France is quietly becoming a leading hotspot for data center development in Europe, with experts predicting that the French data center market will grow approximately 20 percent by 2020, and the northern region of the country leading the way.
Recently, global data center developer and operator Etix Everywhere expanded its network of local data centers by signing a partnership with Eura DC, a joint venture between ARD-COM and ATE, two companies firmly anchored in the north of France. With its Tier 3-plus architecture, the new data center, Etix Lille #1, will meet the highest industry standards. This is consistent with all of Etix Everywhere’s global facilities.
At first, Etix Lille will host 100 racks. In the long term, the facility will offer an IT capacity of 1,200 kVA, featuring four IT rooms of 240 square meters, and provide 200 square meters of office space. Etix’s modular architecture ensures that each additional module will be deployed in 16 weeks, which will enable the company to quickly meet local demand.
The initial work at Etix Lille #1 started in the beginning of January, 2017 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of May. The first IT room is planned for guaranteed delivery in September. Since its launch, Etix has already built nine modules in France and Morocco, and the company has also started construction on two facilities in Belgium and Brazil.
Customers should be excited about Etix’s partnership with Eura DC, as the company has a rich understanding of the local market and deep experience in the cloud and connectivity space. The data center will be carrier-neutral, as are all facilities in the Etix Everywhere network. Customers will be able to work with the telecom operators and the IT companies of their choice.
“This data center is a new example of our regional expansion strategy,” stated Louis Blanchot, Sales Manager of Etix Everywhere France. “The project is co-financed by Etix Everywhere and Eura DC. Once the data center is up and running, each partner is in charge of commercializing the infrastructure and developing their own colocation offers, as well as assisting local companies in their digital transformation.”
ARD-COM CEO Rahif Daher also commented on the partnership.
“The combination of our respective expertise ensures we meet all spectrum needs for externalization that the companies from our region or from elsewhere face or will face,” Daher stated. “Etix Everywhere offers housing, and ARD-COM enhances the offer with a broad panel of high value-added services”
Located at a crossroad between Brussels, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris and London, Lille is in a strategic location for the Etix Everywhere colocation network. The facility will benefit from the presence of international and national telecom providers ensuring excellent connectivity and low latency to end customers.
“The north of France has a favorable climate for free cooling and excellent connectivity,” explained Maxence Rousseau, CEO of ATE. “These two advantages make the area a solid alternative choice to the Paris area. This data center is a critical instrument to assist local but also blue chip companies in their IaaS strategy, expanding our public and private cloud infrastructure.”
Besides its location in the center of Europe, Etix Everywhere chose to build its data center in the Plaine Images, which is a center of excellence dedicated to digital media and the creative industries. This choice will directly benefit further development of the business cluster.
“To have a data center in the very heart of the Plaine Images is a fantastic opportunity for the hundred companies that chose to settle on the site,” said Laurent Tricart, Event and Strategy Coordinator of Plaine Images. “Our goal is to develop the synergies between the companies of the cluster. This is the reason why we welcome this new infrastructure with enthusiasm.”
To learn more about Etix Everywhere, click here.