IBM opened its Tier 3+ data center in Tseung Kwan O in Hong Kong, a multi-million US dollar investment that will host the first customer's data center before the coming Christmas.
Targeted to serve local clients and "especially the Hong Kong government," the new IBM carrier neutral facility is commissioned to deliver IBM's integrated managed services comprising cloud computing, data center set up and managed services.
The new IBM Hong Kong data center is said to be the first "end-to-end" Tier 3+ data center in the city, said Mark Latchford, general manager, global technology services, IBM China/Hong Kong, though there may be other data centers that reach Tier 3+ level "in some aspects."
Located in the HKCOLO.net building in Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate (TKOIE), the new IBM data center has two data halls that occupy an initial floor space of 15,000 sq ft, but it has the space to double its capacity. The IBM TKOIE facility also runs the regional command center. It will be supplemented by an offshore command center in Suzhou, China.
The IBM TKOIE data center is currently staffed by 15 to 20 IT specialists, who will serve its first wave of clients.
With cloud computing, data center and managed services under his belt, the IBM integrated technology services team in Hong Kong is now open to new job positions including infrastructure management, network management, security and storage specialists, said Steven Choi, executive, integrated technology services, global technology services, IBM China/Hong Kong.
Other than the new TKOIE facility, IBM also operates three other data centers in Hong Kong: Somerset in Quarry Bay (launched in 2002); Evergain Building in Shatin (launched in 2002); and the Business Resilience Center in Fo Tan (launched in 2008).