3i Infotech has launched its first International Data Centre (IDC) which will offer managed hosting services for application and disaster recovery solutions.

The centre, based in Chennai, India, will target the managed services market - which is expected to reach $41.5 billion by 2009, according to a global study conducted by Ovum, an analyst and consulting company.

Additionally, 3i Infotech has introduced its Remote IT Infrastructure Management Services through its Global Network and Security Operations Center (GNSOC). The company is also setting up mini centres of excellence (COEs) for Operating Systems: Microsoft, Red Hat Linux,  AIX, Solaris, Databases : Oracle, MS SQL, MySQL, DB2, Messaging Solutions and  IT Security Labs for Ethical Hacking and Vulnerability Assessments and niche Application Infrastructure solutions, said an official spokesman.

“3i Infotech today offers an unparalleled range of products across the insurance, banking and financial services, manufacturing and distribution landscape and we will continue to expand and deepen our product portfolio across the verticals we are focused on,” said deputy managing director, 3i Infotech, Hari Padmanabhan.

“Customers in this space, however, are looking at scaling up their business at lower implementation costs. The challenge for CEOs therefore, is to be able to relate cost to revenue. With our International Data Centre we will be able to step up our customer services and provide them a single point business execution outsourcing solution,” he added.

The centre will provide secure data centre hosting facilities for its clientele. The GNSOC will provide customers Remote IT Infrastructure Monitoring and Management Services with a 24/7 IT helpdesk. The remote infrastructure set up is spread across an area of 3,000 sq ft.

“With our domain specific products positioned as the core IT solution, infrastructure being managed by us, hosted applications provided out of our data centre and linked to our back-end BPO services, the business manager can get a single point variable cost solution on service levels not available elsewhere,” added Padmanabhan.

3i Infotech is able to provide its customers not just with data centre hosting services but also the ability to manage a company’s IT infrastructure remotely and anywhere in the world – a facility considered the next wave in managed services.

Increasing pressures for regulatory compliance, growing need for technology standardisation and booming communication infrastructure are some of the factors driving the remote infrastructure services.

The IDC, GNSOC and COEs will be spread over an area of 25,000 sq ft. Out of this, the IDC, which conforms to the Tier III International Data Standard, will occupy an area of 6000 sq ft, with all access controls, CCTV, UPS, Precision AC along with Rack and cage facility.

3i Infotech has a major presence in the managed services sector with clients including NCDEX, IL&FS and Star Health Insurance to its credit. Although there are several players in managed services, 3i Infotech has a distinct advantage in the banking, financial services and insurance space with a strong legacy, deep domain expertise and proven track record.

Given the country’s boom in telephony services, telecom companies too are most likely to benefit from 3i Infotech’s world-class services. – TradeArabia News Service