John Farrelly, country manager Ireland, SAS
Business analytics experts SAS is to expand its operations in Ireland with the opening of a new inside sales and customer contact centre.
Based in Dublin, the expansion will create 150 jobs over three years, equating to an investment of around €40m. The new centre in Dublin expands operations and investment in Ireland’s big data economy.
The move will see the workforce increase six-fold and significantly reinforce SAS’ presence in the region.
The centre will support sales of data analytics software into markets across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Roles will include multi-lingual business development and sales specialists, customer engagement specialists, data scientists and software engineers.
The new centre will initially be located at NexusUCD, University College Dublin’s industry partnership centre.
There remains a huge opportunity for businesses that haven’t traditionally adopted big data analytics to drive growth through evidence-based decision-making, rather than relying on business instinct or ‘gut feel’. Research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research has shown that big data analytics adoption could add around €27 billion to the Irish economy alone from 2013 to 2017 and will create up to 61,000 net new jobs.
Making the announcement, Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD said: “I have discussed investment opportunities with SAS executives at several occasions in recent years and I’m delighted to see this investment decision come to fruition. Through the Action Plan for Jobs, the Government will continue to support the technology sector by investing in the right education and research programmes to ensure Ireland’s ongoing success as a technology hub in Europe.”
An Tánaiste Joan Burton TD said: “A key element of the work SAS does in the field of big data is about spotting patterns. The economic pattern in Ireland under this Government is one of recovery – of 1,300 jobs being added every week. SAS’s expansion will contribute another 150 positive stories to that pattern, and is another significant statement of confidence in Ireland as an excellent base for global business.”
Carl Farrell, executive vice president and chief revenue officer, SAS: “As a global company with offices all over the world, we wanted to expand in a city as vibrant as Dublin which has such a thriving technology ecosystem. Our new centre will provide the extra capacity needed to support customers as they embark on this data analytics journey. Organisations in the region will now have access to knowledge, advice and powerful analytics to enable them to make more informed decisions and improve their business operations.”
Ireland’s inward investment promotion agency, the IDA, has been working with SAS over the last number of years, providing advice in a range of areas to make delivery of the new centre possible. The close collaboration with UCD’s Centre for Business Analytics and NovaUCD also helped accelerate the project and plays an important role in future plans.