M1 Limited closed out the month of October with the announcement that its new Singapore data center is open for business.
The Singapore complex, located in the city of Jurong, has three times the capacity of the company's existing data centers with the ability to support 900 racks. The facility will also offer more sophisticated features such as temperature, humidity and power-utilization sensors.
According to Willis Sim, director of product development and enterprise services for M1, organizations hosted within the the Jurong data center can save between 30 and 40 percent by using the facility as compared to buying their own equipment, thanks in part to reduced power use from data center sustainability methods. The complex's server racks utilize used-air circulation techniques to maintain a constant temperature, saving energy and reducing costs.
With the Singapore data center, M1 is looking to support what they see as an underserved small- and medium-sized enterprise market.
"It is easy for big companies because they have huge IT departments and can build their own data centersand servers," said Sim. "Some smaller SMEs may not even have IT departments. Today, SMEs have big challenges such as insufficient in-house manpower and IT resources. So, we are simplifying the entire process with self-service portals."
The portals allow clients to remotely scale their capacity up or down as needed through a convenient online platform. Along with the service portals, the Singapore data center will provide customers with access to computing resources and data storage, as well as digital phone systems and wired and wireless network security. M1 has formed partnerships with other industry providers like Samsung, Hitachi Data Systems and Alcatel-Lucent to provide these services.
Sim noted that the new features being offered through the new facility not only strengthen the company's SME presence, but provide a diverse array of revenue streams and help to reduce M1's reliance on the consumer segment.
Over the last two years, M1 has spent between $50 and $60 million in capital expenditure for the creation of the data center, as well as upgrading the company's customer care system.
