Pictured: Dr David Hardman CEO of BSPA, and Richard Carty Commercial Director of Netshield

Midlands-based Netshield, a specialist provider of managed IT services, is adding a new datacentre to its network across the region, by opening a dedicated, state of the art facility at Birmingham Science Park Aston (BSPA).

The all-new datacentre, the third for the company, will house more than 12,000 servers to deliver 24/7 physical and virtual server space, cloud computing and IT outsourcing services.

It represents a major milestone in the company's 2011 expansion plans, as its Commercial Director Richard Carty, explains:

"The new datacentre at BSPA provides a centrally located addition to our datacentre network which already includes facilities in Aldridge and Nottingham. This is a significant step for the business, and Birmingham and the Science Park are the ideal location for our new centre. It is an exciting time for Netshield as it grows its presence and resource in the area.

"Our trio of datacentres significantly strengthens the service we can provide organisations locally, nationally and internationally. Our strategy is to build Netshield's datacentre infrastructure in a way that is scaleable and with the capacity for speedy and efficient expansion, that is sustainable and meets the market's current and emerging requirements from its outsourced IT supplier, notably in the constantly growing area of cloud computing."

The new datacentre creates four jobs in its first phase, with the plan to add a further two technical staff later this year. Its opening comes a few weeks since the company announced the creation of new jobs at its Aldridge head office and projected growth in the region of 25 percent. 

"We have secured a significant number of new contracts for IT managed services and infrastructure work since the start of 2011," Richard comments. "This has helped boost our turnover for the last 12-months and we are welll on the way to realising a 25 percent increase in turnover for this financial year. Based on the recent and projected upturn in sales, and specifically the rapidly growing interest in our specialist IT services, we have needed to add resource and grow our team."

He adds: "The BSPA datacentre will hold 12,000 servers, and operate alongside our other datacentres to provide 24/7, 365 days a year support for clients opting for outsourcing their IT management services," says Richard. "This makes Netshield one of the most significant independent and privately-owned providers of outsourced and managed IT services in the Birmingham area.

"All our hardware is continually monitored, assuring clients of the very latest technlogical support of their IT systems. Our centres are all equipped with a backup power supply and fire protection, and are fully air conditioned, so that all customer's data is protected at the maximum possible degree."

Dr David Hardman CEO of BSPA comments: "We are delighted to see this new Netshield datacenter in our facilities. The fact that the company is growing to becoming such a significant private IT services provider in the region is good news. Such investment into Birmingham's digital economy is to be welcomed and BSPA looks forward to working with Netshield in the future as it continues to grow."

Richard adds: "The new datacentre has been opened to add to our network of offices and datacentres. Our Aldridge office will remain as the company's head office.

"Netshield is also a significant way towards securing a new contract with a European based organisation, which should be confirmed in the next two months." 

Netshield is to mark the opening of the new datacentre with an event at Birmingham Scince Park Aston on Thursday, 8th September 2011, which will be attended by Dr David Hardiman, MBE, Chief Executive of BSPA, and include a charity raffle in aid of Birmingham Children's Hospital. For more information about the event, email: tiffany.leung@netshield.co.uk. 

Netshield provides managed IT services to a range of industry sectors including legal, financial and property, as well as the recruitment sector, business services, catering and hospitality.