DATACENTER UNITED
Expanding on DCU ’ s organisational vision , he continues : “ Edge and Proximity have always been a part of our organisational nature , and that was a further driving force to acquire more local DCs . Transparency is not just an abstract principle at DCU , but is embedded in all aspects of our operations , whether it be in terms of our numbers , the temperatures of the centres themselves , atmospheric humidity , energy consumption and so on .”
DCU established a portal back in 2010 , allowing customers to keep an eye on all aspects of these services . Haringsma says : “ It is important for us to not be a black box , and so communication and dialogue with our customers is absolutely key to us .”
Tier IV and DCU ’ s Culture There was a myth that , in Belgium , it was impossible to achieve a Tier IV DC . “ Some journalists even said they had consulted with their experts ,” says Haringsma , “ and I said ‘ these are clearly the wrong experts ’.”
Asked about DCU ’ s Tier IV certification in relation to its culture , Harigsma says : “ If you look at the Belgium DC landscape , you see large companies are driving the business – big names with big money , and unfortunately , mainly big real estate companies who are buying and selling real estate for profits . In other words , they create value for themselves but not for the local communities .”
This insight emphasises DCU ’ s determination to balance social values with its DC business interests .
“ DCU on the other hand ,” says Haringsma , “ is a way of waving the flag and showing our customers that we can add a lot of value to the market by offering really high-quality services , with a great culture to boot .
“ Tier IV is internationally known as the highest quality DC available . The knowledge and perception of DCs is incorrect most of the time , as everybody claims to have a certain quality of DCs , with most assuming that , if it looks good , then it must be good – but if you look under the bonnet you can see that it isn ' t . You can ' t claim to be a certain quality without certification – the devil ’ s in the details .
“ So from a certain perspective , Tier IV isn ' t difficult to achieve , but in actuality , you need full certification to have credibility . Our team was instrumental in designing and building our DCs , which in turn built
172 June 2022