http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060901/BUSINESS/609010332/-1/NEWS01 By TED GRIFFITH The News Journal Compared with neighboring states, Delaware is well positioned to capitalize on banks' rapidly growing demand for data security centers and capture the high-paying jobs they create, according to a recent study. A study by Princeton, N.J.-based The Boyd Co. was positive news for Delaware and Wilmington, the state's largest city, because data security/data storage is one of the few niches within financial services that's experiencing significant job growth, said John Boyd Jr. The company advises banks and other financial service firms on where to locate offices and other facilities. "The fastest-growing sector of the financial industry is information assurance, data storage and security," the consultant said. "Wilmington, and Delaware, fit very nicely with the trend." But the First State is facing competition for these high-paying data banking jobs from small, low-cost cities in the West and the South, such as Sioux Falls, S.D., and Winston-Salem, N.C. There are about 41,000 people nationwide working in financial services data security/storage, and that number is expected to grow by 19 percent annually over the next five years, according the firm's projections. Jobs in the field generally pay between $50,000 and $100,000, according to the firm's study. If major banks decide to locate their data security/storage centers in Delaware, it could ultimately mean the addition of several hundred jobs here, Boyd estimated. David G. Bakerian, president of the Delaware Bankers Association, said he, too, sees opportunity for job growth in this area, but he cautioned that the state can't expect the field to generate thousands of jobs because bank data centers generally don't employ large numbers of workers. No figures are available for the number of data security/storage workers in Delaware. But the state is attracting at least some jobs in the field. New York -based JPMorgan Chase & Co., one of the world's largest banks, opened two data centers, one in Fox Point and the other in Bear, in 2004. The centers' combined employment is around 100. And Delaware has attracted data centers operated by businesses in other industries, said Judy McKinney-Cherry, director of the Delaware Economic Development Office. For example, New Jersey-based industrial conglomerate Honeywell early next year is expected to open a data center in New Castle that will employ up to 100. Boyd said banks have an increased need for data security because of growing concerns about hackers attempting to steal customers' information for use in identity theft fraud. In addition, banks have a growing need for data storage, prompting them to build new data centers, said Richard Purdy, an executive with Hopkinton, Mass.-based EMC Corp., which sells data storage technology. Purdy said banks typically see 100 percent annual increases in the amount of data they generate. Banks' data centers handle both storage and security. Delaware is a good place for a data center because of its cost advantage relative to other Northeastern states, Boyd said. The annual operating cost for a typical bank data center in Wilmington would be about $11 million, compared with $12.3 million in Philadelphia and $14.1 million in New York City, according to the study. Boyd attributed the difference largely to lower real estate prices here. Delaware, long known for credit card banking, also has a skilled work force with experience in technology and banking, Boyd said. But Delaware also could see competition from cities in the West and South. Sioux Falls is less expensive than Delaware, with annual operating costs for a bank data center estimated at $9.7 million. The city also has a trained work force available to banks, being the home to credit card operations of Citigroup and other banks, Boyd said. Contact Ted Griffith at 324-2880 or tgriffith (at) delawareonline.com. -=- ANNUAL COST OF OPERATING DATA CENTERS IN U.S. CITIES NEW YORK: $14.1 million PHILADELPHIA: $12.3 million CHERRY HILL, N.J.: $11.9 million WILMINGTON: $11 million WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.: $9.8 million SIOUX FALLS, S.D.: $9.7 million * The storage to maintain a single bank account has grown to well over 20 times what it was in 1990. * NASDAQ stock market processes 2 billion contracts a day. * Visa processes more than 3,500 transactions a second. _________________________________ HITBSecConf2006 - Malaysia The largest network security event in Asia 32 internationally renowned speakers 7 tracks of hands-on technical training sessions. Register now: http://conference.hitb.org/hitbsecconf2006kl/
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