Transaction Establishes Wipro’s First Data Center in Europe, Strengthens IT Infrastructure Management Portfolio
Wipro Technologies, the global IT services business of Wipro Limited (NYSE:WIT) and Citibank N.A. (NYSE:C) announced that the companies have signed an agreement for Wipro to take over the operation and management of Citi’s data center in Meerbusch Germany, a suburb of Dusseldorf. In conjunction with the transaction, Wipro has taken the data center from Citi and intends to use the site to support other outsourcing clients. Citi will lease back office and data center space from Wipro for at least 30 months, and Wipro will provide Citi with facilities management and physical infrastructure management services during the period.
The Meerbusch, Germany center will be Wipro’s first data center facility in Europe and will enable the Company to offer a full portfolio of infrastructure management solutions to its global clients. Wipro expects the data center to support the delivery of its mainframe, Windows, Unix, Linux and AS/400 outsourcing services. In addition, the Company plans to extend its Dynamically Adaptive Infrastructure (DAI) cloud platform to the German data center. The expanded capabilities will enable Wipro to deliver comprehensive outsourcing solutions in Europe that can be managed remotely, delivered in the Company’s data center or installed on the Company’s cloud infrastructure.
“The addition of a data center in Europe represents an important milestone in the Company’s growth strategy,” stated Sameer Kishore, President of Wipro Infocrossing, the data center outsourcing practice of Wipro. “In 2007, Wipro acquired Infocrossing, a US-based provider of data center outsourcing solutions. The addition of the data center delivery capability enabled Wipro to compete more aggressively for large, total outsourcing engagements in the US. The Meerbusch facility will enable Wipro to extend its capabilities to the European market and strengthen the Company’s ability to compete for global outsourcing opportunities.”
The facility is comprised of approximately 9,000 square meters of total space, including approximately 1,700 square meters of raised floor. The facility meets the standards for a Tier III data center and has been owned and operated by Citi for more than 20 years. The agreement transfers ownership of the data center and operations to Wipro, and provides a period of up to 30 months for Citi to migrate its computing infrastructure out of the data center. As Citi vacates the facility, Wipro plans to make improvements to the data center and begin migrating new clients to the site.
“Wipro’s data center capabilities have become a key component when competing for large outsourcing engagements,” added Ralf Reich, General Manager & Country Head, Germany. “With the addition of the Meerbusch site, we will be able to deliver a full portfolio of mainframe, Windows and AS/400 outsourcing services from a Wipro data center in Europe, and extend our cloud computing platform to the region. This demonstrates our commitment to building localized and global delivery capabilities, and provides an important point of differentiation from our competitors,” Mr. Reich concluded.
