CtrlS stands as Asia’s largest Rated 4 data center and managed services provider, catering to over 3,500 organizations. Its clientele includes 15 Fortune 100 global multinationals and 25 of the ET 100 Indian companies. The company operates cutting-edge Tier-4 data centers across major Indian cities—Hyderabad, Mumbai, Noida, and Bangalore—spanning a total of one million square feet.
CtrlS offers a comprehensive suite of services, including colocation, infrastructure-as-a-service, private cloud solutions, disaster recovery as a service, enterprise network and connectivity services, and a 24/7 security operations center. With an unbroken record of 100% uptime for the past 16 years, it ensures seamless business continuity for its clients.
Spearheading the company is Sridhar Pinnapureddy, a first-generation entrepreneur renowned for his pioneering contributions to cloud computing, IT infrastructure, internet services, green energy, and software development. Under his leadership, CtrlS has garnered numerous accolades for innovation and excellence in the data center industry.
In an exclusive conversation with The Interview World at the 32nd Convergence India Expo, Vipul Kumar, Vice President – Edge & Network at CtrlS, delves into the company’s key offerings and competitive edge. He shares his vision for the future of data centers in an era of exponential data growth, highlights CtrlS’s differentiators, and underscores the company’s Edge-centric solutions. He also sheds light on its commitment to sustainable energy and unveils future expansion plans. Here are the key takeaways from this insightful discussion.
Q: Can you provide an overview of CtrlS’s key offerings and explain what sets them apart in the market?
A: We offer a comprehensive suite of services in India, serving as a one-stop solution for our customers. Our offerings span co-location, managed services, and cloud solutions—including public and private cloud—ensuring end-to-end support.
Beyond data centers, managed services, and cloud solutions, we also operate a full-fledged network company with National Long Distance (NLD), International Long Distance (ILD), and IP licenses in India. This enables us to deliver robust network services, further enhancing our integrated service portfolio.
Customers choosing to co-locate with us don’t need multiple providers. We handle everything—cloud solutions, co-location, managed services, and seamless network connectivity—offering a fully integrated package under one roof.
Q: With the rapid growth of transactional data in India, how do you envision the future of data centers catering specifically to enterprise-class clients?
A: AI has become the latest buzzword, transforming industries worldwide. If you compare today’s data centers to those of the past, the shift is striking. Earlier, data centers functioned merely as co-location spaces. Now, they have evolved into interconnection and network hubs where businesses co-locate, exchange traffic, and establish seamless connectivity.
Let’s talk about AI and how we’re integrating it into our infrastructure. We are designing all our upcoming data centers to be AI-ready. Even our hyperscale facilities in key metro regions like Hyderabad and Mumbai are built to support AI workloads. These facilities can handle power capacities of up to 250 kilowatts per rack and load-bearing capacities of up to 2,500 kilograms per rack. That’s the scale and innovation we are driving forward.
Q: With numerous players entering the data center market in India, what is your strategy to stay competitive and differentiate your services?
A: Not every player in India offers a full spectrum of services. While many focus solely on data centers, we go beyond. We provide a comprehensive, one-stop solution, eliminating the need for customers to seek separate telco providers for internet or P2P connectivity.
Under one umbrella, we deliver everything—network services, co-location, managed services, and cloud solutions. We are entirely self-sufficient, ensuring seamless integration and efficiency. That’s what sets us apart.
Q: As you oversee Edge technology, what key innovations have you introduced in Edge-centric solutions?
A: We are among the first data center companies in India to make bold speculative investments in edge data centers. As of now, we have two live facilities—one in Patna, a Tier-2 city, and another in Lucknow.
Our Patna facility has a 109-rack capacity and is already 80-90% sold out. To meet growing demand, we are developing a new Greenfield data center in Patna with a 10-megawatt IT load capacity. Currently under construction, it is set to go live by November.
Similarly, in Lucknow, we operate a 50-rack facility. Looking ahead, we plan to expand aggressively, with strategic investments in edge data centers across 16+ cities in India.
Q: With the rising demand for driverless cars and the massive data exchange between automated vehicles and Edge computing, do you have any specific plans to address this in India?
A: As a data center or cloud provider, our role is to deliver the underlying technology for these solutions. We don’t delve into the intricate details of applications or the technologies powering them. However, automation and AI-driven applications are evolving rapidly.
A time will come when businesses must expand to Tier 2 cities. These applications are highly latency-sensitive, making proximity crucial. You can’t host a server in Mumbai and expect seamless service in Patna. To ensure optimal performance, a local copy of the application must be deployed in Patna as well.
Q: How does the size of your data centers compare to your competitors? Additionally, could you elaborate on the scale and types of data centers you operate in India and across Asia?
A: We currently operate 16+ live data centers with a combined capacity exceeding 250 megawatts. On the global front, we are set to launch our first hyperscale facility in Thailand. This marks our first international expansion beyond India.
Q: Considering the high energy consumption of the data center industry, how does CtrlS integrate sustainability into its operations, and what role does it play in your long-term strategy?
A: We are driving this transformation forward. A quick Google search for CtrlS and sustainability will show that we are the only data center company in India to establish a captive solar farm.
Currently, we draw over 60 megawatts of green power from this solar facility, reinforcing our leadership in sustainable energy.
Our chairman, Sridhar Pinnapureddy, is widely recognized as the Green Man of India for his unwavering commitment to renewable energy.
Q: What are your future plans for innovation and growth, and how do you plan to drive both forward?
A: We are advancing with cutting-edge technologies like liquid cooling, ensuring all our data centers are AI-ready. This transformation is already in motion. Over the next 12 to 18 months, we plan to launch 16+ new facilities across India, reinforcing our commitment to innovation and expansion.
