Datacenter United's transformation

In a fast-changing world, companies need to reinvent themselves regularly to cater to customers’ evolving needs. In its latest reincarnation, Datacenter United has rebranded itself to live up to the promise of its new tagline: ‘Open to Connect’. The new branding comes with a new website, chock- full of actionable information. Yet one thing remains the same: the unwavering commitment to combine operational excellence with the best possible customer experience.

Over the last few years, Datacenter United has grown organically and through the acquisitions of DCstar and Datacenter Hasselt. The rebranding centers around the core values of Datacenter United (local, connected, open, continuity) and is condensed in the new logo and the tagline ‘Open to Connect’. Datacenters are often seen as ‘black boxes’ with a monthly bill as the only glimpse of transparency. That is not the way of working at Datacenter United. The open, transparent logo consisting of building blocks stands for the modularity that typifies the broad range of services that Datacenter United offers its customers. And the tagline represents the openness that the company shows in working together with customers and partners and the connectivity that it offers at each of its eight (and nine by the end of the year) sites throughout Belgium.

Security, transparency, connectivity and a broad portfolio of services are key to Datacenter United’s key partners of Systems Integrators and Managed Services Providers and to its corporate and public sector customers. SIs and MSPs cater to the vast market of SMEs who do not want to build and maintain their own on-premises datacenter and outsource their ICT to a partner. SIs and MSPs opt for Datacenter United rather than for hyperscalers because of the proximity of these datacenters, allowing them to guarantee the data sovereignty and independence for their customers, and keep an eye on their customers’ equipment, applications and data. Thanks to the connectivity and services Datacenter United provides, SIs and MSPs can tailor their own offering to their customers’ exact needs.

Core values
The new Datacenter United brand comes with four core values that demonstrate its commitment to customers: local, connected, open, continuity.

- Local: with eight (and nine by the end of 2024) datacenters dotted across Belgium, a customer will always find a Datacenter United site within a 40-kilometer radius, making it convenient for customers to make changes to their installation. As companies are increasingly data-driven, they are becoming dependent on the availability and quality of their data. That’s something Datacenter United can guarantee thanks to its decentralized approach. Yet, despite being local, Datacenter United also offers all the international connectivity a company may need.

- Connected: Datacenter United acts as an ecosystem, connecting end users, SIs, MSPs, telecom operators, infrastructure vendors, its corporate and public sector customers and anyone active in the datacenter space. This is essential in a world where everyone is connected, regardless of location or time zones. Datacenter United offers the best of both worlds, combining its own highly competent staff with the expertise of external partners.

- Open: the openness of Datacenter United is reflected in many ways, for instance through being carrier-neutral, offering customers their choice of telecom operators to work with and avoiding vendor lock-in. Datacenter United is also very open in its pricing structure, letting customers choose between different models (long-term or short-term fixed-price contracts,variable contracts…), and alerting customers of prices going up or down as energy costs fluctuate. Customer satisfaction surveys prove this is greatly appreciated by customers.

- Continuity: data are a company’s most valuable assets, so Datacenter United goes to great lengths to ensure continuity in the services it delivers. Datacenter United is a financially stable company, thanks to its inbred cautiousness in making big investments and its solid capital base. At the same time, Datacenter United is also on top of any new technology or methodology, providing customers with the latest and greatest expertise. To guarantee continuity, Datacenter United invests in both physical and digital security. This is reflected by the fact that the company was the first datacenter provider in Belgium to receive the coveted Tier IV Constructed Facility certificate by Uptime Institute. This is the highest possible standard in the datacenter industry. It goes without saying that Datacenter United also received all other certifications that apply to the sector.

Walking the Green talk
As sustainability is high on everyone’s agenda, especially companies that need to report their ESG efforts, many datacenter facilities brag about their efforts in making their environment ‘green’. Sustainability has been part of Datacenter United’s DNA ever since its inception in 2010. For instance, the Bruges facility has been using energy from 2,500 solar panels for the last 10 years already, and the 700 solar panels in Antwerp produce over 700MWH a year. Energy needs that are not met by its own energy production are covered by purchasing green energy. Heat from the datacenters is reused in city heat networks or in warehouses of adjacent companies. Datacenter United also firmly believes in Water Usage Effectiveness. As an example, the Bruges facility has an underground water basin containing over 4 million liters of rainwater to help with cooling the datacenter. The concern for sustainability is also reflected in the layout of the datacenters, using cold corridors, and offering advice to customers about the most energy-efficient use of equipment. And, of course, having datacenters dotted throughout Belgium, customers will travel less kilometers to have access to their gear.

A bright future
With its unique position in the Belgian datacenter space thanks to the above unique selling points, Datacenter United is rightly ambitious, investing in the future thanks to its innovation and by adding new technologies. Datacenter United does not only have its own benefit in mind, but the benefit of the entire Belgian datacenter industry. That explains why Datacenter United cofounded and currently chairs the Belgian Digital Infrastructure Association. BDIA gives a voice to the industry and wants to demonstrate the economic and societal importance of the digital infrastructure towards regulators, governments and the public. Datacenter United feels confirmation of its ambitions in evolutions such as the move from on-premises server rooms to datacenters, the further digitization, the explosive growth of (Internet-of-
Things) data, Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence…

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