Work on the second phase of Manx Telecom’s multi-million pound Greenhill Data Centre (GDC) project has been completed by Stewart Clague Services (SCS). The centre opened in March 2014, and SCS were appointed in April 2015 as the main contractor to deliver the second phase. In addition to specialist equipment this work included significant building alterations to transform Manx Telecom’s existing engineering workshop on the site. All of this work had to meet strict Tier 3 design specifications to ensure GDC meets world class standards of reliability, resilience and redundancy. SCS completed the work to these exacting specifications two weeks ahead of the agreed date and on budget, and this allowed Manx Telecom to meet its schedule for installing new data racks and migrating services to GDC.

The success of the GDC project, and the fact that Manx Telecom is the only Isle of Man provider with two data centres designed to Tier 3 standards, were key messages when the company attended the ICE Totally Gaming expo at London’s Excel (February 2nd to 4th). In addition to Greenhill, the company also owns and operates Douglas North data centre. As well as leading gaming clients, GDC provides capacity for a number of client sectors including financial services, hospitality, retail and utilities.

Kevin Paige, Customer Services and Technology Director at Manx Telecom, said: “We must express our thanks to both the Manx Telecom team and everyone at SCS who has worked on phase two of the GDC project, and to the other Island contractors who have contributed to its successful completion – including Easthope and Cubbon who delivered the electrical element of the work, as well as a number of local specialist contractors who provided decoration, steelwork and building management services. Phase two has more than doubled the rackspace capacity at GDC, and due to the success of our sales team it is now almost 50% occupied.”

Gary Crittenden, Projects Director at SCS, commented: “This was both an exciting and challenging project for the SCS team and we were delighted when we were appointed as principal contractor. Our experience in constructing and maintaining data centres in the Isle of Man ensured that the project was delivered two weeks ahead of the completion date, whilst utilising 95% local labour force.”

Manx Telecom has made a significant investment in the Greenhill Data Centre which is being constructed in three phases. The centre – which is located at the Isle of Man Business Park near to Manx Telecom’s headquarters – already provides hosting and managed services to clients from a variety of sectors including eGaming, financial services and those requiring access to big data. Earlier this year Isle of Man Government became the anchor tenant for phase one following a competitive tender, and the signing of a five year contract to take 25 racks to support a variety of front-line Government services. This agreement became operational in March 2015 after a complex and successful migration from existing Government premises.

Both Greenhill and Douglas North data centres are built to the same world class standards, including high specification sub-systems such as water detection and flood protection systems, fire detection and fire protection systems and robust security, access and CCTV systems. All of Manx Telecom’s data centres are designed to minimise impact on the environment with the use of high efficiency pumps and air conditioning units, water and power metering throughout, and eco-friendly fire suppression systems.

For more information about Manx Telecom’s data centres go to www.manxtelecom.com/business/hosting. 

Photo - Kevin Paige, Customer Services and Technology Director at Manx Telecom.