KIO Networks Spain: Empowering Enterprises in Spain and Beyond to Achieve Real Sustainability in the Cloud

With the most advanced tier IV data center in Spain, and one of the most advanced in Europe, KIO Networks Spain provides a diverse array of private-sector and public-sector enterprises with Infrastructure-as-a-Service for mission-critical systems and applications. The company also offers a diverse array of cloud solutions and services.

Some of the many offerings in its growing portfolio include Disaster Recover-as-a-Service, Backup-as-a-Service, a fully dedicated private cloud based on VMware technology in a maximum-security data center, and Platform-as-a-Service offerings designed for Kubernetes-based environments. KIO Networks Spain even provides cloud services designed specifically for Software-as-a-Service companies.

On joining the VMware Zero Carbon Committed initiative, Javier Jarilla, director general of KIO Networks Spain, says he believes it has never been more important for sustainability efforts to be genuine.

Jarilla notes that high-performance is a hallmark of KIO Networks Spain, which includes a high-touch approach in which the company’s engineers are personally involved in all phases of a customer’s cloud deployment, from planning and design to data migration and post deployment support.

“The effectiveness of our approach can be seen in the number of clients who outsource 100% of their IT systems to us,” he explains.

He adds that the organization’s efforts now include a genuine and steadfast effort to do business in a sustainable way. One among many actions we are taking is operating data centers powered by renewable resources.

“It was important to all of us at KIO Networks Spain to join VMware’s Zero Carbon Committed initiative for a number of reasons,” says Jarilla. “We were one of the first data center companies in our region to achieve VMware Cloud Verified status. That was an important accomplishment not only because of our long relationship with VMware, but also because so many of our cloud offerings are based on VMware technology. The Zero Carbon Committed initiative is important to us because we believe that awareness of climate change and taking actionable steps to protect the environment and positively impact the future of the planet should be intrinsic in business.”

With this in mind, KIO’s engineers and data center experts are focused on five fundamental outputs in all data center projects, including the use of 100% renewable power as required in VMware Zero Carbon Committed. Additional goals include zero water input to combat water stress, the use of natural refrigerants in cooling systems, reuse of waste heat that is generated to supply local heating systems, and investment in environmental projects to offset any of the minimal carbon footprint that will be created through these efforts.

Jarilla stresses that these efforts have not gone unnoticed and that the intersection between sustainability efforts and business is increasingly visible, as evidenced by several long-term customers who have requested tangible sustainability targets they can apply to their own efforts.

“Our immediate goal is to be the most sustainable provider of cloud services and solutions on the Iberian Peninsula. More broadly, we want to provide enterprises in Spain with a partner who not only has made a genuine commitment to achieve zero carbon emissions in our data center operations, but who can also make those same measurable, auditable, and verifiable gains available to them. We all win when we create an ecosystem of companies intent to achieve real sustainability.”

It’s an effort Jarilla says will impact how vendors and providers are viewed. He believes that in the near future the commitment to doing what’s right for the environment will be another factor in the evaluation of vendors, their hiring, and renewals.

“In that sense,” he concludes, “the very definition of high-performance will increasingly include a commitment to be achieving zero carbon emissions.”

Learn more about KIO Networks Spain and its partnership with VMware here.