Perth, November 24, 2010
Fujitsu, together with Bankwest, announced the official opening of Australia’s most advanced, environmentally sustainable data centre in Perth. The new multi-million dollar Fujitsu Perth Data Centre will service the booming West Australian market and allow Fujitsu to target growing cloud solution opportunities in Asia.
Andy Weir, Chief Information Officer of Bankwest said: “This data centre will enable Bankwest to continue to develop and refine new and innovative ways of banking that will benefit our million-plus customers across Australia. It also allows us to progress consolidating and migrating our critical systems into the new facility over the next 12-18 months."
“It is a very significant investment and underlines our continued commitment to the Western Australian community and will ensure we continue to meet all our customer and regulatory requirements for security and privacy.”
“It will also enable us to reduce our carbon footprint.”
The 8,000m² complex provides more than 3,000m² of Tier III, highly secure raised floor space; three main data halls suitable for cabinet and cage installations; and three smaller data halls to be customised for companies requiring dedicated private suites.
Offering savings of approximately 20 percent on in-house operational data centre costs, the Perth facility is backed by sophisticated building control management systems that remotely monitor and adjust power settings throughout the complex. It incorporates biometric and other security technologies to deliver maximum efficiency and superior data integrity and resilience. The facility also features sophisticated metering capabilities to support client compliance with energy legislation.
The Fujitsu Perth Data Centre already boasts one month’s successful operation and the securing of leading financial institution, Bankwest, as one of the first major WA headquartered corporations to take advantage of the new locally-based facility.
The opening of the new data centre was officially marked yesterday at a traditional sake ceremony attended by visiting senior Fujitsu executive Mr Kazuo Ishida, Corporate Senior Executive Vice President in charge of the Fujitsu Group’s ICT services business; CEO of Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand, Mr Rod Vawdrey; and VIP customers, Bankwest Managing Director Mr Jon Sutton and Bankwest CIO Mr Andy Weir.
With the completion of this latest facility, Rod Vawdrey, Chief Executive Officer of Fujitsu in Australia and New Zealand, said: “Fujitsu has set a new level for Australian data centre design, construction and management. This significant investment in world class data centre infrastructure also supports our positioning as an environmentally responsible partner by extending our leadership in sustainable technology,” he said.
Purpose Built for WA - Innovation Delivers Cost Savings
The Perth data centre will consume 30 percent less energy than standard facilities and its cooling system saves up to 80 percent in water use.
The advanced design features of the new complex incorporate a hybrid cooling system which allows Fujitsu to offer free cooling as an option for customers over approximately eight months of the year. This can potentially decrease the cooling load by up to 50 percent. The use of ultrasonic humidifiers also delivers further cost advantages as they require only 20 percent of the energy of traditional units.
Fujitsu’s environmental accounting service provides a detailed breakdown on each client’s power and cooling consumption within the data centre, including conversion into greenhouse emission, to enable them to report their usage under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007.
Data sovereignty
The establishment of the Tier III Fujitsu Perth Data Centre meets all critical data governance and compliance requirements.
Many cloud service providers are only able to offer data centres services from facilities located either outside Western Australia or internationally. This is a significant concern for many potential cloud customers, particularly government and financial organisations, as some data types cannot be legally stored outside the State, as they then fall under the legal jurisdiction of interstate or foreign governments.
Building Its Data Centre Portfolio
Fujitsu’s primary Australian data centres, consisting of a total floor space of more than 15,000 m², are located in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia.
Further Tier III data centres, currently under construction in Western Sydney and Melbourne, will further extend Fujitsu’s capabilities in the areas of energy efficiency, security, resilience, data integrity and return on investment.
Fujitsu Sets the Standards for Environmental Sustainability
Fujitsu has actively applied and promoted environmental principles for more than 15 years, since the introduction of its Environmental Protection Program in 1993, and has been recognised as a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index since its inception in 1999.
Fujitsu’s involvement in The Green Grid, a global consortium working to improve energy efficiency in data centre and business computing ecosystems, provides valuable insights are applied in the development of all data centre facilities and the delivery of superior ROI for clients while minimising the environmental impact.
In Australia, Fujitsu aims to save its customers over a quarter of a million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions by 2012 from its outsourced data centre operations.