Manx Telecom has started work on a ?10 million three phase project, which upon completion will result in a new purpose-built data centre. Phase one of the Greenhill Data Centre is scheduled to be open for business on January 1, 2014. Located at the Isle of Man Business Park near to the company’s headquarters it will become Manx Telecom’s third data centre - in addition to Douglas North and Douglas Central - and by far the biggest of any on the Island in terms of rack space. Greenhill will be constructed to the same Tier 3 world class specification and have the same industry accreditations as Douglas North which already provides hosting services for Isle of Man Government and many leading private sector brands. When it is up and running, Greenhill will create new jobs with recruitment dependent upon the level of new business which the centre generates.
Mike Dee, Manx Telecom CEO, commented:
“In the past decade Manx Telecom has invested some ?120million in the Island’s telecommunication infrastructure, and Greenhill Data Centre represents another significant investment which will benefit the Island’s economy. It will create even more opportunities to attract new business, not only in the eGaming and finance sectors but also in other industries which need outsourced hosting facilities to cope with big data requirements.”
Big data refers to data sets so large that that average computing tools can’t manage or process them. In the next few years industry experts predict that many businesses will need support from hosting providers such as Manx Telecom in order to be able to meet their big data needs.
Chief Minister Hon Allan Bell MHK was the guest of honour at an event on Wednesday September 25 to mark the official start of work on the Greenhill Data Centre project. He commented:
“Growing the Isle of Man’s economy in a dynamic and sustainable way is at the very heart of Government’s plans. A world class telecoms infrastructure is vital in supporting our position as a leading international business centre. The new Greenhill Data Centre is a further significant investment by Manx Telecom and a demonstration of its confidence in the future of the Isle of Man economy. It will support Government’s priority of diversifying the economy and play a key part in efforts to attract new business to the Island.”
The first phase of the project will see a ?3.5million investment involving alterations to the existing structure of the building and the installation of mechanical and electrical infrastructure including security and fire prevention systems, air conditioning, and back-up power generators. Phase two will take around three months to complete with the installation of additional data hosting racks subject to demand, whilst phase three will see the construction of a new purpose-built data centre to further increase rack space and meet the Island’s growing demands for data hosting capacity.
Stuart Paul, Manx Telecom Data Centres Director, said:
“This is a really exciting development for Manx Telecom. Greenhill Data Centre will ensure that we can meet the global growth demands for the Island’s economy in sectors which will require a significant increase in hosting capacity. Greenhill is the cornerstone in our strategy to further enhance Manx Telecom’s and the Isle of Man’s reputation as a world class hosting provider.”
Wherever possible on-Island contractors will be used in all phases of the Greenhill project. Some of the latest and most efficient energy-saving technologies will be installed including adiabatic cooling systems which allow power consumption to be reduced while maintaining the levels of cooling required for a Tier 3 data centre.
Photo L to R - Kevin Paige (Manx Telecom Customer Services and Technology Director), John McChesney (Manx Telecom Human Resources Director), Fergal McKenna (Manx Telecom Sales Director), Mike Dee (Manx Telecom CEO) – Chief Minister Hon Allan Bell MHK – Gary Lamb (Manx Telecom Finance Director), David Smith (Manx Telecom Marketing Director), Stuart Paul (Manx Telecom Data Centre Director).
