Felicity IDC Limited (FIDC) -- a tier 3, PCI-DSS-certified internet data centre (IDC) -- is going to open for cloud service today (Saturday). It is specially designed for the country's financial sector.
The data centre, located in Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City in Gazipur's Kaliakoir, has over 100,000 square feet of space, 5MW power and 500 racks, which is ten times greater in capacity and size than the second-largest data centre in the private sector, claims the CEO of Felicity.
Felicity is the central hub of the remarkable 1-million-core-kilometre cable network of Fiber@Home, with an extensive presence of over 35,000 points of presence (PoPs) throughout the country, according to the company profile.
Its facility hosts major National Telecommunication Transmission Networks (NTTNs) and effectively utilises the 110,000-km cable network available. In addition, Felicity serves as a key distribution point for an impressive 1000+ Gbps global bandwidth.
Talking to The Financial Express, FIDC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sharful Alam said they understand the unique requirements of the banking and financial sector.
"That's why we have rigorously complied with the stringent standards set by Bangladesh Bank, making us the ideal solution for banks, financial institutions and other BFSIs. However, our services extend beyond the BFSI sector," he said.
He said FIDC provides an exceptional solution for enterprises, content delivery networks (CDNs) and over-the-top (OTT) platforms.
"What sets us apart is our proximity to a vast population of over 170 million people, as Felicity is only 3 to 4 milliseconds away from these potential users."
Moreover, he said that their extensive network connections with top internet exchanges and premier-tier carriers ensure the lowest latency, robust security and effortless user experience.
Sharful Alam said that it is worth highlighting that Felicity has secured exclusive long-term lease agreements, with the potential for expansion for up to 65 years, ensuring stability and growth.
The CEO said earlier this year, Bangladesh Bank published a cloud guideline for the banking and financial services industry (BFSI), strongly recommending that banks host their applications in the cloud, with the caveat that certain criteria must be met.
Sharful Alam said unfortunately there is currently no public or community cloud that meets these criteria, including cloud infrastructure that must be located within the territory of Bangladesh.
In response, he said Felicity IDC Limited (FIDC) is building this cloud infrastructure that will fulfil the requirements advised by the central bank.
"This initiative is driven by the anticipation of several digital banks operating in the near future, for which the cloud will be tailored," he said.
Furthermore, Mr Alam said FIDC is planning to launch a Security Operations Centre as a Service (SOCaaS) in early 2024, in collaboration with world leaders in cybersecurity.
This service aims to combat the cyber attacks faced by developing countries, he said.
The FIDC CEO said banks and enterprises will have the option to subscribe to the SOCaaS instead of building their own cybersecurity teams, which can be time-consuming, expensive and not as efficient.
To enhance the relevance and practicality of the BFSI Cloud and SOCaaS initiatives, he said FIDC has invited industry experts, practitioners and academicians to participate in roundtable discussions and panel sessions on Saturday (today) in a city hotel.
He said FIDC made a commitment four years ago to construct an international standard data centre.
Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, we successfully completed the construction of a tier-III data centre in Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City by the end of 2021, he said.
He said as a result, numerous organisations, including multiple banks, have chosen to co-locate their disaster recovery site in the FIDC data centre.
In March this year, the central bank issued a guideline on cloud computing for the financial sector to facilitate data-sharing in a secure manner.
The new guideline is expected to help ensure a secure and business-friendly environment for the users and service providers.
They said that it would also give access to the regulatory body to monitor the cloud computing services.
Usually, the government does not allow cross-border sharing of personal data, although local firms prefer cross-border data sharing.
There are many local cloud service providers in Bangladesh, including an entity located at Kaliakoir that belongs to the government.
Cloud computing is a popular option for people and businesses for a number of reasons like cost savings, increased productivity, speed and efficiency, performance, and security.
In a circular issued in this regard, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) stressed the need for complying with the guidelines for the sake of keeping all cloud services uninterrupted in the country.
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