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Centerprise extends Welsh commitment with Newport-based datacentre
Cloud player Centerprise adds a second datacentre location in Wales as it continues to expand operations in the country
Centerprise International has deepened its commitment to Wales by cutting the ribbon on a second location in the country.
The public cloud player has opened a CiCloud location in Newport, adding to its existing investments made earlier this year in its £6m IT operations centre in Ystrad Mynach, Caerphilly. That site is expected to generate 70 jobs.
The firm is working with other vendors to make sure the Vantage Newport datacentre can support the varied needs of Welsh customers. CiCloud is based on HPE GreenLake technology combined with infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) specialist CloudSigma’s expertise to offer hybrid, private or public cloud options to customers. The centre will provide a range of services including virtual servers, storage solutions and innovative workloads.
The Newport centre is promising customers access to speed and resiliency with security top of the agenda. Users will have access to HPE’s GreenLake hardware and, with CloudSigma, can manage and provision a hybrid cloud environment and only pay for what is actually used.
“CiCloud in Wales is one more step in Centerprise’s path to providing digital services designed with the interests of Wales and the wider-UK in mind. We are committed to providing relevant services that are secure, performant and offer clear value. This is one more step in our pledge to continue to invest in creating a more prosperous Wales,” said Centerprise’s CEO Jeremy Nash.
Michael Cook, CiCloud product manager at Centerprise, said that the relationships with HPE and CloudSigma were important in providing a rounded solution for customers.
“The Vantage Newport datacentre provides the ideal setting for this initiative, with its resilient infrastructure and strategic location. We are confident that this investment will be a success,” he said.
The Newport investment adds to existing CiCloud’s cloud platform availability in England. CiCloud was first introduced two years ago as Centerprise looked to ramp up its position as a cloud provider to both private and public sector users.
Those who land a job at Centreprise’s Welsh locations will be among a growing number of people gaining employment in the tech industry as a result of an increasing use of cloud services.
According to the recent CompTIA State of the tech workforce UK report, the number of people working in tech roles reached 2,043,622 workers in 2022, which is a 1% increase over the previous year. The expectation is that more than 17,000 net new jobs will be created in 2023.
“New employment opportunities continue to emerge as our reliance on technology grows,” said Jason Moss, CompTIA’s vice-president for global business development for EMEA.
CompTIA’s research also found that tech jobs continue to command a premium salary, with a median wage higher than the average available across the UK labour market.