Frost & Sullivan Applauds DDC's Rapid Growth to become a Leading Data Center Provider in East Africa

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Sept. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent analysis of the data centre market, Frost & Sullivan recognises the Djibouti Data Center (DDC) with the 2014 East Africa Frost & Sullivan Award for Enabling Technology Leadership. The DDC is the first and only data centre facility in East Africa with access to all major international fibre optic cable systems connecting Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific with Africa. Its strategic location and partnership with Djibouti Telecom, has enabled it to offer a broad portfolio of unique products and services and to deliver a unique and superior customer experience. 

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognise top industry performers in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.

Thriving in the current business environment indicates an approach that is visionary, incorporating innovation and game-changing strategies.  Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to a company that has developed a pioneering technology that not only enhances current products but also enables the development of newer products and applications. The award recognises the high market acceptance potential of the recipient's technology. Recipients of this award represent the top ten percent of their industry.

The DDC stands out as a reliable and cost-effective gateway hub to many of the fastest growing markets and service providers in Africa. It offers a robust product portfolio, which includes flexible options for simplified, competitively-priced cable head access; backhaul, for both global and regional network operators; collocation; virtual point of presence (vPOP); and the Djibouti Internet Exchange Point (DjIX) - all at a purpose-built, Tier 3 data centre facility.

In its quest to provide exceptional service value, the DDC has launched the region's first Internet Exchange. The DjIX allows carriers, ISPs, and other Internet service providers to keep local traffic in East Africa local by reducing the need to exchange traffic at other peering points outside of the region using higher cost IP transit options.  The results are reduced latency, faster connectivity, and lower costs for network operators and users in East Africa.

"Africa has historically been challenged by high Internet costs.  The DjIX has been designed to not only reduce costs for operators, but to also add significant value by being a tool for carriers, content providers and other service providers to improve the efficiency, resilience and performance of their networks," said Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Lehlohonolo Mokenela.

Furthermore, the DDC provides a colocation service, which allows customers to rent space for servers and other computing hardware. The colocation centre is fully manned, secure, environmentally controlled and expertly managed, while offering a secure place for routing, switching and network server equipment. It also ensures an excellent service experience by providing extensive after-sales support and 24x7 technical support to address operational issues related to capacity and/or equipment installation.

DDC offers high-value services in a region and market sector that historically has been marked by an inflexible and stringent regulatory environment. It addresses the issue of prohibitive import duties for technology equipment by assisting customers in customs clearance and the shipping of their equipment to the DDC. In addition, it created a special zone to provide customers with turnkey support. In this zone, customers do not need special permits or licences and are not required to pay high import taxes for equipment designated for colocation in the DDC.

In addition, customers are provided with predictable installation time frames and costs, and importantly, they are not required to sign long-term contracts or make spending level commitments. The DDC further enhances the purchase experience by not compelling customers to commit to more services than they need, while the service is always tailored according to the needs of the customers.

The DDC's strategic partnership with Djibouti Telecom has allowed it to benefit from unrestricted and unprecedented access to global and regional fibre cable systems. Among others, the facility has been selected by MTN, a leading global provider of international carrier services, to serve as Africa's gateway point of presence. This is due to Djibouti's favourable geographic position, near the meeting point of North, South and East Africa.

"The DDC offers customers an opportunity to utilise its cable access assets and meet their growing bandwidth requirements more efficiently, and at the same time mitigate risk through improved network diversity," noted Mokenela.

About Djibouti Data Center (DDC)

The Djibouti Data Center (DDC) is the leading provider of carrier-neutral colocation and data centre services in East Africa serving a wide range of customers.  The DDC is a secure, reliable, and energy-efficient ecosystem that offers customers a broad portfolio of products and services for their mission-critical applications. Combining access to all five international fiber cable systems, as well as three regional fiber systems, the DDC serves as a cost effective hub in Africa to many of the worlds fastest growing and emerging markets.  For more information, please visit www.djiboutidatacenter.com

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Contact:

Samantha James
Corporate Communications – Africa
P: +27 21 680 3574
F: +27 21 680 3296
E: [email protected] 
T: @FrostSullivanSA

John Melick
Djibouti Data Center
P:  +1 703 627 1332
E:  [email protected]

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan