NEXTDC debuts as National Datacentre Provider
Announcement posted by NEXTDC Pty Ltd 24 May 2010
PIPE Founder Invests $20m into his 'Next' Venture
Bevan Slattery, recognised as one of Australia’s most successful Information Technology and
Internet Entrepreneurs, today announced the launch of his latest venture and Australia’s newest
carrier and systems integrator neutral national data centre provider NEXTDC.
“I am delighted to announce the launch of NEXTDC and bring to the market my vision of
building Australia’s smartest, most secured, scalable and energy efficient data centres”, said Mr
Slattery, Founder of NEXTDC.
“We will deliver leading edge data centres that are purpose built facilities with full concrete
construction. These data centres will deploy some of the smartest technologies designed to
empower our customers and also reduce their carbon footprint. Not to put too fine a point on it,
our data centres will be all concrete bunkers, with very smart brains and a green heart. That is
our mission”, he said.
Australia and New Zealand data centre industry analysts are continuing to forecast strong
demand for specialist data centre capacity with particular interest in carrier and systems
integrator neutral, densely powered and yet energy efficient data centres, particularly in markets
traditionally considered to be secondary, such as Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Auckland.
However, due to significant upfront capital investment requirement in building data centres,
challenges in retro-fitting existing facilities and difficulty in obtaining finance for commercial
properties has resulted in a lack of investment or an investment in sub-standard facilities in
these markets to date.
“NEXTDC intends to change the landscape of data centre market in Australia by offering high
quality and environmental friendly data centres”, Mr Slattery added.
NEXTDC has already commenced the acquisition of properties in Melbourne and Brisbane.
Each property has been selected for its convenient location, proximity to CBD, access to power
and telecommunications services, and most importantly large enough to allow for future
expansion of the initial facility to create a data centre campus over time as demand increases.
The initial facility in each city is expected to provide at least 2,000sqm of technical space and be
able to be expanded to between 5,000sqm and 10,000sqm over the period.
“I believe there has been no better time to invest in premium data centres than now. With the
unprecedented growth in internet traffic, data consumption and storage throughout the world
combined with the incredible demand for power and cooling, legacy data centres cannot cope
with the requirements nor deliver the energy efficiency benefits that a purpose built greenfield
data centre can”, Mr Slattery added.
NEXTDC will be able to deliver some of the highest power densities per metre in the Australian
data centre market as well as offer flexible dedicated data suites of between 50sqm and
2,000sqm.
Brisbane and Melbourne facilities are expected to be operational in just over twelve months time
with initial projects already being fully funded by Mr Slattery. NEXTDC’s product and service
offerings will be available to its customers in the next 6-8 weeks.
“I am excited to launch NEXTDC which will revolutionise the Australian data centre market and
deliver significant benefits to our customers”, said Mr Slattery.
Further details will be made available over the next few weeks at www.nextdc.com .
ENDS
For more information:
Bevan Slattery
M: +61 412 631 040
E: info@nextdc.com
About Bevan Slattery
Mr Bevan Slattery is the Non Executive Director and founder of NEXTDC Pty Ltd. He comes
from a background in building successful Australian IT and telecommunication companies and
an earlier career in administration in local and state government.
Prior to joining NEXTDC, Mr Slattery was co-founder and Director of PIPE Networks Ltd and
iSeek Ltd. PIPE Networks Ltd is one of Australia’s leading telecommunications infrastructure
providers and is the second most successful IPO outside the resources sector amongst the
companies that were listed in the past decade. PIPE delivered a 1,575% return on investment
from its IPO issue price in May 2005 before it was sold to TPG Telecom Ltd (TPG) for $373m in
March 2010.
Mr Slattery was awarded “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” in the Northern Region finals of the
2006 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards. In August 2009, Mr Slattery was
awarded the ACOMM Australian Telecommunications Ambassador of the Year Award in
recognition of his contribution as a visionary in the Telecommunications industry and his
personal quest to advance Australia’s access to technology and promote progress in the
Telecommunications market. In March 2010, Mr Slattery was also awarded the ATUG’s
Charles Todd Medal for his contribution to the Australian Telecommunications marketplace
including the construction of the A$200M PPC-1 submarine cable system connecting Sydney to
Guam.
