UNIVERSITY COLLEGE Cork (UCC) and the Irish Management Institute (IMI) are to offer a part-time diploma in cloud strategy as part of a joint strategy with Microsoft Ireland.
It will be the first course of its kind in Ireland.
Cloud-based innovation in Ireland has the potential to deliver €9.4 billion in sales annually and create up to 8,600 new jobs, according to research by Goodbody carried out in 2011 on behalf of Microsoft.
“Cloud computing has the potential to create new business models, reduce costs and transform how work is carried out within any organisation,” said UCC president Dr Michael Murphy.
He said the diploma in cloud strategy was designed to equip managers with the expertise to develop cloud strategies that deliver bottom line value.
The new diploma represents a significant innovation for UCC-IMI’s master of business qualification as it will be the first of these programmes to incorporate an industry partnership – in this case Microsoft Ireland.
Alongside classroom discussion with UCC and IMI experts, participants will learn first hand from Microsoft’s practical experience of implementing cloud-based solutions through workshops with senior Microsoft specialists and a visit to Microsoft’s cloud data centre in Grange Castle, Co Dublin.
Leveraging cloud-based opportunities requires a new way of thinking about information and its value to any organisation, according to Paul Rellis, managing director of Microsoft Ireland
He said the diploma programme would enable the formulation of new business strategies and business models and a fresh approach to the skills required to take advantage of what the cloud could offer.
The new course is aimed at technical and non-technical managers, entrepreneurs and graduates with industry experience. It will enable participants to identify and evaluate cloud-related strategies for their organisation.
The part-time course will begin in April 2012 at the IMI’s national management campus in Sandyford, Dublin.
Meanwhile, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte is to launch Cloud4Gov, a new cloud and big data services platform developed by US high-tech multinational EMC in the Science Gallery at Trinity College, Dublin, today.
