HPE unveils new IT centre in Lake Macquarie

Hewlett Packard Enterprise has opened a new IT facility in Lake Macquarie, NSW to provide IT support to companies across Australia and New Zealand.

Lake Macquarie Mayor Kay Fraser cut the ribbon on the Hewlett Packard Enterprise IT Operations Centre (ITOC) at the suburb of Charlestown.

HPE ANZ director Patrick Matthews said the centre originally operated from Kotara, picking Charlestown as the new location for a larger, purpose-built space, including high-level data security.

The new facility includes hardened, secure rooms, where passcodes are required and mobile phones are banned, to ensure data security when handling IT operations.

HPE said the new facility will provide critical monitoring of IT for some 25 banks, telcos, health companies and government departments in ANZ.

Matthews said the centre’s automated systems and 47 staff logged more than 1600 IT-related incidents a day for its clients. The majority of incidents were identified and fixed before the companies knew there was a potential issue.

“The centre is the first of its type for HPE globally,” he said. “Since the original centre opened in Kotara, we’ve opened another 10 facilities around the world based off the processes and procedures done here.”

“Having an ITOC facility in a regional centre just a few hours from our headquarters increased the talent pool and offered city employees the opportunity to move to a regional centre,” Matthews said. “It creates employment opportunities and provides important technical support to our local customers.”

Commenting on the new centre, Fraser said, “Our location, our infrastructure and our quality of life, as well as a move since COVID away from big-city office culture, all make us a very credible and attractive alternative for companies thinking about expanding or relocating,” she said.

 “We’re thrilled HPE has chosen to call Lake Mac home, and look forward to other global companies joining them in the near future.”