Internet Entrepreneurs, today announced the launch of his latest venture and Australia’s newest
carrier and systems integrator neutral national data centre provider NEXTDC.
“I am delighted to announce the launch of NEXTDC and bring to the market my vision of
building Australia’s smartest, most secured, scalable and energy efficient data centres”, said Mr
Slattery, Founder of NEXTDC.
“We will deliver leading edge data centres that are purpose built facilities with full concrete
construction. These data centres will deploy some of the smartest technologies designed to
empower our customers and also reduce their carbon footprint. Not to put too fine a point on it,
our data centres will be all concrete bunkers, with very smart brains and a green heart. That is
our mission”, he said.
Australia and New Zealand data centre industry analysts are continuing to forecast strong
demand for specialist data centre capacity with particular interest in carrier and systems
integrator neutral, densely powered and yet energy efficient data centres, particularly in markets
traditionally considered to be secondary, such as Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Auckland.
However, due to significant upfront capital investment requirement in building data centres,
challenges in retro-fitting existing facilities and difficulty in obtaining finance for commercial
properties has resulted in a lack of investment or an investment in sub-standard facilities in
these markets to date.
“NEXTDC intends to change the landscape of data centre market in Australia by offering high
quality and environmental friendly data centres”, Mr Slattery added.
NEXTDC has already commenced the acquisition of properties in Melbourne and Brisbane.
Each property has been selected for its convenient location, proximity to CBD, access to power
and telecommunications services, and most importantly large enough to allow for future
expansion of the initial facility to create a data centre campus over time as demand increases.
The initial facility in each city is expected to provide at least 2,000sqm of technical space and be
able to be expanded to between 5,000sqm and 10,000sqm over the period.
“I believe there has been no better time to invest in premium data centres than now. With the
unprecedented growth in internet traffic, data consumption and storage throughout the world
combined with the incredible demand for power and cooling, legacy data centres cannot cope
with the requirements nor deliver the energy efficiency benefits that a purpose built greenfield
data centre can”, Mr Slattery added.
NEXTDC will be able to deliver some of the highest power densities per metre in the Australian
data centre market as well as offer flexible dedicated data suites of between 50sqm and
2,000sqm.
Brisbane and Melbourne facilities are expected to be operational in just over twelve months time
with initial projects already being fully funded by Mr Slattery. NEXTDC’s product and service
offerings will be available to its customers in the next 6-8 weeks.
“I am excited to launch NEXTDC which will revolutionise the Australian data centre market and
deliver significant benefits to our customers”, said Mr Slattery.
Further details will be made available over the next few weeks at www.nextdc.com .
ENDS
For more information:
Bevan Slattery
M: +61 412 631 040
E: info@nextdc.com
About Bevan Slattery
Mr Bevan Slattery is the Non Executive Director and founder of NEXTDC Pty Ltd. He comes
from a background in building successful Australian IT and telecommunication companies and
an earlier career in administration in local and state government.
Prior to joining NEXTDC, Mr Slattery was co-founder and Director of PIPE Networks Ltd and
iSeek Ltd. PIPE Networks Ltd is one of Australia’s leading telecommunications infrastructure
providers and is the second most successful IPO outside the resources sector amongst the
companies that were listed in the past decade. PIPE delivered a 1,575% return on investment
from its IPO issue price in May 2005 before it was sold to TPG Telecom Ltd (TPG) for $373m in
March 2010.
Mr Slattery was awarded “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” in the Northern Region finals of the
2006 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards. In August 2009, Mr Slattery was
awarded the ACOMM Australian Telecommunications Ambassador of the Year Award in
recognition of his contribution as a visionary in the Telecommunications industry and his
personal quest to advance Australia’s access to technology and promote progress in the
Telecommunications market. In March 2010, Mr Slattery was also awarded the ATUG’s
Charles Todd Medal for his contribution to the Australian Telecommunications marketplace
including the construction of the A$200M PPC-1 submarine cable system connecting Sydney to
Guam.