Today is National Datacenters Day in the Netherlands! But it’s not in Belgium. So are data centers little known in Belgium and therefore their value is not fully appreciated? It’s high time to underline the key role played by data centers in our digital society.

Unlimited adaptation of bandwidth is only possible in a data center
Digitalisation has had a huge impact on our economy in recent years. It’s vital to have a fast, secure and reliable IT infrastructure. The outbreak of the crisis linked to coronavirus has once again confirmed the crucial role of data centers. We don’t have a clear picture of everything that happens in our data centers, because our clients manage their own infrastructure. Moreover, they don’t need to come over if they want to increase their fiber capacity. To do that, they simply call up their telecoms operator through a dashboard.
What we do know is that the telecom operators in our (LCL) data centers, currently over 40, have received more requests to increase bandwidth than they get on average. We also know that several of our clients have increased their router capacity and bandwidth for remote working. One of them has even taken the number of digital workplaces from 800 to 4,000. This shows that LCL does far more than just air conditioning and electric supply. Within our ecosystem, we can quickly adapt when necessary, including the scaling of bandwidth and hybrid cloud.

Netherlands: five times as many data centers as in Belgium
The Netherlands has almost 200 data centers, while Belgium has fewer than 40. Our northern neighbours are undeniably more willing to outsource, particularly for data centers. Belgians are renowned for wanting to own their own home. Does the same apply for their data center? Even if, according to a financial study done by LCL a few years ago, it’s cheaper in the long term to call on an external data center than it is to build one yourself, as you’ll have to continually adapt to regulatory changes?

The data center, an ecosystem of services
Nowadays, a data center is far more than just bricks and energy services. It forms an ecosystem, which offers amongst others an enormous choice of telecoms operators. Each one  has its specialisation. And they enable you to easily adapt your bandwidth in line with your specific requirements.
There are also service providers (such as for cloud, hosting solutions and Internet access). Plenty of system integrators have their own spot within LCL, so that they also can quickly meet your needs. Our ‘cloud exchange’ allows you to easily adapt your cloud needs via a dashboard. It offers you immediate access to large cloud service providers in the USA plus a multitude of small ones worldwide.
At LCL, we focus our efforts on getting to know our clients inside-out, as well as focusing on our customised service. We co-create with our clients. Also: we put them in contact with the right counterparts in our data centers. In so doing, we help everyone to advance. Furthermore, LCL has a wall full of certifications. We ensure compliance, thus relieving our clients of the burden of this task. We notice that this aspect is increasingly important.
For many reasons, we’re launching a heartfelt call for 13 October to become our ‘National Data Centers Day’, just like in the Netherlands.

@AlexanderDecroo: deal?