Global Crossing Extends European Hosted Services

Global Crossing, an IP solutions provider, announced the opening of its Amsterdam data center. The newly constructed data center, which already houses clients such as Dimension Data, provides virtual hosting solutions as well as hosted managed services. Specific services include monitoring, backup, security, server management and storage solutions, and are part of the firm’s plans to continue the development of its hosting solutions business in Europe.

This move further demonstrates the company’s commitment to progressing with its European hosted services strategy, which last year saw the opening of the Docklands data center in London UK, and forms part of its Global Datacenter Solution for mid- to large-size enterprise customers that require multinational and global connectivity with IP and data-centric applications.

Among the expanded capabilities now available from the Amsterdam data center are Virtual Hosting services and Storage solutions. These services allow enterprises to carry out key IT projects that enable dynamic growth with maximum flexibility, while reducing capital expenditures related to physical servers, including the costs of power, space and cooling – as well as carbon emissions. These solutions help Global Crossing address the concerns of IT organizations, including availability and speed of access to data and the ability to share data securely inside and outside of the enterprise.

"Global Crossing is continuing to invest in value-added services, such as hosting solutions and managed services, as we understand how important they are to corporate customers," said Ted Higase, managing director, EMEA. "The opening of the Amsterdam data center means we now have 17 data centers strategically located to provide services to more than 700 customers at a time when information has never been more critical to the survival of a business. The explosive growth of data-intensive applications and an increasing reliance on information as a competitive differentiator have made data storage a central component of corporate strategies."

According to Gartner, the global market for web hosting, including data center services, is projected to increase in size from $28.87 billion in 2008 to $51.45 billion in 2013.

Laurent Leclercq, global chief information officer, Dimension Data, one of the first customers to be part of this new data center commented: "In choosing to use Global Crossing’s data center services in Amsterdam, we’re confident that we have a cost-effective, value-add and, importantly, a future-proof solution. We’ve enjoyed a successful relationship with Global Crossing, spanning in excess of three years, based on stand-out quality of service underpinned by the knowledge that the firm’s global communications platform can support any growth plans that we may have. Last year also saw us choose Global Crossing’s London data center, so we already know the benefits that are achievable by partnering with the company."

While the addition of the Amsterdam data center will inevitably benefit customers, Global Crossing continues to manage the environmental impact of their data centers by supporting and deploying virtualization technologies and strategies that more effectively make use of, and reduce, current data center resources.

Several of Global Crossing’s data centers around the globe have already received, among other accreditations, a Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) 70 review, which is a widely recognized auditing standard that evaluates the design and operating effectiveness of controls that have specific objectives, such as the security of financial information. This audit, which Global Crossing is planning for its European data center facilities, is especially important to large businesses and is being increasingly accepted by government organizations and private companies that seek an independent opinion to confirm the effectiveness of a provider’s processes and internal controls structure. It also simplifies their auditing processes and potentially can save time and reduce costs.

Global Crossing also offers solutions that allow customers to focus on their businesses while managing and administering the entire IT infrastructure and network for them. Global Crossing’s hosting solutions provide customers housing, equipment, storage, backup and monitoring, as well as managed services that free them to run their application or website.

On-Demand Solutions let customers use what they need when they need it, including network capacity, storage, processing power and managed services. They enable customers to respond rapidly and adequately to the demands of their clients or other business opportunities

Global Crossing Continuity Solutions provide preventive tools and redundancy capabilities that keep businesses running or help minimize any potential economic losses caused by an unexpected incident. Interruptions in service could be caused by natural disasters such as hurricanes or earthquakes, or by social problems, fires or technology issues.

Global Crossing’s growing data center footprint currently offers collocation facilities in 60 major cities around the world, and 17 world-class data centers – principally in Latin America with new additions in the United States, United Kingdom and Europe – that are focused on managed services. These centers provide Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) solutions to Global Crossing enterprise and carrier customers with a need for off-premise and virtual solutions. Global Crossing hosting facilities enable customers to link sites seamlessly – with consistent and similar services – to virtually any location within the reach and capacity of one of the world’s most extensive global IP networks.