Some Irish EMC staff can breathe a sigh of relief today after senior vice president & General Manager for Network storage and software, Fidelma Russo, made it clear there were no lay offs planned for her 1,500-strong team based in Ireland. In the wake of its merger with Dell, speculation over anticipated job cuts loomed large at the EMC World 2016 Conference, held in Las Vegas this week.

Speaking to The Irish Times at the event, Ms Russo said that, on the contrary, expansion in certain Irish operations was more likely.

“We’ve doubled the VMax Enterprise team over the last couple of years and that trend is only going to continue,” she said.

EMC has had a presence in Cork since the 1990s. Beginning with tech support, it has gradually expanded into other areas such as management software development and product management.

The tech company employs approximately 3,000 people in Ireland, around half of which make up the VMax Enterprise team headed by Ms Russo, who is a Cork native herself. While unable to comment on the job security of staff working in other EMC departments, Ms Russo pointed to the recent launch of the new VMax All Flash system as a clear indication of the company’s commitment to its Enterprise team.

“Much of the software for VMax All Flash was designed in Ireland and will be supported there too,” she says.

“We see VMax All Flash as a key provider of growth for the company into the future. We specialise in high-end storage array systems, and there is little or no overlap with Dell’s product portfolio. I can’t predict what’s going to happen once this merger goes through but given the strong position VMax enjoys within EMC - and the central part our Cork team has played in its development - I don’t see any major changes coming.”

Customers of EMC VMax products tend to work in ‘mission critical’ areas such as energy, healthcare, banking and transportation.

“People use our products to manage the kinds of operations that run the world and there has been pent up demand for an all-flash data storage option that can provide more security, reliability, and space than traditional spinning disk-flash hybrids for some time. After spending considerable time in development, we launched VMax All Flash this year and started shipping at the end of February. Sales have exceeded expectations not just in the USA, but also in Australia, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. I’m sure some things will change under Michael Dell’s management. He’s a different person with different ideas. There is bound to be shake-ups in some areas, but there are also opportunities to streamline. EMC’s strength in innovation, for example, can be further leveraged by Dell’s supply chain strength. We think our Irish team are fabulous and will continue to invest in them as long as we’re capable of investing.”

EMC World 2016 began on Monday. It ends today.