Norberto GaonaIBM has announced the opening of a new data center in Colombia, located in Bogota’s Siberia district. The center will offer Big Data and cloud services.
With an investment of US$17 million, this data center, which joins another already operating in Bogota, will provide security, backup, storage, continuity and transition services to many of the Colombian companies operating in the banking, finance, small business, healthcare, food service and construction sectors.
“This market, without a doubt, is very significant for IBM. The constant growth, development and internationalization of our industry provide a great opportunity for us, as we offer an extensive, integrated portfolio of services, software, hardware and consultation. These services are adaptable to the needs of the clients and aim to provide solutions that support their business strategies,” stated Juan Carlos Hincapie, Service Manager at IBM Colombia.
“This is IBM’s fourth data center in Colombia and the most advanced in Big Data and cloud services,” Hincapie told Nearshore Americas. “Its processing capacity allows the processing of information equivalent to that contained in the whole of Colombian’s medical records.”
Frost & Sullivan’s recent study, Analysis of Colombia’s Cloud Services Market, shows that Colombia is one of the countries with the largest potential to promote the use of cloud technology in Latin America. According to Frost & Sullivan’s calculations, revenue from cloud technology in Colombia was US$31.6 million in 2012 and it is expected to reach US$196.5 million by 2017.
IBM says the companies that have benefited from its cloud solutions include Nutresa, Colombina, Harina del Valle, the Manuela Beltran University, Suramericana and Comfandi.
Eighty of Colombia’s 100 biggest businesses, which represent 30% of the national GDP, are currently using IBM’s technology services, Hincapie said. IBM’s data centers also process 30% of the data from Colombia’s top 100 businesses
According to the investment promotion agency Invest in Bogota, Colombia’s capital city boasts a wealth of human capital experienced in IT services, software development, digital content and engineering, guaranteeing scalability for the companies.
Invest in Bogota’s IT Investment Promotion Officer Felipe Rojas has been closely collaborating with IBM in Colombia and has supported its expansion in the capital. “This data center will focus on national clients, many of whom are also operating in the northern region of South America, Central America and the Caribbean,” he said.
According to Juan Carlos Jimenez, Investment Promotions Manager in Bogota, Colombia is rapidly becoming Latin America’s third largest economy, after Brazil and Mexico, and is becoming ever more attractive to foreign investors. “There are many Latino companies in the information sector that are experiencing significant growth in their operations in Colombia,” Jimenez said.
Invest in Bogota states that 12 years ago, around 500 multinational businesses were operating in Colombia. This figure has now grown to 1500. “We are getting ever closer to the leading economies in this region,” Rojas concluded.
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