Sungard DC expansion to fuel jobs

Sungard Data Centre has commenced plans to expand the state's largest data centre with a second facility — Adelaide 2 (A2) — that is expected will also fuel local job opportunities and skills growth.

A2 has been identified as a stand-alone facility of approximately 8000 square metres in total area, with around 1000 square metres of office space and conference facilities, secure storage and loading bay.

It will also feature an expansive back-of-house technical infrastructure that supports raised floor data centres.

With the rapid uptake of cloud services and fast developing Internet of Things (IoT) market segments, Sungard said it forecasts exponential growth in the need for digital data centres to accommodate unprecedented compute and data storage capabilities for the future.

The company said it is already positioned to be a local hub for cloud and managed services to accommodate the co-location needs of enterprise, government, research and defence with the recent release of an additional 600 square metres of data centre floor space in its Adelaide 1 (A1) facility.

A recent major upgrade and expansion of Sungard's A1 facility saw around 200 people with specialist skills engaged over a three-year period.

Consistent with Sungard's A1 data halls, the A2 facility is expected to employ the latest technologies to gain energy efficiency, reduce environmental impact and offer the robustness, reliability and security expected of an industry-leading data centre.

“Now that our recent expansion project and release of two new data halls is out to market, I want to keep the momentum going so that we are ready to meet the future demands of our ever-growing digital economy," said Adrian Bogatez, Sungard's CEO.

“This next stage of investment in our growth will create local jobs for South Australians, facilitate trade training opportunities through contractors and utilise South Australian materials wherever possible.

“Adelaide 2 will be the largest greenfield data centre construction project SA has seen to date, and positioned to support growth in local technology innovation in all markets."

Sungard Data Centre has engaged local company MPH Architects to develop concept plans for the construction of the A2 data centre on existing vacant land.

A development application has been lodged with local council Charles Sturt for assessment.

Car parking will be expanded to accommodate the more than 200 personnel expected to eventually be housed on-site.

3D rendering of proposed expansion, courtesy of Sungard Data Centre.

Image credit (top image): iStockphoto.com/Oleksiy Mark