Innovation &
Sustainability

Innovation & Sustainability goes hand in hand. Both are structurally embedded in our DNA. That is why our datacenters are integrated into our own backyards in which we try to prevent unnecessary damage to the environment. With our experimental state-of-mind, we challenge ourselves to sustainable growth.  

Innovation & Sustainability goes hand in hand

Sustainability

Switch Datacenters has always experimented to achieve sustainable solutions and more efficient technologies. We lead by example. Not because it is ‘’the thing to do’’ but because we truly believe that curiosity and challenging the usual way of working brings smarter, more efficient and greener ideas than just shopping out of the global standard manufacturers catalogue. Being an Amsterdam based company, we need to lead, not follow.

We believe the datacenter business is not a stand-alone IT-hotel business and our business is not limited to renting out secure / powered / cooled server space. We are part of a circular eco-system and as such, where possible, we contribute to the local community. District heating, circular economy, waste reduction are no topics for others to solve. We will contribute to solving the sustainability puzzle. It is our duty.

We continuously challenge all elements in the chain. We wonder why current datacenters still operate at fixed heat ranges, saving unnecessary and expensive cooling. We also wonder why customers still choose standard server blades without thinking to tick the ‘DLC enabled’ button when ordering or considering refurbished servers. We believe that software workloads can be managed smarter and spread over datacenters. We question the usual datacenter power back-up habits, which are still based on technology from 20 years ago. We wonder why some of our competitors don’t see that the world is changing and sustainability is not just a term.

We experiment with new technologies in our own R&D environment. We build prototypes and test it out. We think, invent and implement ourselves, instead of copying what others do. That is why Switch, being a local datacenter operator in Amsterdam, has always been able to grow in a very competitive datacenter landscape, ruled by big international money and suboptimal global standard datacenter designs. Being local and innovation driven experienced entrepreneurs means we can adapt to local needs faster and better.

sustainability

We share ideas, we embrace open standards and we are purpose driven. We want our datacenters to be at the leading edge of technology and make minimal CO2 imprint with our deeds. Our datacenters are part of our joint living environment and in our own backyards: We will do our utmost best to prevent any unnecessary damage to our own Dutch habitat.

Switch is not afraid to take the lead: We were the first to bring PuE down to the 1.1 level, using revolutionary cooling concepts now generally accepted after five years. We were the first to enable the Open Compute Platform (OCP) organization to build a real life experience center in our datacenter. We also were the first to show reused IT solutions to our customers. Switch also experimented with immersion cooling 8 years ago and will now be the first to even financially incentify our customers when they start implementing servers that allow us to tap off the heat and reuse it by heating up neighboring buildings.

Datacenters can be reliable, affordable, innovative and sustainable all at the same time. We are actively contributing in forward looking global and local industry associations and active member of a.o. The Open Compute Platform (OCP), Green IT Amsterdam/ Sustainable Digital Infrastructure Alliance, The European Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact and many more.