Mumbai: To tackle the growing work process Sify has set up its fourth data center near Mumbai. The firm has three other data centers in Vashi in Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore, with the Vashi center being the first among the four.

The creation of the data center with an investment of Rs.150 crores is mainly to capture the market for e-commerce, online banking, corporate ERP and such other applications. According to P J Nath, Executive President, Sify Enterprise Services, "Two more centers will be set in Delhi and Bangalore over the next eight quarters." He also revealed further plans of Rs.400 crores of investment in the same line as a measure to capture domestic and overseas market.

The Airoli centre is housed in a newly constructed structure spread across multiple floors built as per latest industry norms. It spreads across 100,000 sq.ft, exceeding the current data centre standards in India. Apart from hosting facilities, the data centre is also equipped with Tier III compliant cooling and power systems and advanced building management systems.It is also resistant to earthquakes.

The data center will cater to a growing demand for data center services in the commercial capital of the country. Though most of Sify's customers are large national and multinational players, SMBs are also turning into data center clients gradually. "Many of them are not aware about the advantages offered by a data center; some still think a captive data center to be a better idea and burn their fingers in the process," said Nath.