A prime asset in the London market

Q Can you provide some background on LDeX – when and why formed and its progress to date?

A LDeX was formed in 2011 to offer a quality alternative to current/ traditional London Data Centre players. Having previously established multiple Data Centre operations in Manchester under UK Grid and having exited through a successful trade sale in 2011 to Telecity Group PLC, the Senior Management Team were well placed to replicate this success under a new brand in a more diverse market with opportunities to bring a fresh approach to the current way of provisioning colocation services.

LDeX has already made a significant impact on the London retail colocation market with occupancy of LDeX1 reaching 30% in the first 15 months of going live. Plans are well under way for LDeX2 to ensure continuous supply to new and existing customers.

Q Who are the key personnel involved in the company and what strengths do they bring?

A Rob Garbutt (CEO) and Paddy Doyle (COO), the founders and driving force behind LDeX, bring significant Engineering, Technical and Operational experience and a deep understanding of Data Centres and Networks allowing the business to develop a range of services that are client-centric and technically best-of-breed. They are supported in the Senior Management Team (SMT) by Matt Edgley (Sales & Marketing Director) and Arpen Tucker (Commercial Director) who between them bring 20+ years of experience in the European Data Centre and Hosting Sector.

The combined experience of LDeX’s Senior Management Team means the business has the knowledge & understanding to meet the needs of a demanding yet thriving sector with a high level of service along with products/services that are fit for purpose.

Q The colocation market is very busy, what are the LDeX’s key
differentiators that make it stand out from the competition?

A As well as the key points mentioned about the experience of LDeX’s SMT, the business offers a number of commercial models that are more suited towards today’s on-demand elastic compute requirements, an example being the recently launched Data-Centre-as-a-Service (DCaaS ®) product which is designed to remove the cost barriers often encountered when moving to an outsourced Data Centre/Colocation environment.

LDeX is one of the only Independent Data Centre operators within the M25, that has pre-built a large capacity of fitted out space (current vacant capacity of approx. 300 racks) ready for occupation and quick deployment. Very few new entrants or existing operators have the financial strength or market knowledge to confidenty bring this level of capacity to a competitive market place.

The business took this step to prove its intentions as a credible alternative to more established players and because it believes current high quality capacity within the London retail colocation market is significantly under served and that clients lack viable choices outside the larger more established London operators who charge a significant premium to be in one of their Data Centres. LDeX offer similar specifications, connectivity options, engineering capability and support, yet are in some cases up to 50% cheaper than other players in the London market (for clarification LDeX deems the London market to be within the M25). With location still being a major consideration when selecting a Data Centre partner, LDeX is well positioned in terms of transport links, major road networks and fibre availability from a number of Tier 1 carriers, therefore being highly attractive to companies within Central London (particularly the Media Sector) and the City, for Financial organisations running high-bandwidth, ultra-low latency infrastructure.

With an on-site Satellite farm, LDeX is of the only Data Centre operators to offer immediate down-links from a number of major international Satellite Broadcast operators.

Q Your DCaaS offering seems to be a central part of your offering – can you provide more details on this and its success to date?

A LDeX developed Data-Centre-as-a-Service (DCaaS ®) because traditional colocation pricing models often mean clients pay for a significant amount of power they may never use. In a provisioned model, customers will pay a rack footprint cost and the power will be bundled in for a certain amount of committed capacity regardless of actual use. Traditionally this works in increments of 8 amps, 16 amps, 32 amps per racks etc.

This pricing model goes against what is now becoming the norm, IE compute-on-demand or pay-as-you-go for services such as Cloud servers, storage, back-up etc so in essence a trend towards Technology-as-a-service.

With DCaaS ®, LDeX still provide a client with a full 48u rack (allowing for future growth) and only charge a small low monthly fixed cost and everything else is billed relative to the amount of infrastructure being used. There is no space or power reservation fee which would be typical elsewhere.

LDeX has already placed a number of clients onto this model which has enabled them to make significant savings while they grow in-line with their own business model without unnecessary overheads. DCaaS ® is particularly suited to Service Providers or organisations building public or private cloud infrastructure because of the elasticity of these models.

Q Recently, LDeX announced a significant expansion plan at the London facility – what is the thinking behind this and how has this been received?

A The new datahall LDeX DC2A is now available plus a further
150 racks due to come online shortly have been built to service demand from a rapidly growing existing customer base as well as
a very strong new business pipeline.

