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Journalism of Courage
The upswing in India Inc’s prosperity, led by the large technology and telecom-driven firms is changing the practice of housing employees and IT systems under one roof. Globally, big corporations in particular are considering ‘fit-for-purpose’ buildings designed to withstand physical risks and comply with data security regulations to house their IT infrastructure.
The trend is likely to pick up in India, says Global Switch, a UK-based data centre operator managing eight purpose-built data centres in key gateway cities in Asia and Europe. ‘‘As Indian companies globalise and grow on the back of telecom, software and IT-linked services, existing office spaces will be simply unable to meet power, security and cooling needs. A remote data centre is ideal to reduce risks from downtime and meet business continuity demands,’’ says Shaun Woodhouse, Global Switch MD.
A survey commissioned by Global Switch in Europe found companies have ‘‘flawed’’ business continuity plans, with 15 per cent worried that their IT infrastructure is not housed in a suitable environment. Though the results varied from country to country, the research showed that not all firms have considered how robust their IT facilities are, even when they think about contingency plans.
The same is likely to happen in India, with possible adverse results on business continuity, says Global Switch. The company, which considers its vendor independence a key strength, thinks the risks can be lowered if companies move fast.
‘‘We are keen to come to India on the back of a commitment and we are talking to Indian conglomerates. We are already in Singapore, Sydney and Europe, which can serve as back-up facilities for Indian firms seeking another location to cut risks,’’ says Julian King, commercial director at Global Switch.
The company has 250-odd worldwide clients including Asia Netcom, AsiaKomnet, Flag Telecom, Hutchison Global, MCI, Qwest, SingTel, VANCO and VSNL, the carriers that terminate at its centers.
According to officials, another reason for Indian firms to join the list of firms with separate sites for critical IT systems and people is the real estate costs involved.
‘‘Real estate,’’ says Woodhouse, ‘‘is 20 per cent, whereas infocomm is 80 per cent of the costs. Besides, land is a long-term investment while rapid technology change makes IT investments short-term. Therefore, as we scale, firms are very attracted to our proposition because they can keep control over their business remotely without having to move.’’
Typically, vendors offer 1000 sq mts of space for a data centre that takes 24 months to build from scratch, though Global Switch’s total space is about 2.8 million sq mts across all eight locations.
‘‘IT is the lifeblood of virtually every business today, so there is sensitivity about where it is housed. Misplaced notions of physical resilience are therefore giving way to specifications that confirm security,’’ says King. This, coupled with growing need of corporations for locational diversity may give industry a sense of security, but it will also give some good news to the data centre business, which has just sat out a long silence and even longer plateau in India.
(This correspondent was in Singapore at Global Switch’s invitation)
