As the global demand for a business grows, so does the need to extend its data center operations to other countries. However, there are significant challenges involved in taking an offering overseas, particularly if the services you provide rely on the availability of reliable, scalable local infrastructure.

Finding the right data center provider to partner with for establishing a Point of Presence (PoP) in another country is critical. However, not all infrastructure providers are created equal regarding the range and depth of solutions and services they offer.

In addition to tangible, measurable data center and network connectivity capabilities, there are intangible elements to consider that can make the difference between a positive and negative experience, and between strong business performance and failure—considerations that distinguish standard data center providers from true infrastructure partners.

Here are some critical factors to consider when searching for a local infrastructure partner:

• Flexible, scalable infrastructure solutions: From colocation to bare metal to interconnection options—including direct access to Tier-1 carriers, major internet exchanges, and the cloud ecosystem—you need a local partner who can support your evolving infrastructure needs.

• Expert staff: Since you will be relying on remote staff, it is critical that their skill level and technical knowledge are high and that they are available 24 x 7 x 365.

• Language skills: Operating in a foreign country can be demanding due to cultural differences. Ensure that the remote staff can communicate with you in a language common to both parties.

• Familiarity with import regulations: Bringing your hardware into another country can present challenges with customs regulations, taxes, processes, and more. This can be particularly complex in countries with stringent importation procedures.

• Agility and speed: Your business is agile and must respond quickly to shifts in the marketplace. Your infrastructure, likewise, needs to be agile to support these shifts effectively.

• Responsiveness and accountability: IT problems are inevitable. The key question is how they will be handled, especially when you cannot monitor them firsthand. A strong partner should be responsive, transparent, and accountable.

• Going the extra mile: Operating on unfamiliar ground means having a partner with your best interests in mind—one who is willing to go the extra mile and step in as needed to help with unexpected needs, whether that involves procuring local parts or offering strategic recommendations. This support is key to ensuring peace of mind.

Importation-related challenges in Brazil

While it can be challenging to find the right data center facility in a foreign country, the real difficulty often lies in bringing in all your equipment (servers, storage, etc.). Navigating customs and dealing with local laws, regulations, taxes, and processes can be extremely frustrating and time-consuming.

Brazil, the world’s eighth-largest economy, is an emerging digital hub with 162 million internet users in 2021—a number expected to reach 185.57 million by 2026, according to Statista Research. However, Brazil is also one of the most complex and expensive countries for importing IT hardware. Taxes are very high, and the customs process is highly bureaucratic, requiring extensive paperwork to obtain the necessary licenses.

Having a trusted local partner with a deep knowledge of Brazilian laws, codes, taxes, and tariffs can make the importation process faster and less stressful. This is where working with a unique, customer-focused provider like Latitude.sh, which offers more personalized services and custom projects, can make a significant difference.

Acronis required agility and speed

Latitude.sh recently helped Acronis, a leading global data protection and cybersecurity company, establish and scale up its business in Brazil. Acronis provides a cybersecurity platform that offers backup, disaster recovery, data protection, and related solutions for businesses.

Acronis had originally identified a different provider to work within São Paulo but they shifted to Latitude.sh due to the company’s greater responsiveness, speed, and agility and their extensive experience with custom deployments.

“After several months of negotiating the agreement with another provider, we decided to try Latitude.sh and things happened much faster! We agreed on the terms and started the business within a couple of months,” said Viktor Dzhokin, Procurement Specialist at Acronis.

Stellar customer service

Acronis was also deeply impressed with the level of customer service they received from Latitude.sh which made the experience of doing business in Brazil much smoother. Unlike many data center facilities in Brazil, the whole Latitude.sh staff is fluent in English, facilitating communication. Latitude.sh helped Acronis with many aspects of doing business locally, including navigating the complexities of the importation process and advising them every step of the way. 

“Latitude.sh helped us with customs clearance and this is not a usual service provided by data centers. Most data centers can’t provide such services,” said Sergey Gurin, Acronis Infrastructure Architect.

Help with post-importation challenges

Even after imported hardware clears customs and arrives at a local facility, challenges can arise in the form of support for the equipment. Since not all manufacturers of IT equipment used domestically have a presence in the country chosen for a new point of presence, finding spare parts can be difficult. Acronis encountered this issue, and Latitude.sh was able to address it promptly.

“They were very friendly and helped us with local procurement of small parts we needed to operate our infrastructure. Their customer service was exceptional…they basically assisted with whatever we needed,” added Gurin.

Flexible infrastructure options to support local business growth

The engagement with Acronis began with a single colocation rack at Latitude.sh's state-of-the-art MH1 data center facility in the heart of São Paulo.

Acronis’ powerful suite of products protects environments from cloud to hybrid to on-premises, offering cyber protection for data, applications, and systems with innovative next-generation antivirus, backup, disaster recovery, and endpoint protection management solutions. Several services, including Acronis Cyber Backup Cloud and Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud, were very well received by Brazilian audiences, leading to rapid growth.

“We experienced rapid growth of one of our services and needed to source hardware quickly. In this case, we decided it would be better to go with Latitude.sh hardware, which can be ordered fast,” explained Gurin.

Acronis needed to meet new customer demand within 3-4 weeks, as opposed to the 3-4 months it would have taken to import additional hardware. This is where Latitude.sh's Custom Deployments capability proved invaluable.

Latitude.sh addressed Acronis’ specific server configuration requirements by quickly procuring and importing servers with the necessary specifications, racking and stacking them, and then offering them as a service by adding them to the Latitude.sh automated bare metal platform.

This custom deployment also enabled seamless integration between colocation and bare metal, ensuring a flexible, hybrid infrastructure environment for Acronis.

Fast and consistent bare metal server deployment

The Latitude.sh bare metal cloud platform simplifies single-tenant server deployment for fast-moving global businesses like Acronis. Servers can be deployed within minutes and scaled on demand using Latitude.sh's intuitive self-service portal.

Clients can easily manage and scale their environments, leveraging a range of powerful features offered by the platform, including custom operating systems, SSH keys, OS reinstalls, IPMI access through a secure VPN, and more.

Through the robust and consistent Latitude.sh automated platform—available in 11 locations worldwide—clients can effortlessly establish and maintain a global bare metal infrastructure.

Poised for explosive growth: Brazil and 5G

Despite some of the challenges discussed, this is a very exciting time for companies expanding their business in Brazil, as the federal government plans to roll out 5G technology in 2022 to all 26 Brazilian states, starting with São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

This rollout will significantly increase connectivity and internet usage in the country, expanding business opportunities for providers of digitally-based content and services. The anticipated proliferation of data will lead to an acceleration of high-performance, low-latency use cases that can be optimally addressed through the power of bare metal computing.