Bankwest first customer in data centre in Perth

Fujitsu and Bankwest have announced the opening of  an environmentally sustainable data centre in Perth. The new multimillion-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 8000 m² complex provides more than 3000 m² 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% 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 Perth data centre will consume 30% less energy than standard facilities and its cooling system saves up to 80% 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%. The use of ultrasonic humidifiers also delivers further cost advantages as they require only 20% of the energy of traditional units.