Earlier this week, French data handling firm OVH announced that it has opened its very first data center on British soil. Situated in London, the new data center is billed as the next phase of the company’s USD 1 billion five-year expansion plan.
Even though OVH has been serving British businesses with its cloud-based data management solutions since 2007, the company did not own or operate any data centers in the UK until now. According to OVH, its new data center in south-east London will house around 40,000 servers and is in close proximity to its UK headquarters, thereby connecting it to the company’s global network of data centers. OVH say that this in turn will provide increased speed, reliability and security for its UK customer base, in the process reinforcing its commitment to the country despite all the uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
During the inauguration of the new London data center, Director of Cloud Operations EMEA at OVH, Hiren Parekh, had this to say:
This marks a significant step forward for OVH in supporting UK customers with a local dedicated gateway into our worldwide network.
We are offering low latency, guaranteed bandwidth and enhanced DDoS protection for all of our customers. It is particularly beneficial for those working in the finance sector or public services, where hosting data in-country is a key requirement in order to be compliant with data protection and governance, and the protection standards of their customers.
OVH believe that success in the UK data market is crucial to its five-year expansion plan. The company aims at strengthening its foothold in Europe, while at the same time build on its global presence. As of 2016, OVH has established new data centers in Australia, Singapore, Poland, Germany and now, the UK.