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EA Data in global certification after Sh500m outlay

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East Africa Data Centre (EADC) Dan Kwach. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Nairobi-based East Africa Data Centre (EADC) has been certified as a tier-three data centre on investing Sh500 million to setting up a power substation within its facility.

EADC general manager Dan Kwach said activation of the new substation now guarantees clients round the clock operation, enabling servers to operate at optimum capacity without the risk of breakdowns associated with lack of power to cool the servers.

“What we are announcing today is our readiness to host public cloud services. There has been a presumption that Africa does not have industry-standard data centres. We are telling the market that Kenya is ready to host these content service providers,” said Mr Kwach.

EADC said multinationals with operations across Africa can now rely on the facility which also hosts servers for IT giants Google and Facebook, the Kenya Internet Exchange Point (KIXP), as well as a large volume of banking and commercial servers.

Multinationals with global operations rely on Uptime Institute Professional Services to rate and certify data facilities, constructed facilities and ongoing operations against its classification system and sustainability.

Seattle-based Uptime Institute is the only company in the world licensed to deliver stamps of assurance on data site management and processes.

The certification was handed to EADC by Uptime Institute President Lee Kirby who said EADC, the first company to get the certification in East and Central Africa, had shown commitment to secure data and provision of 24-hour power backup for servers.

The new investment has substantially reduced its use of diesel-powered generators blamed for emitting carbon fumes.