Dell has opened a new data centre in Slough which will enable IT outsourcing and improve end-to-end service capabilities across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Dell announced the opening of Slough data centre in April 2011 and it is part of the two-year, $1bn global data centre expansion programme to provide leading solutions, services and cloud-based delivery options.

The Texas-based information technology firm said with this expansion it will extend Dell’s delivery capacity and bring cost-effective, high-value services while improving the company’s ability to provide cloud and IT outsourcing services.

In addition, the expansion helps Dell to support and comply with the country-specific data protection, privacy and governance laws, and jurisdiction issues that apply to regulated and other industry sectors, said the company.

Dell said it provides the comprehensive IT outsourcing services from the Slough facility, including information assurance, security and storage services, as well as platform services.

The data centre enables high density cooling for high energy use hardware and traditional ITO hardware installations. To enable energy efficient operations and to provide a low power usage effectiveness (PUE) the data centre uses a high efficiency, environment-friendly cooling system, said Dell.

Dell plans to offer cloud-based Unified Clinical Archiving services in the UK in early 2012 which allows healthcare providers to store, manage and share medical imaging data through cloud-based medical archive platform.

To maximise the value of customer’s IT investments and create efficient, effective and scalable IT environments Dell IT outsourcing services utilises skilled service professionals, industry best practices, automated tools and proven methodologies, said the company.

Dell said a standardised service management methodology is employed by the Dell IT outsourcing services to deliver high levels of reliability and predictability across the enterprise.

Dell Services Infrastructure and Cloud Computing vice-president Don Mann said the company is excited to announce the expansion of Dell’s global footprint with the opening of a next generation data centre in the United Kingdom that will provide regionally delivered IT outsourcing services and cloud offerings.

"This is the first data centre to open as part of the company’s $1bn solutions announcement this past April and reinforces our commitment to deliver industry-leading services and solutions that help our customers innovate and drive business results," said Mann.