HanmiGlobal, Hewlett Packard partner up to help foreign businesses build data centers

HanmiGlobal President Lee Sang-ho, left, poses with HPE Korea Managing Director Kim Young-chae at HPE Korea's office in Seoul, Wednesday, after signing a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in helping foreign businesses construct data centers in Korea. Courtesy of HanmiGlobal

By Kim Jae-heun

HanmiGlobal, a Seoul-based construction management company with businesses in more than 50 countries, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Hewlett Packard Enterprise's (HPE) Korean branch, Wednesday, to help foreign businesses set up data centers here.

“We are truly happy to work with HPE,” HanmiGlobal President Lee Sang-ho said, calling HPE “the best in the cloud infrastructure business.”

He went on to say, “We will do our best to contribute to both companies' shared growth and successfully make profits.”

The MOU comes amid the increasing demand for cloud services in Asia, with Seoul and Tokyo emerging as hubs of new data centers, replacing Hong Kong, which now has severe government restrictions on autonomy due to the National Security Law, as well as political unrest.

Multiple global data center developers and operators, as well as real estate investment trust companies have already entered Korea.

HanmiGlobal and HPE Korea believe that when companies based abroad establish data centers in the domestic market, they will need a partner to help them construct the relevant infrastructure.

It is for this reason that the two companies have agreed to form this partnership.

HanmiGlobal has participated in many data center projects in the role of construction management firm, including Hana Dream Town's Integrated Data Center, LG Gasan Digital Center, as well as the data center for Naver, the country's largest portal website operator.

HPE Korea provides services in data center consulting, design, construction and commissioning to major telecommunication firms, strategic investors as well as major financial companies, with its unrivaled competency in the data center field.

HanmiGlobal will offer one-stop services for the entire project process from the planning stages of the construction of data centers to the review of business feasibility, securing the construction site, selecting designers and contractors, licensing management and business schedule management.

HPE will then provide strategies for establishing data centers and conceptual design consulting related to information technology, based on its “HPE Pointnext” service. It will also offer its technical skills specialized for data centers, such as the supervision and commissioning of facility construction, which are directly related to server rooms.

“It is especially meaningful to join together with HanmiGlobal, a leader in the global smart construction market, in this project that will demonstrate the quality of Korea's IT technology to the world,” HPE Korea Managing Director Kim Young-chae said.