Salesforce Opens First European Data Centre

Salesforce has signalled the beginning of the rollout of three European data centres as the CRM giant looks to build on its growing European customer base.

The first of these data centres has now be opened in the UK, and is powered by 100 percent renewable energy sources, requiring little or no power from the British national grid.

Long Time Coming

Talk of a UK data centre for Salesforce has been ongoing for quite a while now. In May 2013, it signed a deal to build a data centre in Slough, almost three years after it promised to deliver one. Then in March this year it announced that its UK data centre would open in August this year.

But actually Salesforce had first pledged a UK data centre back in 2012. That said, it has taken time to choose an adequate partner and a suitable location.

“The opening of Salesforce’s first European Data Centre underscores our commitment to customers and partners in the UK,” said Andrew Lawson, SVP for UK and Ireland, Salesforce. “The new data centre will support the unprecedented growth we’ve seen in the region and further accelerates the adoption of cloud, social and mobile technologies, empowering UK companies to connect with their customers in a whole new way.”

The company is planning another two data centres in France and Germany, expected sometime in 2015. Both those data centres are also expected to powered by 100 percent renewable energy sources. Indeed, Salesforce is working toward powering 100 percent of its data centre operations with renewable energy.

The new data centres are part of an increase investment in Europe by Salesforce, which is its fastest growing region in fiscal year 2014. The CRM giant is also opening new headquarters offices in the UK and France, and will expanded its German presence with a new office in Berlin.

The company estimates that it create 500 additional jobs across Europe next year.

Local Concerns

The opening of a British data centre makes it considerably easier for Salesforce to sell to UK government, as it could store highly sensitive data within the country, as public sector bodies demand.

Some European countries are now cautious of dealing with American companies following the leaks by Edward Snowden, which indicated that US cloud providers are helping the NSA to spy on their customers, through access to their data centres.

In June, the German government cancelled a contract with the US telecoms giant Verizon Communications, owing to concerns about the spying activities of the NSA.

And last month Oracle announced it would open two data centres in Germany, located in Frankfurt and Munich, following European concern over the scope of the US’ NSA spying programme.

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