Rackspace opens Australian Data Centre
MELBOURNE – AUSTRALIA, 23 August, 2012 – Rackspace® Hosting (NYSE: RAX), yesterday announced the launch of its first Australian data centre, located at Erskine Park in Western Sydney. At a lunch held for selected customers and friends of Rackspace in Melbourne today Jim Fagan, Managing Director Asia Pacific and Mark Randall, Country Manager Australia introduced the new data centre.
The Australian IT Investment Opens Doors to Enterprise, Financial Markets and Government and Strengthens Commitment To Local IT Industry
The new multi-million dollar investment will support the company’s ongoing growth in Australia. Rackspace can now offer local dedicated hosting and managed virtualisation solutions to larger IT contracts looking to deploy enterprise grade private cloud solutions based on VMWare from enterprise, financial markets and government, or any other customer who prefers to keep their data onshore. The data centre also provides the perfect launch pad for Rackspace’s own, OpenStack-based Open Cloud platform, expected to launch into the local market.
Since entering the Australian and New Zealand markets in 2009, Rackspace has experienced a significant increase in local customer numbers. Mark Randall, Country Manager of Rackspace, Australia and New Zealand said: “Our local customers have learnt that Rackspace is synonymous with the latest in innovative cloud hosting solutions, but the key success driver that really sets us apart from the competition is our focus on service by providing customers with Fanatical Support®.”
Rackspace has its own global benchmark for tailored customer support levels. Its hallmark customer service experience called Fanatical Support®, provides personalised service 24x7x365 and has won the company numerous customer service awards. “Australian customers love our support. It really has set us apart in an industry otherwise dominated by telcos, with support models that leave a lot to be desired,” Randall continued.
The investment will eliminate any doubt about Rackspace’s ongoing commitment to the local market and its Australian customer base, which includes: News Ltd, Webjet, Pacific Brands, Kogan, Lonely Planet, and Treasury Wine Estates.
The Australian data centre adds to its international data centre footprint, which includes existing facilities in Dallas, Chicago, Virginia, London, and Hong Kong. Since the company launched in 1998 Rackspace has grown its global base to over 190,000 customers and currently hosts more than 60 per cent of the Fortune 100 companies.
Jim Fagan, Managing Director of Rackspace, Asia Pacific said: “Delivering Fanatical Support and our services portfolio to our Australian customers is our top priority. As global expansion increasingly becomes part of many Australian businesses’ immediate growth plans, when choosing Rackspace they know they can grow effortlessly with us thanks to our global presence.”
In response to customer requests, Rackspace has recently begun offering customers agreements under New South Wales law, which are compliant with Australia’s National Privacy Principals. This arrangement will be extended to customers hosting at the Sydney data centre.
Alan Schoenbaum, General Counsel of Rackspace said: “Rackspace will not transfer customer owned data from our Australia data centre to a law enforcement agency of another country (including the United States) without a customer’s consent unless it is compelled to do so by Australian law. Data hosted in Australia by Rackspace is subject to the same laws as cloud services operated by wholly owned Australian companies.”
The Australian data centre is built according to Rackspace’s high global standards and the local agreement was negotiated with global partner Digital Realty. It’s currently in the late stages of construction and the first customers are expected to go live in late 2012. To ensure it’s operated in the same manner as other Rackspace data centres, it includes security certifications upon launch for UTI Tier III Design and Construction, with certifications planned for SSAE16, ISO 27001, ISO 14001, PCI, and ASIO Intruder Resistant once fully operational.
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