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ibm colombia

IBM Invests $5 Million to Expand Data Center in Colombia

IBM has announced that it would invest an additional $5 million to expand its data center in Bogotá, where it launched operations two years ago with an initial investment of $17 million. The announcement comes barely a week after Level 3 Communications, Inc. unveiled its data center in Cali, the nation’s third largest city.
Whether disaster strikes in the form of a natural catastrophe or power outage, companies will have no need to worry about their data stored in the center, stated IBM Colombia. The data center is currently providing security, backup, storage, continuity, and transition services to companies operating in the banking, finance, small business, healthcare, food service, and construction sectors.
According to Colombian business magazine Portafolio, over the past five years, the U.S. multinational has invested $35 million for relocation and expansion of its data centers in the Colombian capital.
IBM Colombia has three data centers in the capital, as well as at least one other location in Medellín. Its biggest and most lucrative data center is in the Celta Industrial Park, in the west of the capital.
Its 400-square-meters storage facility in Celta is still being expanded, and the company plans to add a thousand more square meters of storage area over the next six years, according to Portfolio. That could bring IBM Colombia’s overall investment to $90 million.
All of its data centers are armed with power plants, UPS, and air conditioning systems. IBM Colombia counts Nutresa, Colombina, Harina del Valle, the Manuela Beltran University, Suramericana, and Comfandi among its data center clients in Colombia. Several government agencies are also among its clients.
Last year, stated Juan Carlos Hincapie, Service Manager at IBM Colombia, told Nearshore Americas that 80 of Colombia’s 100 biggest businesses, which represent 30% of the national GDP, were using the company’s technology services,
There is a huge demand for data storage in Colombia, where the telecom industry is growing rapidly. According to the calculations of research firm Frost & Sullivan, revenue from cloud technology in Colombia reached $31.6 million in 2012 and it is expected to reach $196.5 million by 2017.
The U.S. firm is heavily investing in data infrastructure hoping that it will eventually help it offset the declines in its traditional software business. Last year, it acquired Weather Data Company that forecasts on storms, heat waves, and wind.

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Narayan Ammachchi

News Editor for Nearshore Americas, Narayan Ammachchi is a career journalist with a decade of experience in politics and international business. He works out of his base in the Indian Silicon City of Bangalore.

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