With an eye in the cloud, UOL acquires Diveo
Valor Econômico
In another action in the agitated market of data centers in Brazil, UOL announced yesterday the purchase of Diveo, company specialized in providing services related to telecommunications and data centers to other companies. In the assessment of analysts surveyed, the business represents a positive step for the company. "With the acquisition, UOL can no longer be considered merely an Internet Access Provider, since other services such as hosting, cloud computing and online advertising, already represent nearly 70% of its earnings", said an analyst who preferred not to have his name disclosed.
With Diveo, it rises to nine the number of companies acquired by UOL in three years, with the goal of strengthening its strategy in the segment of data centers. Currently, the company caters to 300 thousand customers in the area. Among the services offered are hosting and construction of websites, structure of virtual stores, payment methods, email marketing and management of servers. One of the great bets of the sector is cloud computing. According to this type of service, the systems and information of the customers are accessed over the Internet, without the need of installing programs in the user's computer. Data centers are essential in that process because they represent a sort of strong safe in which the data are protected with strong safety.
In April, UOL inaugurated a new data center in São Paulo. The unit was designed to consolidate the seven units of the company installed in the capital and in Barueri, in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. Diveo is a company based in the United States, with businesses in Brazil and Colombia. The company maintains a data center in each of these countries. This year, an investment of R$ 40 million (US$ 23.5 million) was announced to increase the center in Brazil.
Several companies have announced, this year, investments in the construction of data centers in Brazil, with an eye on the service offer by means of cloud computing. The model is becoming increasingly more attractive to companies because it reduces costs, both for those hiring it, and those providing the services. The German T-Systems, for instance, invested R$ 50 million (US$ 29.4 million) in the construction of a data center in Barueri, in an area of 600 square meters. Also in Barueri, the Brazilian Alog announced an investment of R$ 30 million (US$ 17.7 million) to put up its third structure in the country. For the next five years, the forecast of the company is to invest an additional volume of R$ 30 million (US$ 17.7 million).
On its turn, LocaWeb, which has already invested R$ 49 million (US$ 28.8 million) in the putting up of a new data center in São Paulo, plans to invest another R$ 111 million (US$ 65.3 million) to expand its activities in the next seven years. In September, the company received an investment of the American Fund Silver Lake Sumeru.