Fujitsu unveils new data centre

FUJITSU officially opened its new purpose-built data centre in Perth this week, with Bankwest coming on board as the first locally headquartered customer.

The 8,000 square metre, multi-million dollar complex will house 3,000sqm of highly secure tier 3 space – the second highest redundancy rating for data centres – as well as three main data halls and three smaller data halls.

A first for Fujitsu in Western Australia, the data centre meets all critical data governance and compliance requirements and adds to Fujitsu’s existing facilities in Queensland, News South Wales and Victoria.

“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,” Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand chief executive Rod Vawdrey said.

He said the data centre consumed 30 per cent less energy than standard facilities and its hybrid cooling system saved up to 80 per cent in water use.

“Fujitsu will be able to offer free cooling to clients as well as a detailed breakdown of their individual power and cooling consumption within the data centre, including conversion into greenhouse emission,” Mr Vawdrey said.

The facility is backed by a building control management system that will remotely monitor and adjust power settings throughout the complex.

Bankwest chief information officer Andy Weir told WA Business News the move into the new data centre was part of a strategy to ensure the bank would be able to leverage off current and future technologies, in addition to reducing its carbon footprint.

“A lot of data centres are 20-plus years old and, as with anything, when it’s been used for a long time it’s in need of a re-fresh and it needs to take account of growth opportunities,” Mr Weir said.

“Our data needs have increased and new technologies have come along, so we need to make sure Bankwest has the infrastructure to support that.”

He said Bankwest had made a significant investment in the data centre and would occupy 500sqm. The financial institution will migrate its critical systems from its existing two data centres to the new undisclosed location over the next 18 months.

“From our perspective, it was important for us to make sure that our reliability was assured and future proofed; and ultimately [the move] is part of a strategy that will enable us to leverage off future technologies,” Mr Weir said.