With the Internet finally gaining momentum in Nigeria, the data centre business is starting to boom with several companies actively investing in building commercial data centres.
This trend has already taken place in most advanced economies where banks and other multi-national companies that require high-speed, secure digital storage facilities, are moving away from running their own in-house computer centres, towards outsourcing this business to commercial operators.
One of such projects is MainOne’s tier 3 data centre, to be commissioned by the fourth quarter of 2014. On completion, this facility will be the largest commercial data centre in West Africa.
The data centre is being constructed to meet the rapidly growing demand for managed computing and network services in Nigeria by companies rapidly increasing their investments and dependency on Information Communications Technology (ICT).
On the continent, the biggest challenges for new-build data centres have always been the same – connectivity, security and power supply. This world-class data centre, spread over 3,500 square meters, is specifically designed to provide 600 rack spaces, with redundant power supply of up to 6MVA supported by a 24-7 Operations Centre.
The facility, which is over 70 percent completed, also has direct access to MainOne’s entire network including metro and international fibre, Internet backbone, as well as interconnection with all the major networks in Nigeria. With the rollout of MainOne’s Lagos metro fibre network and data centre in 2014, the company appears focused on taking the lead in the provision of broadband communication services to large corporates, e-commerce providers, government and educational institutions.
Speaking to journalists during a tour last week, Funke Opeke, chief executive officer, MainOne, said, the company is putting in place multiple layers of security to ensure the safety and confidentiality of customer data. Security provisions include; biometric access control, surveillance cameras, and physical security. The data centre facilities also boasts of the latest technologies in the area of environmental management including precision cooling and early fire detection and fire suppression systems.
Opeke, said that the data centre is further proof of MainOne’s commitment to deploy infrastructure services in its primary markets, as it will aid the reduction in information technology costs and risks, while enhancing business efficiency and profitability.
The data centre, she continued, will help improve the ability of organisations to move their critical business processes online as well as accelerate the evolution of Nigeria into a digital economy when launched.
According to the MainOne CEO, access to bundled data centre services and connectivity solutions from a trusted provider ensures organisations save capital costs that would have been required to build and maintain dedicated Data Centre facilities.”
Following inspection of the construction site, it is easily understood why MainOne states that it is not cost effective for organisations to replicate the functionality and high availability offered by this facility on a stand-alone basis.
With the managed services approach, customers pay a monthly rate for collocation and power thus saving capital costs required to build their dedicated data centre facilities, which can be quite prohibitive.
Originally targeted for completion in July, the company says the facility will be ready by Q4 2014. Construction has however already reached an advanced stage, with finishing works and final fix items such as Generators and Chillers delivered to site.
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