The facility, which opened in the summer 2008 is part of a European network of Thales data centres that will benefit businesses that are looking for mission critical managed service solutions. Thales has invested more than £10m in the centre, with Yorkshire Forward supporting the development with a £1.13m selective funding award. The centre has been specially designed from the ground up to address the growing hi-tech, hi-security IT services market with a highly secure and resilient hosting environment for client's business critical applications. It is the premier facility of its kind outside of London and the South East.
"This facility means that companies in the region can protect all their sensitive data such as customer records, for example with military-grade security, but still have immediate access to it," says Justin Barratt, Managing Director of Thales' Critical Information Systems business in the UK.
As well as managing, protecting and serving data for local businesses, the centre will also be used by Thales to host its mission critical outsourcing services. Current customers include National Rail Enquiries and English Welsh and Scottish Railways (EWS). High-profile projects include the National Rail Enquiries Online Journey Planner, which is designed and run by Transeo - a strategic alliance between Thales and EWS - and now consistently attracts over one million enquiries every working day.
The managed service centre almost doubles the size of the Thales business in Doncaster and will create 120 new jobs for the Yorkshire region. In 2002, Thales UK centralised its UK telecommunications and IT operations in a brand new Task Management Centre (TMC) in Doncaster.
Peter Batley, Managing Director, UK, Thales Security Solutions & Services Division says: "The highly secure data centre, operating mission critical IT systems, will be a key success for Thales and is evidence of our continuing investment in the Doncaster area. Thales selected Doncaster because of the availability of a high-quality IT workforce in the region, and also because it offered a suitable location near to all the national transport amenities and communication infrastructures."
The data centre also incorporates a number of green technologies to reduce energy consumption. With the centre built from scratch, the specifications used include newly available technology that reduces the carbon footprint. This includes the use of a ‘free cooling technique' that conserves energy used for air conditioning. Ambient temperature from the outside is used if cooler than the air temperature inside, reducing electricity usage.
About Thales and Thales UK
Thales is a leading international electronics and systems group, addressing defence, aerospace and security markets worldwide. Thales' leading-edge technology is supported by 22,000 R&D engineers who offer a capability unmatched in Europe to develop and deploy field-proven mission-critical information systems. To this end, the group's civil and military businesses develop in parallel and share a common base of technologies to serve a single objective: the security of people, property and nations. The group builds its growth on its unique multi-domestic strategy based on trusted partnerships with national customers and market players, while leveraging its global expertise to support local technology and industrial development. Thales employs 68,000 people in 50 countries with 2007 revenues in excess of £8.3 bn.
Thales UK employs 9,000 staff based at more than 50 locations. In 2007 Thales UK's revenues were over £1.2 bn.
Press contact
Thales UK
Kathryn Bell
Mob: +44 7813 903274
kathryn.bell@thalesgroup.com
www.thalesgroup.co.uk
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