IBM Launches Its First Cloud Data Center in Italy

IBM has opened its first cloud data center in Italy as part of an ongoing global infrastructure expansion effort. Located in Cornaredo, in the Province of Milan, it provides Italian customers with a local option for hosting data and applications in the IBM cloud and a low-latency connection to the wider global platform.

The 2.8 MW data center has room for about 11,000 servers. IBM said the data center would particularly appeal to local clients in regulated industries.

Italy is an emerging cloud market with over 30 percent year-over-year growth, according to the Polytechnic University of Milan’s Observatory of Cloud and ICT as a Service. Total market spend in the country is more than $1.3 billion.

IBM has been growing its SoftLayer-powered cloud data center empire rapidly. In Europe, it recently opened new facilities in France and Germany.

It has launched data centers in Canada, Mexico, and Japan. A data center in Chennai, India, is expected to come online soon.

The company has over 40 cloud data centers worldwide, 24 of which are SoftLayer-powered. The number of SoftLayer data centers has more than doubled since IBM made its $1.2 billion commitment to investing in cloud infrastructure last year.

With data centers in many of the major markets, the company is now looking to the most promising growth markets.

“The Italian IT sector is changing as startups and enterprises alike are increasingly turning to the cloud to optimize infrastructure, lower IT costs, create new revenue streams, and spur innovation,” Marc Jones, SoftLayer CTO, said in a press release.

“The Milan data center extends the unique capabilities of our global platform by providing a fast, local on-ramp to the cloud," he said. "Customers have everything they need to quickly build out and test solutions that run the gamut from crunching Big Data to launching a mobile app globally.”