Officially established in 2008 with the goal of becoming the No.1 neutral data center service provider in Vietnam and stand shoulder to shoulder with other providers in the region and the world, CMC Telecom has invested trillions of VND in building international-standard data centers (DC) in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to meet the most demanding requirements of corporate customers, especially those in the fields of finance, banking and insurance as well as multinational corporations. Currently, CMC Telecom is holding up to 40% of bank data center market shares, with over 60% of OTT enterprises being its regular customers. These are remarkable achievements for a company considered to be relatively small comparing to other big names in this arena.

Pioneering in the formation of industry alliance

As early as 2008, CMC Telecom became the very first Vietnamese telecommunications company to participate in the founding of Asia Data Center Alliance - ADCA along with four leading information technology and telecommunications service providers in Southeast Asia: 1-Net (Singapore), AIMS Group (Malaysia), HKCOLO (Hong Kong) and T.C.C Technology (Thailand). The formation of this alliance marked the birth of Southeast Asia's data center service supply chain. Customers only need to sign up to use services of one of the five founding members, which will be provided throughout the region. This is also the first step of CMC Telecom in its business expansion strategy to gain a head start regarding the demand for data storage on a continental scale.

Currently, CMC Telecom owns 3 data centers: CMC Tower DC (Hanoi), CMC SHTP DC (Ho Chi Minh City), and CMC Tan Thuan DC (Ho Chi Minh City) with a total scale of up to 3000 racks and capacity of up to 20kW. With the advantage of being one of the first three telecommunications infrastructure providers in the world to meet the international standard MEF 3.0 for Ethernet connection services and Carrier Neutral DC system, CMC Telecom can maintain stability and balance for all customer needs. The pre-set direct connections to international Cloud platforms, such as AWS, Google, Microsoft and Oracle, allow the company's DC ecosystem to make it easier for enterprises to realize their digital transformation.

Leading the race to upgrade data center technology standards

DC is the place to manage, store, and protect the "digital assets" of enterprises. DC plays an important role in maintaining the operation of information system and business applications. Therefore, instead of expanding in terms of quantity, CMC Telecom has left its own mark with a different investment strategy that aims to meet the needs of customers, to lead in terms of DC technology and to create strength from the professionalism of its staff.

Clearly recognizing the critical role of information security, CMC Telecom has soon invested in solving this problem, and PCI DSS is one of its top priorities. Immediately after the DC launching in Hanoi in December 2017, CMC Telecom was officially granted PCI DSS certification by Crossbow Labs - an international accredited certifying body. At that time, CMC Tower DC (Hanoi) was the first and only DC in Vietnam to obtain this certification.

PCI DSS is a mandatory information security standard for businesses to process payment card transactions. This standard is set by PCI Security Standards Council and managed by five prestigious international payment institutions, namely: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover Financial Services, and JCB International. When using PCI DSS-certified DC of CMC Telecom, organizations involved in payments by cards, such as banks, mobile wallet companies, payment gateways, e-commerce websites, etc. can limit security vulnerabilities and reduce the risk of information theft while strengthening protection of data stored on cards and payment card transactions for customers in related systems.

Currently, CMC Telecom's Tan Thuan Data Center is the first DC in Vietnam to pass TVRA (Threat, Vulnerability and Risk Assessment) - the highest security and risk prevention certification for DC in the world. TVRA is a strict standard set by the State Bank of Singapore for DCs in Singapore, and is referred to and applied by advanced DCs in the region.

CMC Tan Thuan DC is considered the most modern data center in Vietnam today

CMC Telecom is also the first data center service provider in Vietnam to concurrently own two certifications: Tier III Certification Constructed Facility and Tier III Certification Design Documents after passing 115 tests (the highest number ever), and is qualified for the tests for Uptime Tier IV certification. This further affirms that CMC Telecom is able to deploy the most modern and top-notch secure data centers.

Mr. Dang Tung Son - Deputy CEO/CMO of CMC Telecom said: “We identify digital infrastructure as the foundation for all digital transformation activities; therefore, we must invest in the most modern technologies and ensure to meet international standards. CMC Telecom is determined to become the best data center service provider in Vietnam, providing customers with services of the highest quality standards.”

Data Center operation team with "PhD degree" certifications

The success of CMC Telecom comes not only from its strong infrastructure, but also from its team of professionals with extensive knowledge in the field of data center. With the orientation of developing its personnel to meet the core values and standardizing products and services towards World Class standards, to date, CMC Telecom has so far had a team of well-trained experts and technicians who possess international certifications such as CDCE, CDCS, CDCP, CDFOM, etc.

Notably, the DC operation team of CMC Telecom is joined by two out of 10 experts with CDCE (Certified Data Center Expert) certification in Vietnam. This is the world's most prestigious certification for professionals in the design and construction of data center, considered the "PhD degree" in this field. With the knowledge and skills required to gain CDCE, these experts are of the highest level to appraise, design, build and operate Data Center in accordance with international standards. The combination of knowledge and practical experience not only helps CMC Telecom improve service delivery capacity but also stay proactive to face the latest trends and challenges in the data center industry.

After 15 years of continuous development with an on-point investment strategy, CMC Telecom has affirmed its position as the leading data center service provider in Vietnam. The innovation and quality of CMC Telecom's DC ecosystem are recognized by prestigious international awards. In 2019, CMC Telecom's DC was nominated as one of the top 4 DCs in Asia at the prestigious TelecomAsia Awards. Immediately after being launched, Tan Thuan DC was honored by Global Business Review Magazine as the Best Data Center in Vietnam in 2022. Also, in early April this year, CMC Telecom was the only Vietnamese representative to receive the Infrastructure Initiative of the Year award at Asian Telecom Awards 2023.

Talking about the future goal, Mr. Son said: "We will continue to invest heavily in the construction of new generation data centers, scaling up in terms of both quality and quantity to meet the increasing demand for data storage and processing of customers."