Building a brand
EUROPE
With sustainability and green credentials an ever-present and increasingly important issue across all businesses sectors , some companies stand out as champions of innovation in this area . Dutch NL-DC is known for its reliable and energyefficient data centres in Aalsmeer , Almere , Eindhoven , Groningen , Oude Meer , and Rotterdam , all of which are cloud and carrier-neutral and allow optimal access to the world ’ s telco and data networks .
NL-DC may appear to have burst into the industry as already the leading provider of data centres in the Netherlands , but it has in fact been part of the KPN group for many years , and at the start of this year broke away as a daughter company .
NL-DC is now the name of KPN ’ s colocation service , allowing it to dominate the market with freedoms not previously afforded to it . The company ’ s offerings are now able to be far more diverse and customerfocussed , and NL-DC already boasts an enviable reputation .
Building a brand
“ It wasn ’ t easy to remove ourselves from KPN and strike out alone ,” says Paul Driessen , Commercial Product Manager .
“ And it wasn ’ t done in a day either ,” adds Cees Greyn , VP Services . “ We knew we could do better . A project team was created , which both Paul and I were members of , and we investigated how we could do better . We needed more focus , and because KPN is a telco , the market didn ’ t see our data centres as carrier-neutral . Customers demand carrier neutrality as a major element which should be supplied . We were carrier neutral already , but our name was attached to the provider – KPN – so moving away from that allowed us more opportunities .”
Asked if being a part of KPN proved restrictive , Driessen replies : “ It ’ s fairer to say that we now have more room to maneuver . It ’ s wasn ’ t restrictive as such , we just have more possibilities now and focus on data centre business . We wanted to go in a slightly different direction which
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