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provider . VIRTUS now operates 11 of London ’ s leading facilities , providing over 200MW of IT load space to customers in and around London and globally .
When the company first launched , VIRTUS was a challenger brand with a refreshing business model and ethos , enabling it to be a far more flexible and customer-friendly data centre provider than the existing corporate providers .
This caused disruption in the market at a time when businesses , especially the global cloud hyperscalers , were in need of high-quality , well-connected , large , flexible data centre space in the London area at massive scale . Working with a flexible trusted partner as part of their delivery chain was key to their success . We were one of the pioneers of this type of service back then . VIRTUS , with its new approach and business model , quickly established itself as a valuable IT partner – not just a colocation provider .
What are some of the key challenges for data centre operators today ?
Safety is always our number one concern and that has been heightened during the pandemic : safety of our staff , customers and partners . As an organisation , we are very risk-averse and being ready to deal with anything that could go wrong 24 / 7 is in our DNA .
Some other challenges for data centre operators today include improving sustainability . Large efficient data centres like ours are the most effective way of providing for modern computing ’ s massive demands , and improving this efficiency has been very important to VIRTUS since day one . It ’ s no coincidence that back in 2011 we chose the colour green for our brand . Since then , we have been a leader in EMEA in performance and efficiency ; we were the first to deploy technologies like independent fresh air cooling in 2014 and the first to commit to 100 % renewable energy sources five years ago .
Data centres are already far more energy efficient in comparison to previous models of computing . One of the most efficient ways to deliver a unit of computing ( energy per compute unit ) is to put it in a large , modern , advanced data centre on a cloud platform . Developments in power and cooling have also enabled greater data centre efficiency , and today ’ s data centre providers are at the forefront of deploying some of the most sustainable buildings globally . Some data centres , including VIRTUS , are already committed to using 100 % carbon-zero energy – powering the sites solely via wind , solar and tidal energy sources . We appreciate that as customers grow globally , pushing up their data centre space requirements , the industry is both duty-bound and regulated ( the EU Commission set a ‘ green deadline ’, noting that the industry ‘ should become climate neutral by 2030 ’) to lead innovations in
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