Global footprint

We can deliver services at your location or from 46 BT data centres around the world. We offer a full range of options, from co-location to managed hosting with every variation around public, private and hybrid cloud services, covering five continents.

Network skills

Networks are a building block for cloud, so it is significant that BT has been a Gartner magic quadrant leader in Network Services for the past 11 years. We have more than 20 years’ experience in designing, running and managing global IP networks for governments and leading organisations around the globe.

Innovation

In the last four years we have won 10 industry accolades for our innovation in cloud services and have been a Gartner magic quadrant leader for the last three years. Moving from a challenger to a top three leader in three years is a testament to our continued innovation and investment.

Well connected

We have the only data centres in Ireland with access to a wholly owned local and global network. This gives our customers the ability to scale quickly and reach overseas markets seamlessly. There is also the option of connectivity to over 20 enterprise-class carriers.

Flexibility and scale

Our infrastructure has been designed for maximum resilience with Service Levels Agreements that guarantee up to 99.99 per cent availability, and near instant provisioning for scaling your solution up or down as your business requires.

Certification and accreditation

BT has the strongest set of industry-recognised accreditations in Ireland. Our data centres were first to have ISO 27001, ensuring the highest levels of security compliance and we are unique in having ISO 20000 for IT service management. We also have quality management standard ISO 9001 and environmental management standard ISO 14001. Our 220-strong managed services team including 30 onsite datacentre staff, providing the highest levels of professional certification in service desk support and service level assurances in commercial frameworks.

 

Hosting & Cloud

We need to take hybrid cloud services from different providers to relieve the burden on internal IT resources, but how do we avoid the risk of losing control?

You need a partner you can trust to take you on the cloud journey. Nine out of ten of our biggest customers expect to be using not just one but several clouds in the next two years. Yet nearly a third say they need more skills and knowledge to choose the right cloud for the right job and make their various clouds work together securely.

We have the network capabilities that are key to effective cloud delivery and unique global capabilities that facilitate fast and effective entry into new markets. You can leverage this portfolio to retain full control over complex hybrid cloud infrastructure.

Brochure: Bringing Cloud Services Together
White Paper: BT as a Trusted Cloud Broker

 

We want to migrate to the cloud to take advantage of virtualisation and greater agility, but how can we be sure our very specific infrastructure requirements will sit comfortably in the cloud?

BT Ireland has the expertise to guide you towards a flexible and secure way of computing. We will look at your existing infrastructure and tailor an industry-focused approach that best suits your needs. By giving you confidence and agility in the cloud, BT will help you transform your business, maximising the benefits while minimising the risks.

Along the way, you can expect very tangible benefits. We took Tourism Ireland to a private cloud, for example, consolidating 100 servers down to 40, moving two hardware racks to one, halving its data centre footprint and dramatically reducing its power and cooling costs.

Case Study: Tourism Ireland
White Paper: Leveraging the Private Cloud for Competitive Advantage
Link: BT Private Compute

 

As a multinational operating in countries that have strict data protection and jurisdiction laws, how can we be agile, flexible and scalable and still meet our regulatory responsibilities?

A lot of public cloud platforms will give you scalability, but they lack the level of control your enterprise demands. BT’s global reach extends across more than 20 global zones – all of which can be controlled through a single pane of glass with our award-winning Cloud Management System (CMS). This allows you to control where your data is and ensures you meet strict organisational rules and jurisdictional laws. 

The Genome Institute of Singapore is in one of our zones. They needed to ratchet up computing capacity in real time to deal with terabytes of sequencing data generated by their biomedical research.  BT Compute experts worked closely with GIS, and used BT Cloud Compute to create the perfect architecture to manage institution’s research requirements

 

If we have deep dependency on one particular technology vendor will it limit what you can do for us in the cloud?

Not at all, we are not proscriptive about hardware or infrastructure. Our specialist engineers are among the most highly certified on the island. We have deep-rooted partnerships with leading vendors such as Cisco, HP and EMC, and the skillsets to accommodate just about any configuration.

When we first built the environment to support Marrakech’s SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) platform, we matched the infrastructure to their needs. The core stack is built on Oracle Solaris, maintained by a Marrakech specialist who works closely with BT. The close partnership has flourished with Marrakech going on to leverage our reputation and expertise for over a decade.

Case Study: Marrakech

 

We want to simplify and centralise complex IT infrastructure in the cloud but can we do it without compromising our business needs?

BT Cloud Compute not only facilitates the migration of multiple systems to a single, centralised platform, it gives you the self-service tools to manage the new environment much more efficiently. Quickly provision new servers; decommission legacy systems that you no longer need.

Norfolk County Council successfully migrated complex infrastructure with BT Cloud Compute and has seen overall productivity improvements as well as a better financial return. All of it was achieved without compromising data security, which is pivotal to a public agency.

Link: BT Cloud Compute

 

If we only want basic hosting services are we inevitably stuck with “turn on, walk away” providers?

Not with BT. There is a misconception that basic data centre services only require rackspace and power. Even the most rudimentary co-location requirements will, however, benefit from our standards-based approach to hosted solutions. You get the benefits of best practice service and our industry accreditations, all focused on protecting your assets and assuring their performance.

Many of BT’s customers also come to us because of our reputation – MyCloud specifically went with BT because its customers trusted the BT brand – and then stay because of our partnership approach and management capabilities.

Case Study: MyCloud
Video: MyCloud
Link: BT Co-Location

 

Is it realistic for a public sector organisation that supports multiple agencies with different network requirements to look to co-locate to a third-party data centre?

Some of our biggest customers on the island of Ireland are from the public sector. We meet their stringent needs around carrier neutrality, connectivity and power availability, and will modify our standard offerings if it’s required.

HEAnet, which manages Ireland’s national education and research network, rented rack space with us precisely because we could meet their specific needs. We provided initial service design, project management and set-up support, then customised arrangements to give them better control over electricity charges.

Case Study: HEAnet
Link: BT Co-Location