FORT TECHNOLOGIES has announced that it will create 10 jobs by the end of 2012 to cater for its growth in the domestic and export markets.
The expansion is backed by a €260,000 investment from Enterprise Ireland and private equity players, bringing to €1.36 million the amount committed by the company since 2008.
Fort Technology has been in existence since 2008 and specialises in management software for cloud computing platforms. This is designed to help managed IT service providers in their delivery of cloud solutions to clients.
The company has also unveiled a partnership with service provider Data Solutions. Called Silverline, the joint product aims to make it easier for resellers to offer their clients cloud-based services on a pay-as-you-go basis. The service will use Fort’s MyWorld cloud management system but will be operated by Data Solutions.
“With our software we have been able to take what was in a business setting and take it out of the building,” said Gerry Murray, chief executive of Fort Technologies. “It offers a complete IT solution on a pay-as-you-go basis.
“We haven’t changed the business model – people still have their trusted adviser helping them; we’ve just made it smarter and a more effective approach to businesses getting their IT,” he said.
Through Silverline, which offers both hardware and management software aspects of the cloud, the companies say they can offer managed IT service providers a more simplified structure for what they in turn offer clients.
“We’ve always been about bringing innovative technology to the channel,” said Francis O’Haire, technical director with Data Solutions. “We don’t see that as being any different now and while there has been a little confusion about cloud computing that’s changing now and people are starting to engage with it.”
New research published today, which was carried out by iReach on behalf of O2, has found that 54 per cent of Irish businesses are confused about the term cloud computing.
Mr Murray said Enterprise Ireland became interested in the proposition because of the international nature of the cloud solutions they offered. He said what they did was of value to those working in America and Africa as much as it was to the companies they already worked with in Ireland.
Outside of Ireland the initial target market for Silverline will be Britain, where Fort already has a sales office. However, Mr Murray said the company was also working in other countries and was picking up significant interest from many places.