The business has learnt from past experiences and failure with other operators who do not adequately plan for future growth for their existing clients and provide continuity of capacity, this may often mean clients have to look elsewhere when they come to expand meaning possible loss of the client or incremental upsell revenue.

The client may also have to take space in multiple data halls within the same facility and therefore incur prohibitive incremental charges for services such as cabling, cross-connects etc. adding to operational overheads. Feedback from LDeX’s clients has been positive with a number saying they are encouraged by the move and therefore have an extra level of confidence in the business.

Q Arpen Tucker has just joined LDeX – what does he bring to the company, in addition to your other key personnel?

A Arpen has over 14 years’ experience in the European Colocation and Hosting sector and has previously held Senior Sales/Business Development roles with Global Switch, KeyBridge Corporation, Globix, Telecity and Options Technology. He also acts as Communications Director for the Data Centre Alliance, an International Industry Association headquartered in the UK with over 200 members globally.

Arpen brings with him an extensive database of Industry and C Level contacts and deep knowledge of the colocation, cloud and hosting sectors as well a significant understanding of the Global Data Centre/Cloud landscape. His mandate is to deliver on LDeX’s growth agenda and ensure the business provides a best in class customer experience, with leading edge solutions and services that address LDeX customer’s business needs.

Q The third of your recent announcements concerned the addition of euNetworks connectivity solutions to the data centre – why is this so important?

A As a carrier-neutral Data Centre operator we rely on the diversity of available network providers to accommodate a range of market verticals. Having a carrier such as euNetworks on-net, allows LDeX to offer connectivity for clients running ultra-low latency and high bandwidth infrastructure. This is in-line with LDeX’s commitment to deliver a strong proposition and product offering to the Financial and Media sectors in particular.

Q More generally, what are the connectivity services you can offer customers?

A As a carrier-neutral collocation facility various in-house service providers enable a large number of connectivity options. Geo, Virgin, Level(3), BT, Colt and others are all available on-net and enter the facility from a number of diverse routes. Our sister company Ping Networks are one the many onsite service integrators providing everything from DSL circuits, Ethernet, and even waves.
LDeX1 is one of several major internet hubs in London, with diverse fibre routes running direct to key locations, delivering dependable high performance network capabilities with absolute minimal latency.
The LDeX1 data centre delivers a network independent, carrier neutral ecosystem boasting a range of Tier I and Tier II network providers and direct access to a number of leading Internet Exchange points, Cloud Hubs, IP Transit and Bandwidth providers, Content Delivery Networks and Metro & Long Reach Ethernet circuit providers.

Our buildings have multiple diverse entry points and a large number of independent incoming fibre ducts ensuring complete diversity of fibre coming to the dedicated meet me rooms from the leading providers in the UK.These allows LDeX to deliver a full range of services right up to Layer 3 with bandwidth capacities up to 100gig.

Q Specifically, what are the advantages of having Ping Networks as a sister company?

A In order to hit the market with the most credible proposition the owners of LDeX decided to team up with Ping Networks because of their vast experience of building ISP and Enterprise networks. Ping is not only an ISP and network operator in its own right, owning a 10Gbps metro network across the UK, but also manages some other significant ISP third party networks. Where LDEX provide best-of-breed colocation, Ping provide the whole ISP wrap around. Ping’s raison d’être is connectivity – from simple DSL circuits to 10Gbps fully resilient MPLS networks.

Ping’s IP Transit products not only provide cost effective Tier 1 access to the likes of Level(3) and NTT, but they are also connected to a vast array of peering exchanges including LINX, ManIX, AMS-IX, France-IX (to name a few) – all of which provide an extremely slick and professional product. Whilst LdeX is carrier-neutral, having Ping on board means we can be sure our customers have in-depth network expertise resident on site, backed by a professionals 24x7 Network Operation Centre.

Q The actual location of the LDeX data centre – a strategic decision or a lucky coincidence? In other words, how important is your location to the success of the company?

A LDeX 1 was very much a strategic move by the business to acquire a site with immediate availability of power, fibre and security allowing the business a quick time to market after a period of redevelopment. A significant investment brought the facility up to the standards required to deliver a best-in-class service.

Q And are you actively seeking an LDeX 2 site right now – what are your expansion plans in general?

A LDeX have already identified a site in close proximity to LDeX 1 in order to execute a strategy to build a large scale (approx. 1000 racks) Data Centre campus in NW London which will allow the business and its clients adequate capacity for the next 3-5 years.

