By Justin Lee, theWHIR.com
October 7, 2008 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Technology giant IBM (ibm.com) announced on Friday it plans to build a new data center at its Greenock, Scotland facility to provide colocation services to medium-sized organizations.
This is the latest facility that IBM plans to open in Europe. Last month, IBM and the Industrial Development Agency of Ireland announced plans to spend EUR 30 million to build a new data center at IBM’s Technology Campus in Dublin.
IBM says it will invest $3.54 million on the design and building of the data center, which will be built according to green data center standards.
The company has made considerable efforts in implementing green initiatives this year, launching in July the second phase of Project Big Green 2.0 in India. The project specifically targets large corporate customers in India, where it will be introducing new products and services focused on energy efficiency.
Other green initiatives include the June opening of its a 115,000 square-foot facility in Boulder, Colorado that it says is the greenest data center in North America.
The Greenock data center will feature efficient cooling, backup diesel generators, 24-hour security and resilient Internet connections, says IBM.
The company says it will enable customers to consolidate IT infrastructures in a single secure location using IBM’s to perform basic management and monitoring functions or manage their own back-office equipment.
IBM says the new facility enables businesses to save money by not having to maintain their own data centers.
“This new service aims to offer quick financial returns to a medium-sized business by removing the challenge of securing and maintaining their data centers,” says Alex Reardon, director of IBM general business sector UK and Ireland.
The facility is expected to open January 2009.
