This article was originally published in the Business Post in March 2026 as part of their Mission Critical Infrastructure report. Read the original article here.
Datapac, in partnership with HPE.
Rising costs are reshaping capital decisions
Two pressures are hitting IT infrastructure budgets in Ireland at the same time. The first is virtualisation licensing. Recent changes by major vendors have meant that renewals which were once predictable are now returning at materially higher levels. That additional spend absorbs IT budget without expanding capability, leaving organisations paying more to stand still. The second is component costs. Global demand driven by AI workloads is pushing up the price of core infrastructure components including RAM and SSD.
Together, these pressures are testing IT infrastructure decisions made in previous refresh cycles against a fundamentally different economic reality. When a growing share of technology spend is tied up in maintaining the existing estate, the capital available for strategic growth initiatives narrows. Boards that are asking questions about AI readiness and digital transformation are finding that the budget headroom they expected simply is not there.
IT infrastructure reviews are uncovering real options
At Datapac, we are working with Irish organisations on this challenge directly. A structured review of virtualisation and server environments regularly surfaces options that are not immediately visible from within the organisation. Right-sizing capacity, consolidating workloads and moving away from like-for-like replacements can each deliver meaningful cost reductions while improving overall performance.
Avoiding unnecessary overprovisioning is just as important as identifying optimisation opportunities. Many organisations are now seriously evaluating alternative hypervisor models. HPE VM Essentials, for example, offers a more sustainable long-term cost base for organisations looking to reduce licensing exposure. Modern platforms such as HPE ProLiant Gen12 allow significantly higher utilisation of compute resources, which improves efficiency and reduces dependency on the licensing models that are driving cost increases.
In many cases, a structured IT infrastructure review creates the budgetary headroom needed to fund strategic initiatives that were previously being deferred. The investment required to modernise is often recovered through the savings generated by moving away from overprovisioned or inefficiently licensed environments.
AI investment requires disciplined evaluation
AI is a regular boardroom topic for Irish organisations, but most are not yet comfortable committing significant capital without a clear commercial case. The gap between ambition and understanding is real. Where AI initiatives fail to deliver, it is usually the result of poorly defined use cases, overestimated data readiness, or expectations that were not grounded in the organisation’s actual environment.
Datapac runs structured AI discovery workshops that help organisations work through this honestly. The process identifies viable use cases, assesses data readiness and defines measurable outcomes before any significant investment is committed. Where a clear path forward exists, the workshop provides it. Where it does not, it prevents time and budget being committed to initiatives that are unlikely to deliver.
In the current environment, the cost of a poorly evaluated AI investment is higher than it has ever been, precisely because IT infrastructure budgets in Ireland are already under pressure. Getting the insight before making the commitment is not caution; it is sound practice.
Clarity before commitment
IT infrastructure decisions in Ireland are no longer routine refresh events. They are strategic investment choices that will shape an organisation’s operational capacity and competitive position for years to come. Rising costs and AI ambition are both testing whether existing models remain fit for purpose.
Datapac, in partnership with HPE, provides the structured insight needed to evaluate those decisions with confidence. By aligning infrastructure realities with strategic intent, we help Irish organisations move forward clearly and on solid ground.