IBM expanding data centre business in India

Technology giant IBM is betting big on its data centre business, driven by the telecom sector, as more companies look at outsourcing their data storage requirements.

"Over the past years, the number of third party data centres are increasing because they not only help companies save cost but also provide benefits such as protection against natural calamities, reduced power consumption etc," IBM India/South Asia Vice President Infrastructure Services Sales Shailesh Agarwal said.

Sectors like manufacturing and BFSI (Banking, Financial Services and Insurance) and telecom are expected to see huge growth this year for data centre deployment, he added.

"Chief Information Officers (CIOs) today are also viewing third party data centres as a way to go green. With the entire buzz around 'Green IT', there are enormous business opportunities for vendors and partners," Kumar said.

IBM has clients like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Quippo-WTTIL in the telecom vertical.

A recent study by research firm IDC India predicts that the India data centre services market could reach almost Rs 10,000 crore by the end of 2011, representing an annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.7% over 2009-2011.

This is against an overall evaluation of Rs 6,300 crore ($1.4 billion) in 2009. IDC India has ranked IBM as the market leader in domestic IT services.

IBM is also helping enterprise communication service provider Tulip Telecom to build the world's third largest data centre in Bangalore.

The data centre, spread across nine lakh sq ft, will be built with an investment of about Rs 900 crore, spread over three years.