Gen-i to invest in new Christchurch data centre

Gen-i to invest in new Christchurch data centre

New facility will extend Gen-i’s data centre and cloud capabilities to meet growth needs of businesses and public sector in Canterbury region

Auckland, 1 May 2012 – Gen-i has today announced a new $10.5 million investment to build a new data centre in Christchurch.

The investment forms part of Gen-i’s strategy to help clients take advantage of ICT applications and services that leverage the rollout of UFB, and will expand its existing nationwide network of 14 data centres in cities and regional centres, linked by fibre, copper and mobile networks.

The new data centre, which will be completed later this year, is designed to provide Gen-i’s clients with a range of services from co-location, outsourcing and virtual server through to network delivered and cloud services from an additional Canterbury location. It will complement Gen-i’s two existing Christchurch data centres in Hereford Street and Hillmorton.

Chris Quin, CEO of Gen-i Australasia, said the investment is part of Gen-i and Telecom’s ongoing investment in the Canterbury region as part of the rebuild focus.

“Gen-i is a New Zealand company dedicated to delivering outcomes for Australasian businesses and public sector organisations,” said Quin.

“We are committed to contributing to the success of Christchurch as the major business hub in the South Island. Our investment in the new data centre and ongoing commitment is designed to help our Canterbury clients scale their ICT capability to meet changing market demands and re-build their businesses,” he said.

Paul Deavoll, Head of Gen-i South Island, said Gen-i has seen increased demand from Christchurch clients looking to relocate their infrastructure to Gen-i data centres in the aftermath of the Canterbury earthquakes.

“Several of our Christchurch clients are still working from temporary premises and are relying on us to house their ICT infrastructure in secure, robust and resilient data centres at competitive prices,” said Deavoll. “This new investment will give them clarity and certainty and the reassurance of having a local partner that can help them focus their resources to rebuild at their own pace.”

Deavoll said a number of clients are using Gen-i’s cloud solutions for virtual compute, backup, storage, email and internet security.

“Our cloud services can help businesses recover from a business interruption or crisis faster, while benefitting from our expertise and ongoing investment in world class infrastructure.”

Quin added that Gen-i’s clients also realise that what’s connecting them to the data centres and new cloud services is important.

“With the rollout of new fibre and mobile networks across New Zealand, more and more businesses are looking for ICT solutions that harness fibre speeds to deliver exciting new applications in areas such as cloud, mobility, video and collaboration,” said Quin.

“We advise clients on the best mix of fibre, copper and mobile networks to ensure they get the best value from their existing assets and the new fibre-based products and services.

“We also see it as our responsibility to deliver real leadership that will help our clients across public and private sectors make the most of this investment to positively influence the strategic direction of their business, deliver real outcomes and create economic value for the country.”

Construction on the new facility is due to start mid year and is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Gen-i intends to partner with Canterbury-based designers and developers to deliver a leading edge, innovative and highly efficient data centre environment.

About Gen-i’s data centres
The new data centre in Christchurch will be a purpose-built highly seismic-rated building built to withstand earthquakes. It will feature a highly resilient infrastructure design with a heavy focus on energy efficiency (PUE) and footprint, advanced environmental monitoring and physical security, supported by Gen-i’s 24x7x365 management processes.

The new data centre will provide businesses with a range of data hosting and networking services, particularly for clients who cannot take their data outside New Zealand due to security and regulatory compliance concerns.

Gen-i has over 20 years experience providing data centres with proven availability and SLAs.

Gen-i’s existing 14 data centres are architected and deployed to deliver the highest levels of uptime and are co-located in Telecom’s Exchange building infrastructure. During the Canterbury earthquakes, Gen-i’s data centres remained fully operational and received the highest Civil Defence priorities to maintain essential telecommunications services.

IDC ranks Gen-i as number one for data centre revenues in New Zealand, with 31.7% marketshare during 1H 2011 (described as ‘Hosted Infrastructure Services’ in the IDC Asia/Pacific Semiannual IT Services Tracker).

About Gen-i
Gen-i is at the forefront of helping customers take advantage of the convergence of technology and telecommunications, and the new opportunities this makes possible. Gen-i works alongside its 3,000 corporate, government and business customers to deliver seamless hosted and integrated ICT solutions. A member of the Telecom New Zealand Group, Gen-i achieves this with the support of 2,700 highly skilled people in 15 locations across New Zealand and Australia. For more information on Gen-i, visit www.gen-i.co.nz

ENDS

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