Uncategorized

Telstra acquires Company85 while Canberra gets AWS Direct Connect

(c)iStock.com/MarkRubens

A couple of updates in the Australian data space this morning; Telstra has announced it has acquired Company85, a UK-based provider of data centre, cloud and network services, while Amazon Web Services (AWS) is launching a new service in Canberra through NEXTDC.

Telstra, primarily a telecoms firm, is looking at Company85 to expand its position in the UK, seeing it as ‘a key market’ for their growing technology services business, as well as help their push towards Europe. Christopher Smith, executive director of business technology services at Telstra, added Company85’s ‘market-leading approach’ for standardising and automating data centre migrations was key.

“As organisations look to digitise their business, whether it’s to expand into new markets, create new products or improve efficiency, they are increasingly seeking integrated solutions for their network, security, and cloud infrastructure, as well as advice on how to implement and manage these,” said Smith.

“Company85’s broad set of consulting capabilities will help us to differentiate our offerings in Europe,” Smith added. “We will be able to engage in IT transformation conversations with prospective customers early in the proposal stage, which we believe will help to strengthen our position and create demand for our network services in the region.”

Elsewhere, co-location provider NextDC has announced that its C1 data centre in Canberra will be the first in the Australian capital to host AWS Direct Connect, which aims to give organisations an easier access point from their premises to AWS. AWS already has three availability zones for EC2 in Sydney, with a further edge network location in Melbourne.

“The launch of the AWS Direct Connect service out of NextDC’s Canberra data centre will enable our federal and ACT Government customers to connect the hyperscale AWS Cloud and run synchronous replication across independent zones, helping to ensure government data is managed securely – with high resilience,” said Andrew Phillips, AWS Australia and New Zealand public sector country manager.

“This, in turn, will help government agencies deliver improved services to Australian citizens, who increasingly rely on digital services for their interactions with government.”