Ten years since the official opening of Datum’s flagship data centre – then and now

Almost to the day 10 years ago, a fresh-faced Dominic Phillips (now Datum’s CEO) hosted the official opening of Datum’s flagship colocation facility in Farnborough (FRN1) on QinetiQ’s ultra-secure Cody Technology Park campus. The facility was officially opened by Steve Norris, Chairman of the Data Centre Alliance, and the grand opening was held in collaboration with the Data Centre Alliance’s annual members conference, with presentations from Steve Norris, QinetiQ, Keysource (the critical environment specialists who designed and built FRN1) and DCA Executive Director, Simon Campbell-Whyte.

At the point of its inception in 2012, and prior to the construction of FRN1, Datum consisted of Dominic Phillips (then Datum’s MD), one employee (Matt McCluney - who remains a core member of the Datum team to this day) and a portacabin on an empty plot on Cody Technology Park – and, importantly, a vision of becoming the most energy efficient and flexible colocation provider on the market. This vision was infectious and, having secured some trailblazing clients who bought off plan, FRN1 was constructed and officially opened in 2013 - more than 40,000 square feet of technical space (housing 1,000 racks with power options up to 30kw/rack and operational PUE of 1.25) and a separate 10,000 square foot energy centre to house backup power.