As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes, on Thursday, Vertiv opened the doors of their brand new Rugvica data centre plant worth 10 million euros. For this leading IT and telecom infrastructure provider, whose technology drives some of the world’s best data centres, this investment is a response to the increased demand for integrated modular solutions (IMS) and will deliver data centre modules throughout the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, Africa).
Vertiv pointed out that with 150 new jobs, mostly in engineering positions, the plant is set to double the capacity of data centres in the EMEA region – providing 130 percent more internal space while expanding external space by 60 percent with the possibility of further increases for future needs. In addition, it implements numerous innovations in the construction of PFM centres (prefabricated modular data centres – PFM).
The president of Vertiv in the EMEA region, Giordano Albertazzi, pointed out that today there is a lot of talk about IT trends and development technologies such as 5G, IoT and artificial intelligence (AI), but not enough about the physical infrastructure behind them.
“We see a growth trend in the implementation of PMFs that can support these new technologies, which is why as a market leader in this sector we’re investing in increasing innovation capacities that will respond to the needs of our customers and enable them to stay on top of things. The new facility supports the plans and success of our EMEA and global customers, reflecting our perseverance in investing in the markets in which we operate,” said Albertazzi.
New employment opportunities in Croatia
In addition to supporting the business in the entire EMEA region, this investment in the new Rugvica data centre plant is also an opportunity for employment in this part of Europe, but also for the development of the technology sector here in Croatia.
“The investment will position Vertiv as one of the important players in the IT industry in the region,” said Igor Grdic, a member of the Management Board of Vertiv Croatia, which separated from Emerson Network Power five years ago and became part of Vertiv.
Last year, the technology analytics organisation Omdia ranked Vertiv as one of the leading suppliers in the PFM data centre market with the second largest growth in world market share.
Their research confirmed the benefits of such a move which includes the possibility of upgrading or expanding the existing infrastructure which encourages significant growth in the implementation of PFM solutions worldwide. Vertiv’s growth, in turn, is attributed to factors such as scalability, the advantage of offsite production and integration, and the speed of implementation.
Insight into the new plant was given by Viktor Petik, Vice President for IMS Business of Vertiv in the EMEA region, emphasising that they can boast of the latest technologies, production processes, tools and testing laboratories.
“It can provide a wide range of prefabricated modular solutions, cable stations that power the Internet connecting the world, all the way to data centres according to specific customer requirements. This new Rugvica data centre plant acts as proof of our perseverance towards innovation and growth,” said Petik.
PMF data centres come in a variety of forms and have just as many different purposes, including IT-specific designs with so-called all-in-one modules for IT, power and cooling infrastructure most commonly used in educational, industrial and healthcare senses, as well as for remote and hard-to-reach locations.
The “plug and play” approach not only brings benefits to save time for start-up and commissioning within days instead of weeks or months, but is also reduces quality problems because the components are already integrated and tested out there in the field.
As a reminder, A1 is also building a new data centre in Zagreb worth 11 million euros, in which it will use technology that provides advanced cooling, power supply and security systems. They will be installed using Vertiv’s technology, and on that occasion last year, Igor Grdic explained that investments in this industry are often based on an optimistic view of future needs for technology, ie digitalisation, and that the pandemic put additional pressure on all processes involved in building data centres globally.
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