IBM's 15 new international data centers will be created in order to meet US federal security requirements, the company said in a statement. The first of the new data centers is scheduled to open in Dallas in June.
The new facilities, which are built to meet US Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program and Federal Information Security Management Act requirements, will also enable IBM clients to deliver applications built on SoftLayer to government organizations. Each of the new centers will be able to house 30,000 servers within a private network that features 2,000 gigabytes per second of connectivity.
IBM first announced plans to commit $1.2 billion (£730 million, AU$ 1.36 billion) to expanding its global cloud footprint through an increased network of data centers back in January. At the time, it was unclear how the cloud-based data centers would fit into IBM's overall strategy.
Dallas, Texas
In addition to the Dallas data center, IBM will open a new facility in Virginia by the end of 2014. Additional data centers will be opened in China, Hong Kong, London, Japan, India, Canada, and Mexico City. It is unclear when the additional 13 data centers will open.
IBM acquired SoftLayer for $2 billion in July of last year in order to catalyze the company's cloud business, which generated $4.4 billion in revenue in 2013. In April, IBM SoftLayer clients were granted access to disaster recovery and security services that are designed to ensure data security and continuity during breaches and disaster-related events. At the time, IBM said it will open two new cloud-based resiliency centers in Raleigh, N.C. and Mumbai, India.
