"Drum roll please: the doors are open on IBM and SoftLayer's $1.2 Billion effort to broaden their cloud reach with a new datacenter in Toronto. We've been following this story closely as IBM / SoftLayer seemed to lag behind in the datacenter race (a brilliant tactic as the company is now one of the leaders in the datacenter world, by strategically and methodically putting datacenters in key places like Hong Kong, London and now Toronto, and truly keeping in mind the global need for datacenters.)
The CN Tower Dominates Toronto's Beautiful Waterfront Tech Hub
So what makes this data center pairing so special? Quite simply: once IBM acquired SoftLayer (and it came at a hefty price of $2 Billion) their presence in the cloud was instantaneous. In other words IBM bought the ""Golden Ticket"" to the cloud, and now they're taking the ride, which benefits not only the company but the end user too. For more on the aquistion one-year later click here.
Toronto is the 4th largest city in North America, has a burgeoning tech business, and as this hub of technology grows, so do the needs of its companies. Up until now, SoftLayer did not have a presence in Canada, but with IBM they have a huge one (keeping in mind SoftLayer did have Canadian clients, however, they had to go the nearest Point of Presence, usually in New England, and there was a lag time with SoftLayer - which having a Toronto datacenter should eliminate and showcase just how fast SoftLayer's products are.) For currentlocations, click here.
Additionally, the Toronto data center offers the full portfolio of SoftLayer's cloud services. It has the capacity for more than 15,000 physical servers and is built exactly like other SoftLayer facilities, which are based on a POD (Performance Optimized Data Center) concept. The facility connects directly into SoftLayer's global network via a network Point of Presence (PoP) located in Toronto.
SoftLayer began taking orders today, and they are even offering a deal (which with existing customers like Mnubo, Epilogger, Brika, Greenoffon, Zilyo, TeachIt, maegan , Ryerson University Digital Media Zone (DMZ), JOLT, FounderFuel, Extreme Startups and TheNext36, as well as, those affiliated with the Ontario Network of Excellence (ONE) one has to think that SoftLayer is an extremely customer-friendly company - as they don't have to do a deal - but they are), so for a limited time, SoftLayer is giving company's $500.00 USD off their first month.
We will continue to follow the growing Canadian datacenter market. It's becoming quite a hub, and there are rumors that another city on the west coast - Vancouver - may be in on the radar for a datacenter of its own. Check back for more details.
Canada Goes Digital with IBM SoftLayer's New Datacenter
For more information on all things datacenters and technology related please visit us at datacenters.com or call one of our experts at (877) 406-2248."
