Salesforce.com Plans Singapore Data Center

Salesforce.com (CRM) is building its first international data center in Singapore, the company said today. The data center, which is expected to go live before the end of year, will service the rapidly growing international customer base for Salesforce.com, a leading provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications and hosting.

Salesforce.com also announced plans to establish a Network Operations Center (NOC) in Singapore to implement 24x7, follow-the-sun monitoring of the company's data centers in North America and Singapore. To support this, it is investing in additional facilities and headcount at its Asia Pacific headquarters.

"The decision to build our first data center outside of the U.S. is clear evidence that companies globally are abandoning the failed client-server software model and are looking for a new model that allows them to focus on innovation as opposed to infrastructure," said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO, Salesforce.com.

Salesforce.com said its Asia Pacific customer base doubled over the last 12 months. Strategic customers include AAPT, Acer, Amcor, CGU Insurance, Challenger Financial Services, Datacraft, Flight Centre, Hang Seng Bank, Mizuho Private Wealth Management, Ottagi, Ramco, SPH Search, VSNL and Telecom New Zealand.

"The explosive growth that we are experiencing in Asia Pacific, combined with a highly technically literate and multi-lingual talent pool, make Singapore the perfect location for our first data center outside of the U.S.," said Benioff.

"IDA welcomes the setting up of the new international data center by salesforce.com in Singapore," said Ronnie Tay, CEO of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. "The choice of Singapore as the location is a testimony to our capabilities to support data center activities. As an established trusted hub, with excellent global connectivity and skilled infocomm manpower, Singapore is in an excellent position to support and Salesforce.com in delivering its innovative services globally."

Salesforce.com Inc., the biggest seller of Internet-based customer-management software, reported a large gain in first-quarter profit today and raised its forecast after the company added 2,600 customers. Net income climbed to $9.56 million, or 8 cents a share, from $730,000, or 1 cent, a year earlier, the San Francisco-based company said.

Salesforce.com is a market and technology leader in Software-as-a- Service (SaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). The company's Force.com PaaS enables customers, developers and partners to build a on-demand applications that deliver the benefits of multi-tenancy across the enterprise.