Etix Everywhere, a global data centre provider and operator, and Compunet, leader in the Andean Region providing SAP and IT managed services have partnered to build and operate an 840kVA data centre in Zonamerica, a Global Services Free Trade Zone located in the most dynamic business climate of the region. The construction of this new edge facility will start in early Q4 2018.
The data centre, dubbed Etix Cali #1 will be deployed in two phases using Etix Everywhere modular design. At full build-out, the facility will house 240 racks and be certified to Tier IV standards to ensure the highest availability to its customers.
“As we want to offer world class services and the best protection to our customers handling mission critical projects, it is logical for us to build a Tier IV certified data centre,” said Guillermo Lopez, founder and board member of Compunet.
With the only other Tier IV data centre of Colombia based in Bogotá, Etix Cali #1 ideally completes Columbia’s data centre offering, opening up high quality dual site/backup solutions for the country’s leading companies.
The project has already generated a great deal of enthusiasm and over half of the first phase is already booked by large local organisations.
An ideal location
Like all Etix Everywhere colocation data centres, Etix Cali #1 will be carrier neutral – this is so customers can enjoy the best value proposition from telecommunication providers of their choice. The infrastructure will also benefit from the brand new submarine cable connecting the region to 60 countries. The neutrality of the data centre will also ensure free cross-connect fees.
Companies are becoming increasingly bandwidth-hungry and they want to get closer to their consumers. “Cali is the third largest city in Colombia, and one of the fastest growing economies in the country. Our market studies indicate that the city is a perfect location to build our next edge data centre,” stated Gonzalo de la Cuadra, CEO for Latin America, Etix Everywhere.
Regional expansion
Latin America is the fastest-growing colocation market in the world, but the region is greatly underserved in terms of data centres.
“Etix’s commitment to Colombia demonstrates how the country is positioning itself as the region hub for business services to supply the local market and export to third parties. Since 2010, IT industry exports have been multiplied by 15, from US $10.9 million to US $159.8 million in 2017. Today, the Colombian industry is already present in 38 markets.” explained Felipe Jaramillo, president of ProColombia.
Although Etix Everywhere already built two landing stations in Brazil for Angola Cables, Etix Cali #1 will be the first colocation data centre operated by the company in Latin America and will extend its international network of interconnected data centres.
