IT services company ASG Group believes the completion of its data centre in Bentley, coupled with recent acquisitions, provide a strong basis to compete with large international firms such as Fujitsu ad CSC.
ASG invested a total of $13.8 million in its data centre and associated cloud-computing facility, which it believes are the equal of any in Perth.
It is the latest in a string of big investments in data centres, with Fujitsu opening a data centre last year in Malaga and Perth start-up HPC Data Centres establishing a facility at Henderson.
Leighton Contractors subsidiary Metronode is currently building in Shenton Park, local firm Perth Data Centres plans a network of small facilities in the city, and national player NEXTDC has lined up a site in Malaga.
The new facilities will compete with established players such as Amcom, which recently struck a cloud-computing deal with the University of WA, based, among several factors, on its three data centres.
ASG will be offering two managed services in its data centre, with clients able to choose whether they use either their own computing equipment or ASG equipment.
Managing director Geoff Lewis said ASG had previously rented space from other providers in the market but was no longer satisfied with the available service. He expects the new facility to fill faster than originally anticipated, with the firm already having commitments for more than 80 per cent of the space.
Officially designated a ‘tier 3’ data centre, ASG has invested in features like energy efficiency, assured power supply and site security at Bentley. The company believes a notable point of difference is that its data centre will be the first in Perth to be connected to the national broadband network.
Mr Lewis said the data centre investment reflected ASG’s growing capability, which he said would allow it to chase contracts in the $100 million to $500 million band.
“We are the only Australian company going after that market aggressively,” Mr Lewis told WA Business News.
He said ASG’s scale, time in the market, and the capacity to take clients to real reference sites would all stand it in good stead.
ASG does not intend to chase large contracts by submitting cut-price tenders; instead it aims to use its consulting arm to build strategic relationships.
In the year to June 2011, ASG lifted revenue to $153 million and boosted net profit to $15.7 million. It is targeting the federal government and the resources sector for future growth.
