M1 launches new data centre and enhanced cloud services for SMEs

Technology upgrades aimed at powering SME growth.

M1 announced a pair of major technology upgrades that will broaden and improve their services for small and medium-sized enterpises (SMEs), namely the launching of its next-generation data centre and an enhanced suite of enterprise cloud offerings.

Located at M1’s main International Business Park office site, the purpose-built five-storey facility will be able to support more than 900 high-power density racks, triple its previous capacity. The ISO ISO27001 and ISO9001-certified facility is equipped with redundant power and cooling systems, and offers advanced fire suppression and access control measures to ensure customer peace of mind.

The state-of-the-art facility will also give the SME segment access to features such as “cold aisle” containment, as well as temperature, humidity and power utilisation sensors on all server racks, options previously available only to large corporate users. “Cold aisle” containment prevents hot exhaust and cold air for cooling from mixing and hence, improves cooling efficiency and equipment performance. In addition, M1’s new “virtual remote hand” service, accessible through a secured browser, will allow customers to conveniently manage and monitor their racks and servers on the move using a notebook computer or tablet.

The details for both were unveiled today at the company's event, Powering Future Enterprises – M1 Next-Generation Data Centre and Cloud Solutions, held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

“M1 has clearly put in a great deal of work into its new enterprise-grade data centre," said Mr Kelly Choo, Group Account Director, iSentia Brandtology.
"It is impressive to see premium features delivered as part and parcel of its standard colocation packages."

"The team has demonstrated innovative use of power and cooling technology, as well as physical infrastructure, to deliver the highest possible reliability to our hosted servers and we look forward to moving our servers into M1’s next-generation data centre,” he added.

“After evaluating several data centres, we were impressed with M1's ability to quickly create a customised colocation solution," said Mr G. Shanmugababu, General Manager, e-Commerce, Mindchamps Holdings Limited.

"Not only did we get access to ample power and excellent connectivity, the facilities are carrier grade and the staff are competent and very accommodating. The resulting colocation service is very robust and scales very well to our needs. The process of getting to where we are, has been very smooth, thanks to the can-do attitude of the M1’s enterprise team."

“The data centre offers SMEs the opportunity to outsource resource-intensive data centre operations cost-effectively to a trusted party, so they can focus on growing their business,” said Mr Willis Sim, Director, Product Development and Enterprise Services, M1.

In addition to its new data centre, M1 has announced strategic partnerships with technology vendors to enhance its cloud offerings. Together with Hitachi Data Systems (HDS), M1 will deliver a comprehensive suite of reliable and secure cloud-based infrastructure-, computing-, storage- and productivity-as-a-service offerings, to customers. M1 has also partnered Alcatel-Lucent, Aruba, E-Cop, Ransnet and Samsung to make available new cloud-based applications including unified communications, managed wired and wireless network security, and digital signage applications.

“These services will enable SMEs to tap on the power of the cloud to scale their IT needs as their business grows, flexibly and quickly,” said Mr Sim.

“Together with M1, we are excited to be launching the best in breed Cloud Services solution that will help companies achieve the flexibility to deliver on their desired business outcomes without any increase in budget,” said Mr Neville Vincent, senior vice president and general manager, Asia Pacific, HDS.

With the partnership, M1 is now part of the Hitachi Cloud Services Connection program (HCSC). This program is a public cloud offering which is built on HDS cloud infrastructure and solutions, managed by HDS and available for resale by partners.