IBM sets up public data centre in Chennai

The new launch will help tap into growing demand from financial services and government sectors

Technology giant IBM today launched public data centre in Chennai to tap into growing demand from financial services and government sectors.

Part of the company's global investment of $1.2 billion, it is IBM's second such centre in India. The first one in Mumbai offers private cloud computing services. Its cloud clients include Tata Sky, Bharat Light and Power, Janalakshmi Financial Services and Mankind Pharma.

"With a local onramp to IBM Cloud, Indian customers, especially those in regulated industries, gain more flexibility to store and compute data within the country," IBM Cloud senior vice president Robert LeBlanc told reporters.

This is IBM's 42nd data centre in its expansive network, providing users with performance and disaster recovery to ensure business continuity, he added.

He, however, did not disclose details about specific investments on the centre and the size of the centre.

IBM has cloud centres in cities such as London, Beijing, Melbourne, Toronto and Dallas.

The centre will help IBM tap into government initiatives like 'Digital India' and 'Smart Cities'. It will also enable the company to tap into data sensitive sectors like banking, financial services and telecom that often mandate that data be hosted in local data centres.

Earlier this year, Microsoft had also announced setting up of three local data centres in India to tap into what it believes is a $2 trillion cloud opportunity.

"India's cloud market is poised for exponential growth... The Chennai data centre will support India's growing customer demand for in-country cloud solutions with faster network speeds," LeBlanc said.

IBM has also partnered IT industry body Nasscom for the latter's 10,000 startups initiative.

"In an effort to accelerate digital transformation both at the enterprise and startup level, IBM is establishing a partnership with Nasscom to launch Techstartup.In, a digital hub wherein the entire Indian startup ecosystem, including angels, mentors, investors, academia and venture capitalists, can interact with each other to grow the cloud market," IBM GM, Cloud Ecosystem and Developers, Sandy Carter said.

Highlighting the role that the Chennai data centre can play for startups, LeBlanc said developers and startups are an integral part of India's ecosystem and key to Digital India initiative.

A study suggests that by 2018, India will have 5.2 million developers, surpassing the US, he said.

"This growth will only increase as thousands of startups are expected to establish themselves in India, generating employment opportunities. This will not only pave the way for innovative services, but will also act as a major booster for the development of the Indian economy," he added.

IBM has also launched two initiatives - Works Premium and a cloud certification programme - to enable developers with tools and skills to compete and innovate in the global marketplace.