Q With only one site, how is LDeX able to offer customers the reassurance of disaster recovery/resiliency?

A LDeX have a number of strategic relationships with established and trusted operators throughout Europe. These partners are carefully selected to match the quality of service and ethos of LDeX and are connected to the LDeX Data Centre via multiple 10gig waves and/or fibre where appropriate, to allow fast deployment of infrastructure in multiple locations for primary and secondary operations

Q What are the key industry sectors that LDeX is targeting?
A LDeX have significant knowledge and experience of working with and meeting the expectations of companies in the Telecoms, Media, Technology, Financial and Retail sectors. LDeX can meet the needs of any vertical reliant on management of critical infrastructure within a specialist secure environment and various market segments from SMB to Enterprise and Public Sector. LDeX is committed to best-practice and operational excellence and is ISO27001, 50001 and 9001 accredited.

Q Specifically, you seem to have had a great deal of success in the content/media industry – why is this, and are you able to give a brief example of a customer from this sector?

A The content/media sector is growing rapidly as are their demands of IT infrastructure, electrical power, data storage and network usage. In particular, streaming content providers are becoming very heavy users of data centre services as their clients and users demand high quality content is delivered quickly, reliably and in real time to a wide range of fixed and portable devices.

LDeX have enjoyed huge success in this sector. Our substantial onsite satellite farm offers immediate downlinks from a wide range of broadcast satellites with a strong signal footprint. By locating server equipment within LDeX, streaming providers can immediately receive managed signals direct to their equipment from multiple satellites where they can manipulate the streams and distribute worldwide by utilising the wide range of CDN, fibre & network providers that are instantly available within the data centre.

For international streaming providers, LDeX offers satellites that may not necessarily provide footprints within the providers’ native country and so locating equipment within our data centre offers them the opportunity to expand their own capabilities and service portfolio.

Immediate and diverse availability of fibre coming into the building allows for huge traffic distribution capacity as required by high definition content and vast numbers of simultaneous viewers/users of this content.

Q Is it safe to assume that, being London-based, LDeX is keen to make progress in the financial sector?

A The financial sector is one that increasingly relies on Technology to drive efficiency, liquidity, competitive advantage and meet regulatory obligations. These pressures put immense demands on such organisations to increase business agility, by creating more affordable, flexible and scalable IT environments.

Delivering the required scalability in-house would require significant up-front and on-going OPEX in non-core competencies. LDeX data centres offer a highly secure alternative for Financial Organisations to host infrastructure and data in a state-of-the-art facility at the heart of financial markets across Europe. High performance and reliability is paramount and LDeX can offer this as well as low-latency, high-speed connectivity and a well-managed, resilient and secure environment that’s underpinned by stringent SLAs. All this means LDeX is well placed to be a strong and long- term partner for financial organisations and much of LDeX’s vertical focus is geared towards delivering best-of-breed services for this important sector.

Q Cloud/managed services is another key market – has LDeX been successful here as well?

A LDeX have built a facility that is heavily geared towards assisting Service Providers to deliver their solutions and applications from a best-in class Data Centre delivering carrier-neutral and diverse network connectivity as well a neutral platform with a non-compete approach. LDeX do not offer any Cloud/Managed services other than basic remote hands etc. This is attractive to the Service Provider sector as they can position their products and services as an end-to-end solution and remain in control of the relationship of the end-user without having to worry that the incumbent operator may offer competitive services to their clients.

Q The colo solutions you offer – just how flexible are they?

A As well as our Data-Centre-as-Service (DCaaS ®) offering, LDeX can provide anything from a ¼ rack with low power commit up to dedicated private rooms and cages with higher power densities. LDeX offer a bespoke service to client requirements and have a fresh outlook on working with clients to deliver a long-term partnership that offers flexible contracts to meet the needs of individual customers.

Q Can you give some details of your data centre facilities spec, in terms of the power offering/resiliency, environmental approach etc.?

A Our on-site, private substation is fed diversely, so we’re not relying on a single mains supply to power the data centre. Both feeds come from different primary upstream substations and deliver power into the facility on diverse routes.

Electrical distribution from our energy centre to client racks is completely diverse. A+B 32Amp rated circuits are standard with a minimum of 2N UPS power protection – LDeX can supply up to 2(n+1). Rack power is reserved on two independent UPS strings in the energy centre for total power availability insurance.
Behind the UPS systems equipment is backed up by generator power with a minimum of 7 days fuel supply on-site and a 24/7/365 refuelling contract in place to make sure LDeX never run out.

