Savvis Plans New London Data Center

Savvis Inc. (SVVS), will open a new data center in London in response to strong business demand for more space, power and managed IT services in the UK, the company said today.

The data center in Slough, Berkshire is part of a $400 million global investment by Savvis in new facilities and network assets across Europe, Asia and North America over a two year period. The London area facility is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Savvis said it decided to locate the data center outside the M25 (the London "beltway") and closer to the grid to "overcome space and power challenges often associated with central London facilities." The Slough facility will have direct connectivity to SAVVIS' data centers near Reading and in London's Docklands, allowing customers in those facilities to store data for disaster recovery. Slough is also the site of data centers for Rackspace and Equinix (EQIX).

The new data center will include 36,500 square feet of raised floor space, with the capacity to add an additional 30,000 square feet in the future.

"Over the past five years, SAVVIS' European hosting business, predominately managed hosting, has grown at a compound annual rate approaching 60 percent," said Richard Warley, International Managing Director for SAVVIS. "This new data centre will provide sufficient capacity to accommodate the growth requirements of existing and new customers over the next five years. The facility will be an attractive option for those companies who currently require colocation services, but are considering managed hosting and networking solutions with SAVVIS as part of their strategic IT plans."