IBM Boosts Cloud Footprint With London, US And Australia Data Centres

IBM has expanded its cloud presence with the opening of four new data centres across the UK, US and Australia, bringing its total footprint up to nearly 60 facilities in 19 countries.

Two of the data centres are located in London, with IBM following hot on the heels of Google’s opening of a new data centre region in the UK capital to grow the reach of its Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

IBM’s two other facilities are in San Jose, California and Sydney, Australia, giving local businesses the opportunity to access to IBM’s cognitive and big data-driven cloud services and meet regulatory compliance.

Grand opening

Data security and privacy are key concerns in today’s digital world and having access to local data centres enables organisations to store data how and where they want depending on their specific requirements.

This flexibility and assurance will be especially important for European businesses with new Global Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) on the horizon and the two new London facilities will go a long way to assuring businesses of IBM’s commitment to the region in the face of Brexit.

“IBM operates cloud data centres in nearly every major market around the world, ensuring that our clients can keep their data local for a variety of reasons – including performance, security or regulatory requirements,” said John Considine, general manager for cloud infrastructure services, IBM.

“We continue to expand our cloud capacity in response to growing demand from clients who require cloud infrastructure and cognitive services to help them compete on a global scale.”

And the investments could come at a good time for IBM. Today the company announced disappointing Q2 results with a decline in cloud sales, but the new data centres will give it scope for local pushes.

IBM has also partnered with the London Stock Exchange Group for a Blockchain-based trading project and recently launched an Identity-as-a-Service offering for hybrid cloud.

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