Data Management

A growing data management cluster is at the heart of Greater Austin’s dynamic high-tech economy. Located in the central time zone with a low risk for natural disasters, abundant telecom and low electric rates, the region has attracted key players in the data center industry, including: AMD, IBM, Cisco, Citigroup, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, and Oracle.

In addition to supporting a variety of data center operations, the region’s data analytics cluster adds value to business operations through the analysis and manipulation of complex databases. High-profile companies in the region such as Bazaarvoice, DXT Technology, Google, and Tableau Software benefit from the region’s talent pool, characterized by the unique balance of technical expertise and creative thinking for which Austin is world-renown.

The data management industry thrives on the combination of skilled talent, secure data storage, and reliable, cost-effective infrastructure and utilities available in the Austin region. The community is also served with ultra fast broadband by AT&T, Google Fiber, and Grande Communications.

Data centers

An ideal & secure location

Austin’s strategic location and exceptional infrastructure make it an ideal location for data center operations. The region’s long history in related technology and services provides the necessary support and qualified technical workforce for data center operations. Industry giants, including AMD, IBM, Cisco, Citigroup, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Home Depot, Intel, and Oracle, have facilities in Austin ranging from headquarters and R&D operations to manufacturing and mission-critical enterprise data centers.

Austin has a long history in supporting technology and service providers. As a result, you’ll find a qualified technical workforce for data center operations. The University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Computer Science is ranked as a top-10 computer science department nationally. UT’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, also top-10 ranked, is the largest department in the Cockrell School of Engineering with almost 2,000 students.

Environment & climate

The Austin region has an extremely low occurrence of natural disasters. Central Texas has a very low level of seismic risk and has no reported incidents of earthquakes, tsunamis, or hurricanes, and is located outside the central United States region known as Tornado Alley. Austin experiences an annual average of 43 days with thunderstorm activity per year.

Energy

The area’s energy providers work hand-in-hand with industry looking for increased efficiency and greener solutions. Texas has its own electric grid and a variety of electric providers in Central Texas offer competitive rates and excellent reliability ratings. Municipal utilities and cooperatives provide power in several area communities. The City of Austin’s municipally-owned utility, Austin Energy, has a track record of reliability and redundancy for large power users, including 24-7 chip manufacturing facilities, data centers, and call center operations. In deregulated parts of the region, customers have the ability to choose providers and negotiate rates with a variety of electric utilities.

Water

Sources of water in Central Texas are surface waters managed by the Lower Colorado River Authority, the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, and the Brazos River Authority. Ground water is also available from the Edwards and Trinity Aquifers. Regional planning groups ensure that this critical resource is efficiently managed.

Real estate

Austin’s data center collocation buildings typically feature dual-feed electric, redundant telecom, and other amenities required by mission-critical facilities. For example, the state-of-the-art MetCenter features dual-feed electric service from separate substations— each capable of growing to 400-megawatts—fed from separate power sources. Space is also available in collocation facilities such as CyrusOne, Data Foundry, Digital Realty Trust, Element Critical, LightEdge, Logix, Ntirety, Sabey, Switch, and Zayo Group.

Telecommunications

Greater Austin enjoys one of the world’s most advanced, robust, and redundant telecommunications networks. Fiber protected by SONET rings and Ethernet network architecture, including digital access control, is virtually universal in all routes to customers. With no fewer than 25 interexchange carrier POPs and LSOs, the city and surrounding regional cities are equipped to handle multiple redundancy needs. The community is also served with ultra-fast broadband by AT&T, Google Fiber and Grande Communications.

High profile data center operations in the region
  • Dell Technologies has two global data centers, comprising one of the largest storage-area networks in the U.S. and supporting more than 138,000 employees worldwide.
  • Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the entity that manages the electric grid for the State of Texas, has its headquarters, data center, and back-up command center in the Austin region.
  • IGT, a lotto systems administrator, operates a mission-critical data center in Austin.
  • Citigroup owns and operates a 300,000-square-foot data center in Georgetown.
  • Hewlett-Packard Enterprise chose Austin for two data centers totaling 400,000 square feet when consolidating its national data centers.
  • Oracle’s 130,000-square-foot data center hosts the world’s largest Network Appliance and Dell/Linux installations under one roof. In its IT overhaul, Oracle merged 40 data centers into this site.
  • Austin is one of three cities in the U.S. to have a Corporate Franchise Data Center, operated and housed with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Data analytics

Talent that is both creative & technically skilled

Over the past decade, the collection and storage of data has become ubiquitous and cost-effective. Deriving business value from that data, however, requires the unique, delicate balance of technical expertise and creative thinking for which Austin is world-renown.

Not only is Austin home to a range of data center operations, but the region's growing talent pool also adds value to business operations through the analysis and manipulation of complex databases across a wide range of industry sectors, including healthcare, energy, and transportation. High-profile companies such as Bazaarvoice, DXC Technology, Google, and Tableau Software already call Austin home. Recent announcements such as IBM's Innovation Center and Dell’s Evergreen Innovation Center also suggest that this sector will continue to thrive in the region.

Innovation and creative thinking are celebrated in this 'weird' community known for its exceptional quality of life. The University of Texas at Austin alone is home to over 20 Research Units devoted to computers and information science, including the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC), one of 11 centers across the country providing leadership-class computing resources to the national research community. TACC partners with researchers and industry experts to enable discoveries that advance science and society through the application of advanced computing technologies. Thousands of researchers each year use the computing resources available at TACC to forecast weather and environmental disasters such as the BP oil spill, produce whole-Earth simulations of plate tectonics, and perform other important research.

Engineering & computer science degrees awarded

Year ending June 2021

COMPUTER SCIENCE
ENGINEERING
UNDERGRAD
GRADUATE
UNDERGRAD
GRADUATE
University of Texas at Austin
438
259
1,295
626
Texas State University
363
64
316
49
Metro Area Total
1009
398
1,625
675

Source: U.S. National Center for Education Statistics.

Austin's data analysis industry
  • Business intelligence
  • Data as a service
  • Analytics & visualization
  • Ad/media apps
  • Vertical apps
  • Analytics infrastructure
  • Operational infrastructure
  • Structured databases
  • Infrastructure as a service
Companies in Austin
  • Actian
  • Acxiom
  • Bazaarvoice
  • CDKGlobal
  • Civitas Learning
  • Cloudera
  • Cognitive Scale
  • Continuum Analytics
  • Drillinginfo
  • DXT Technology
  • FactSet Research Systems
  • Google
  • Hewlett-Packard Enterprise
  • Informatica
  • Intersys Consulting
  • NetApp
  • Optum
  • Oracle
  • PotentiaMetrics
  • SparkCognition
  • Spreadfast
  • Square Root
  • Tableau Software
  • TrendKite
  • Vast
  • W2O Group

Additional resources
  • IT/Software Employers map
    Download
  • Austin, Texas Region at a Glance flyer
    Download
  • Why the Austin, Texas Region? booklet
    Download

Contact
  • For existing Austin area companies and for relocating companies:

    Charisse Bodisch
    SVP Economic Development
    Email: cbodisch@opportunityaustin.com
    Phone: 512.322.5608