Service provider Rogers has launched a data centre solutions operating unit.
Called Rogers Data Centres, the majority of the data centres will be in Western Canada specifically Edmonton. Rogers also comfirmed that a data centre in Calgary is in the works for early 2014.
According to the company, the new data centres operation is part of an Rogers Business Solutions overall strategy that started with the consolidation of BlackIron Data, Pivot Data Centres and Granite Networks. This also mirrors what other services providers have done in the marketplace.
The president of the Rogers Data Centres will be A.J. Byers. He said that the new data centre offerings in Alberta present a significant growth opportunity in Western Canada’s business-to-business market specifically in cloud and managed services.
Currently Rogers operates in 14 data centre locations across Canada, servicing more than 870 customers in the small to medium-size enterprise and government.
The Edmonton facility adds approximately 6,000 square feet of newly-constructed raised floor space. Meanwhile the future Calgary centre plans to offer 80,000 square feet of raised space computing with cooling systems , security, 24/7 support, and will meet Uptime Institute’s Tier III standards.
Related Stories
Rogers Communications acquired BlackIron Data, Pivot Data Centres and Granite Networks earlier in 2013 so that it could expand its data centre and cloud portfolio, the company said. Pivot Data Centres operated three co-location facilities in Calgary and Edmonton, while Granite Networks of Ottawa provided co-location, managed services and cloud hosting services in Ontario and Quebec. The total acquisition cost for two companies was about $161 million.
The Rogers Data Centres expansion into Western Canada is part of a $700 million overall investment by the company in Alberta over the next four years.
Rogers Business Solutions is operated by Rogers Communications Partnership. It owns and operates a transcontinental network with a 100 per cent digital fibre optic backbone and strategic interconnect points to the United States and overseas.