Wasabi expands UK data storage with IBM Cloud London centre

Wasabi Technologies has expanded its data management offerings for customers in the United Kingdom by adding IBM Cloud's London data centre to its storage regions.

The integration utilises IBM's Multizone Region (MZR), enabling Wasabi to address changing regulatory requirements for joint customers and support the adoption of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies on a secured enterprise cloud platform. The development is designed to cater to increasing data volumes associated with AI initiatives, which create complex conditions for data residency and require compliance with evolving global regulations.

Data residency for UK customers

Wasabi's deployment of a new storage region within IBM's London MZR is tailored for both new and existing UK customers. It aims to assist organisations - especially those within sports, media, and entertainment - who use Wasabi AiR, an AI-powered media storage solution, by addressing their data residency needs.

Liverpool Football Club (LFC), in particular, will leverage Wasabi AiR to access sports data securely across a hybrid cloud infrastructure. This capability is designed to enable the club and others to unlock benefits provided by the combined expansion of Wasabi and IBM's offerings.

"We are storing and processing an incredible amount of club media content, and we have partnered with Wasabi because they provide the level of hot cloud storage and AI processing needed to manage our media assets securely and at scale," said Drew Crisp, Senior Vice President, Digital, at Liverpool Football Club. "Our use of Wasabi AiR's AI technology allows us to efficiently manage our massive library of media assets, quickly access relevant content segments, and streamline content creation. We want to continue providing our fans globally with the best content in the business, and our partnership with Wasabi is helping us achieve that."

IBM Cloud infrastructure

IBM Cloud's Multizone Regions are made up of three or more data centre zones, each functioning as an Availability Zone. The architecture aims to ensure that any single failure event is limited to a single data centre, thereby offering consistent cloud services and improved resiliency. Clients operating on IBM Cloud's Multizone Regions can also run mission-critical workloads, supporting continuous business operations even in the event of infrastructure challenges.

The collaboration between IBM and Wasabi began last year, focusing on enabling data innovation across hybrid cloud settings for clients in sports, media, and entertainment. This partnership was established to help businesses run applications across various environments - including on premises, in the cloud, or at the edge - while providing cost-effective access to crucial business data and analytics in real time.

Expanding support for UK regulation

"Wasabi's expanded footprint with IBM's London data region allows Wasabi to address the evolving regulatory and performance needs of our UK customers," said Marty Falaro, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Wasabi. "By leveraging IBM's Multizone Region infrastructure, we're able to support AI-driven requirements with secured, high-performance storage. We're excited to work closely with IBM to deliver scalable data solutions that empower organizations to unlock the full potential of their data."

IBM's Multizone Region infrastructure is intended to support clients by providing the security, resiliency, and performance characteristics necessary for enterprise workloads. For UK organisations, this infrastructure assists in meeting stringent statutory obligations related to data governance and residency, particularly as more business is conducted through digital platforms.

The strategy reflects Wasabi's intention to build on its reputation with sports and media organisations, following collaborations such as that with the Boston Red Sox. The expansion also enables UK customers, like Liverpool Football Club, to take advantage of AI-powered services while retaining control over where their data resides.

IBM's partner support

"We're excited to support Wasabi's growth into the IBM Cloud London MZR," said Alan Peacock, General Manager, IBM Cloud. "We've invested to help ensure partners have access to a diverse set of capabilities in the regions they operate in. Our work with Wasabi will enable their clients to benefit from the security, resiliency and performance capabilities of our cloud platform."

The combined resources from Wasabi and IBM are expected to assist enterprises in various sectors to operate across hybrid cloud ecosystems efficiently. The companies affirmed their ongoing commitment to enabling AI innovation by providing secure, resilient, and scalable data management solutions tailored to customer requirements in the UK and beyond.