Kathy Gibson reports – Open Access Data Centres (OADC), part of the WIOCC group of companies, has acquired seven South African data centres from NTT Data.
The data centres, in Bryanston, Parklands, Cape Town, Umhlanga, Bloemfontein, Gqeberha and East London, were part of the Internet Solutions infrastructure.
The agreement does not affect NTT Data’s Global Data Centre (GDC), Johannesburg 1, which is part of the group’s global data centre operation and not part of the previous Internet Solutions assets.
Under a six-year agreement, NTT Data will lease the facilities back from OADC, and will continue to provide client services from these facilities.
“NTT Data’s local strategy is to streamline its portfolio by divesting non-core, asset-heavy operations and sharpening its focus on integrated technology and managed colocation services,” says Martin Springer, senior director: infrastructure solutions for NTT Data in South Africa.
“For NTT Data clients, this transition is designed to be seamless. Services will continue without disruption and client engagement channels remain unchanged.”
In terms of the agreement, OADC will take over all operations within the centres, as well as ongoing maintenance and upgrades.
Joshua Smythwood, WIOCC group chief strategy and mergers & acquisitions officer, comments: “This acquisition is a clear step in WIOCC group’s wider pan-Africa digital infrastructure strategy of expanding its data centre and connectivity business and specifically in OADC’s commitment to expand high-quality, carrier-neutral data centre infrastructure in South Africa.
“By assuming ownership and day-to-day operations of these facilities, we enable NTT Data South Africa to sharpen its focus on client delivery, while OADC ensures resilient, scalable and future-ready data centre operations.”
Smythwood adds that WIOCC’s strategy is to provide both connectivity and open access platforms to African businesses.
“Africa is digitising at an extraordinary speed, and technologies like AI are redefining how businesses and goverments operate,” he says. “Behind over digital transformation is resilient, highly-interconnected and accessible infrastructure.”
He points out that WIOCC has traditionally focused on networking, connecting Africa to the world. “As the market evolves so must we. The next phase is interconnection with digital platforms to enable innovation at scale.
“Open access data centres are at the centre of this strategy.”