The Indian market is moving towards Hyperscale Data Centres and is witnessing an influx of established foreign Colocation providers, says Prasanna Sarambale, CEO Data Centre Business & Group Head- Business Development at Sterling & Wilson. In this interview with Elets News Network, Sarambale talks about the significance of data and technology in Indian market vis-à-vis the world. He also shares the vision and future plans of Sterling & Wilson.
Tell us about the evolution and vision of Steling & Wilson.
Sterling & Wilson started off as an Electrical projects company and has now evolved as a Global EPC company with focus on MEP, Turnkey Data Centres, Renewables (Solar & Wind), Hybrid & Energy Storage, Cogen Solutions (Gas based energy solutions and Waste-to-energy), Transmission & Distribution (EHV Substation), Diesel Generators and HT/LT Panels and Independent Power Producers.
What are the flagship products and services offered by your organisation?
We, at Sterling and Wilson, offer specialised EPC services for the Data Centres. We offer end-to-end services throughout the lifecycle of data centre, i.e., selection of site, concept design, detailed design engineering, construction, MEP services, testing and handing over including 24×7 physical infrastructure O&M in addition to the approvals and liaising. We offer vendor agnostic solutions instead of being tied-up to a particular technology, meeting client’s requirements. This makes us a one-stop Data Centre solution provider.
What are the initiatives or new areas you have ventured into recently?
We have forayed into Modular Data Centre offerings which provide quick deployment timeand are certified to withstand various physical and logical risks like explosions, fire, data phishing etc. This solution reduces the client lead time to Go-To-Market and consequently provides a better Return on Investment for them. Unique features of Room-in-room solution help to monitor environmental factors that can result in downtime and facility damage.
Our unique Modular Room-in-Room Solution provides flexibility and adaptability, ease of assembly, floor space saving and much-improved security. Its patented German Insulation Technology gives the highest degree of fire & temperature rise protection which is tested and certified by the European Certification Board having the most stringent standards. With some of the unique features like Burglary Protection, Falling Debris Protection, Stagnant Water Protection, Explosion Protection etc, our Room-in-Room solution brings in the best in class alternative to the traditional brick and mortar data centres with a much higher level of security and reliability.
Who are your prominent clients or customers? Do you have any collaboration with the Government of India?
In the past we have executed multiple prestigious projects for esteemed clients like Department of IT (Government of Rajasthan), Vodafone, National Stock Exchange, NSDL e-Gov, Siemens.
Tell us about the partnership with Uptime Institute?
Sterling & Wilson will promote and facilitate the Uptime Institute certifications {Tier Certifications of Design Documents (TCDD), Constructed Facility (TCCF), and Operational Sustainability (TCOS) as well as the M&O Stamp of Approval for management and operations}. Sterling & Wilson will be also providing value added services to enable these certifications. This alliance also includes Sterling & Wilson as a promoter of the globally recognised ATD, ATS and AOS educational accredited designations. The collaboration will enable both Uptime Institute and Sterling & Wilson to expand business further in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Bangladesh. All Uptime Institute services will be performed directly by Uptime Institute.
This collaboration of both the companies will in turn be beneficial for many enterprises to improve their performance, efficiency, and reliability of business-critical infrastructure.
What are the technology deployment done in your products/services?
We are witnessing an evolution in the data centre model with a gamut of technological developments for enterprises. With the deployment of high-density racks in a cloud environment, there is an increasing need for customised power and cooling solutions. Customers are scouting for micro-level power, cooling and space monitoring through the software like DCIM.
We use some of the latest tools including Revit, a 3D modeling software used for critical data centre co-ordination drawings, HAP (Hourly Analysis Program) for data centre HVAC designing, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for Temperature and Airflow pattern study in Data Centre, ETAP for Electrical Analysis and ETAB and StaadPro for Structural Analysis.
How are you leveraging the technology like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Blockchain etc.?
We increasingly support data centre infrastructure with customised solutions that can digitally transform businesses and also maintain the scalability and flexibility. Our solutions ensure a robust and rationalised IT Infrastructure, as well as technological components that fit with our client’s requirements. Edge computing, 5G, Big data analytics, the Internet of Things (IoT) are impacting the future data centres in a big way. They call for increased bandwidth requirement, critical network cabling and multi-layered operational security in the facilities.
The Indian market is moving towards Hyperscale Data Centres and is witnessing an influx of established foreign Colocation providers. Cloud providers are expanding their presence rapidly across the world, with India being one if their focused markets. Recent RBI directive makes it mandatory for fintech firms to store financial transactions data within national boundaries.
Developments in cloud computing and next-generation security support us in utilising data in an efficient manner. Our Data centre division has the capability to construct and maintain the entire infrastructure complying to global standards of the business.
What are your future plans and initiatives for the upcoming years?
The potential for data usage, security and sensitivity is expected to grow significantly across the Globe.We are the largest Data Centre EPC company in India (based on order booking). We plan to continue our expansion globally and venture into new markets of Middle East, Africa and APAC.
As all Data Centres are heavy on power and cooling requirements, we are well equipped by virtue of our presence in MEP, Transmission and Distribution (EHV Substation), Diesel Generators etc., to become a prominent player in Data Centres, globally. It promises us a huge potential to partner with the best names and projects not only in the country but across the globe.