The site is protected by a 2.5 metre fence with a virtual trip wire system with CCTV which is remotely monitored. Within the facility NET2 is used for access control and then a second skin facial recognition system provides access to the individual data halls. The site is also manned 24 x 7 x 365 by trained operatives who deal with customer service support and carry out pro-active monitoring of the M&E plant within the facility.

From January 2013, LDeX switched electricity supply to use only 100% renewable energy sources. This, together with other initiatives, means that all LDeX and client equipment within LDeX London data centre facilities is now powered by renewable energy and we now provide carbon neutral colocation solutions to clients – helping them to reach environmental impact targets. ISO50001 is a recently introduced international standard. It requires organisations to establish and maintain the required processes and systems to enable the continual improvement of energy performance – which includes energy consumption, efficiency and awareness. The implementation of the standard is expected to play a major role in the reduction of energy consumption as well as CO2 emissions, and to deliver various other environmental and economic benefits.

LDeX are one of a very small number of independent colocation operators to have achieved and to adhere to this standard. It is hugely important for us to minimise impact on our environment and we do so via a number of routes, including Cold Aisle Containment (CAC) rack layouts, maximum efficiency cooling solutions with a green energy focus and the implementation of highly efficient UPS systems running at near unity power factor.

Direct heat flow channeling technology ensures heat is managed effectively, maximising the efficiency and effectiveness of our cooling infrastructure. These technologies have enabled us to target a PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) of ~1.3 for our data centres, which helps the environment and reduces CO2 and emissions and heat generation and minimises energy wastage. LDeX are members of the EU Code
Crucially, neither LDeX or our clients are paying for power inefficiencies due to bad operational practice or environmentally irresponsible procurement policies.

Q How does the LDeX partner scheme work?

A Relationships are key to everything we do at LDeX. Due to our neutrality and non-compete focus, we naturally enjoy partnerships with many clients from the IT service industries that are looking for a high quality platform from which to deliver their value. The LDeX data centre platform provides a completely neutral environment for clients to deliver their services without continued concerns over competition from their own supplier for new or current business. We do not diversify from colocation into the cloud, managed services, application or virtualisation arenas – as that’s what our Partners do.

We run lead and customer registration schemes to halt conflict before it has chance to arise. And work very closely with Partners to maximise the potential to acquire new business. Our Partner pricing levels and referral commissions offer high quality colocation at a more than reasonable price, enabling margin, differentiation and profit potential. Prices don’t increase year on year for no apparent reason and our pricing models are clear enough for Partners and resellers to budget effectively – for the long term.

Q How has it been received so far?

A LDeX have had a great deal of success with this model and business through Channel Partners represents around 50% of all new business. LDeX are looking to develop the partner model to offer further levels of support for partners through joint product development, joint marketing and joint events etc.

Q Moving away from LDeX itself, are you a ‘glass half full or half empty’ company when it comes to the issues surrounding data centre power availability into the future?

A LDeX come from a glass half full ethos, as the UK Government start to understand and offer support for the Industry, something which is starting to happen with the work of organisations like the Data Centre Alliance, LDeX are confident enough capacity along with newer Energy generation methods and technologies that start to become commercially viable, will safeguard the future of the Industry. LDeX is actively working with its Energy suppliers to future proof power capacity

Q What other issues do you see as likely to have an impact on the data centre market – whether in the UK specifically, or globally?

A Being quite specific, any geo political or economic uncertainty or major turmoil would have a significant impact on Data Centre take-up. Looking back to the credit crunch in 2008 demand dropped off dramatically and it is only just now countries like the UK are starting to see the green shoots of recovery. Even a small event could impact on an already fragile market.

Data Centre operators have to position themselves to be agile and lean enough to adapt to any changes affecting the general Financial climate, as Operators who are heavily geared or carry significant debt may not survive in such an environment.

When making decisions to choose a Data Centre operator such financial due diligence is paramount. LDeX carries no significant debt and is privately owned and therefore well positioned to deal with market sentiment and fluctuations in the wider economy/market

Q Any final thoughts?

A With a number of new entrants and speculative developments in the UK Data Centre market in the last 3-5 years one would be led to believe there is a danger of over -supply in the London market. It is only now becoming evident that the number of “real” schemes and tangible/credible Data Centre projects in the retail colocation sector are few and far between and therefore LDeX is confident that it’s development of LDeX 1 is a prime asset in the current market.