Africa Data Centres is acquiring Standard Bank’s giant data centre facility in Samrand, north of Johannesburg, for an undisclosed sum. The transaction is subject to the approval of the competition authorities.
The facility, which was something of a white elephant for the banking group from the time it was commissioned, is a tier-4 data centre that provides “maximum levels of security and reliability for banking IT systems”. Standard Bank spent R1.6-billion on the data centre (excluding computer equipment) before it was opened in 2010.
Standard Bank recently announced plans to move to cloud-based platforms supplied by Amazon Web Services and Microsoft, moving many of its systems off its own premises and therefore reducing the need for its own data centre space.
“The data centre is unique in its configuration of total redundancy of all power and cooling equipment and unparalleled physical security,” Africa Data Centres said in a statement on Tuesday.
TechCentral reported at the time the facility was opened that it was an “engineering marvel”. The 65 000sq m site consists of two adjacent properties, allowing for up to eight data-centre modules of 1 500sq m each.
“The unique combination of this outstanding facility with Africa Data Centres’ certified operational excellence makes it the ideal choice for the most demanding organisations, particularly those in the financial services sector who demand the highest standards of security and resilience for their IT infrastructure,” the company said.
‘Hidden gem’
“We will open this hidden gem to the market, on an open-access basis, allowing any modern technology-driven organisation to benefit…,” said Africa Data Centres CEO Stephane Duproz.
The data centre has sufficient power and vacant space for significant expansion. Like all of Africa Data Centres’ facilities, the Samrand facility will operate on a fully carrier- and cloud-neutral basis.
In response to growing demand, Africa Data Centres said it has also started work on a further 10 MW of IT capacity at its facility in Midrand. – © 2020 NewsCentral Media
