Data Solutionshas announced it is investing €5 million and creating 20 new jobs - doubling its staff numbers to 40. The Irish IT solutions distributor aims to triple its business over the next three years to reach a turnover of €80 million on the back of this investment. Part of the investment will be used to penetrate the competitive UK market, with new offices in Theale, Reading. This expansion will be used to bring best-in-class IT solutions from leading vendors Nutanix and Skyfii to the UK market. Data Solutions expects its UK operations to grow to the same size as its Irish business by 2018 and is targeting a £30 million UK turnover within that timeframe. The 20 new positions are being divided evenly between Data Solutions’ Dublin headquarters and its new offices in Reading. Roles are spread across technical support, sales and marketing and will be filled by 2018. The company has already hired two new account managers in Ireland and a managing director and sales manager to run operations in the UK. Along with Nutanix and Skyfii, Data Solutions has also signed partnerships with leading vendors Arista, CommVault and Supermicro. Other vendors Data Solutions works with in Ireland include Aruba, Check Point, Citrix, Dell Wyse, RSA Security and ShoreTel. It also has channel partnerships with the likes of Capita, Trilogy Technologies and Integrity 360. Speaking about the announcement, Michael O’Hara, group managing director, Data Solutions said: “We’ve achieved exponential growth in the Irish market over the past few years and now we want to do that in the UK. We have a strong network there already and we’re bolstered by our new partnerships to grow a real presence now. “Our value comes from being more than a distributor. We’re passionate for partner growth and our team has the in-depth sales and marketing skills that can only be developed from being a true IT specialist unit. We choose products that will grow quickly and fast-track the introduction of disruptive new technologies to the market.” Andrew Brewerton, channel manager, Nutanix added: “We are committed to establishing strong relationships with our distributors and partners to deliver the best experience for customers. With its strong channel and remarkable ability to bring new technologies to market, Data Solutions has given us access to top-tier resellers in Ireland, which has been instrumental to our own growth in the region. "We see a lot of opportunities in delivering invisible infrastructure, where computers, storage and virtualisation can be converged at any scale. We look forward to seeing the success with Data Solutions replicated across the UK.” Data Solutions specialises in security, next generation data centres and unified communications. The company has achieved steady year-on-year growth over the past 25 years. Through its channel, it can mobilise a sales force of more than 600 enterprise sales specialists. Caption: Michael O'Hara, MD, Data Solutions; Andrew Brewerton, channel manager, Nutanix; and Sean Fane, UK MD, Data Solutions