scene to make use of the opportunity. Companies like TCS and HCL present a good example of companies that have set up their delivery centers in the country.

IBM too has opened a Global Services Integration Hub in Dublin, some time back.

“Many companies are servicing almost 40 languages from their Shared Services centers in Ireland.” Google is a good example which is actually servicing 60 languages from its center in Dublin.----Minakshi Batra, India Director, IDA Ireland