Destination data
group managing director for interxion, Anthony Foy, explains to Future Banking
how the itdemands of the financial sector, spiralling energy costs and severe cuts
in capital spending programmes have put outsourcing the data centre at the top
of the boardroom agenda.
The growth in capital markets and
demand for low latency trading
environments are two of the
central factors addressed by data centre
infrastructure specialist Interxion. Its London
base is on the edge of the City, close to
the city’s financial exchanges, optimising the
trading environment for its banking customers.
‘For trading groups looking to outsource
data centre capabilities, close proximity is
crucial,’ explains group managing director for
Interxion Anthony Foy. ‘Financial exchanges
need data centres that can comply with their
low-latency requirements.’
Interxion delivers solutions to over 1,100
customers throughout Europe. One of
Europe’s leading providers of premium carrierneutral
data centres and managed services, the
company operates 24 centres across 13 cities
in 11 European countries.
‘As equipment evolves and changes, the
means by which it must be managed become
more demanding,’ he says. ‘Worldwide, we
are seeing an increase in the requirements
for power and cooling density and specialised
engineering environments. We have gone
from a period of organisations not really
understanding what their requirements were
to those same bodies being extremely careful
about deploying their data centres.’
What’s more, Foy believes that data centre
outsourcing has become a key requirement
for banks; the cost for them to build and
manage internal systems is prohibitive,
especially in the current financial climate.
‘Building a new data centre can cost
anywhere from €25 million to €100
million,’ Foy says. ‘An ability to operationalise
a component of that and share the
infrastructure with multiple companies inside
a single facility reduces overall costs and makes
the decision a whole lot easier. We provide
not only complete data centre services but
also an environment that is carrier neutral.’
Carrier neutrality offers a number of key
advantages, not least the guarantee of 24/7
availability; when one network fails, there
are backups and cost optimisation. ‘It allows
customers to negotiate the best possible price when it comes to their connectivity
requirements and solutions while driving up
resilience and availability,’ says Foy. ‘Given the
variety, complexity and number of providers
present, they are also able to pick from the
broadest menu of network services.’ There
is an average of 50 networks in operation at
each of Interxion’s 24 sites.
These considerations lie at the heart of a
major expansion plan over the past 14 months.
With 22 separate expansion projects either
completed or underway and a 25% increase in
overall capacity across it European operations,
Interxion’s City of London site expanded
twice in 2008 and will do so again in 2009.
‘We are continuing with that programme, in
response to the demands we already see in
the marketplace and from new sectors coming
onboard,’ Foy says. ‘About 50% of new orders
come from the existing customer base. They’re
not spending on spec’, they’re planning ahead.
Data security
In the past there has been hesitancy on the
part of financial institutions to outsource
mission critical applications. On the subject
of security, Interxion goes to great lengths
allaying fears through such measures as 24/7
onsite security, surveillance cameras, mantraps
and biometric access. Emphasis is also placed
on total availability: a European customer
support centre operates 24 hours a day, 365
days a year, in seven European languages.
‘We insert ourselves into customers’
operations and offer an extremely high
level of visibility,’ Foy explains. ‘The financial
sector requires a lot of trust in its vendors
and has to feel comfortable doing business
with you. We have the operating experience
and history behind us, as well as our unique
proximity to trading platforms, and have the
ability to build a service package around
our clients that makes them feel secure and
comfortable with the idea of continuing to
grow within our facilities. The sector is starting
to fully appreciate the advantages a company
like Interxion can bring.’
The difficulties experienced within the
banking sector and the business community
as a whole will sharpen this awareness. It is no
longer a question of whether one can afford
to outsource the running of mission critical
applications; it is now about how long one can
afford to keep such operations in-house.
In the current economic climate it makes
good business sense to outsource IT services
and Interxion is well-placed to provide 21st
century data centre infrastructure to the
banking community. |
