Japanese conglomerate Hitachi has launched a new data centre business that includes everything from planning to construction to IT support. Hitachi said its new "GNEXT Facility & IT Management Service" will cover consulting on environmental and security issues, procurement and installation of power, cooling and security systems, and ongoing hardware maintenance. It will expand to include outsourcing services for software engineers and support for clearing regulatory hurdles and certifications.  The company targets US$1.25 billion in orders from the new business by the fiscal year that ends in March 2016, or about 10% of total revenue, based on its forecast for the recently ended fiscal year. As Japanese companies gear up to build and support the growing trend for cloud-based services that require large data centers, Hitachi has opted to leverage its broad collection of subsidiaries. The company produces everything from nuclear power plants to bulldozers to mobile phones 

The company will offer standardized rack layouts for existing facilities, as well as all-in-one container data centers. It said the goal is to offer an all-in-one outsourcing service for clients that want to host their own data centers on site. Hitachi said it will initially focus on Japan, China and the ASEAN countries, which include Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam, looking to grow the business with local regional partners. 

Source: Computerworld