African-born telco, Paratus Group, has announced that all five of the Group’s Data Centers (DCs)have been awarded ISO 9001 (quality management), ISO 27001 (information security), and PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards) certifications and this commitment to compliance is understood to be unequalled on the African continent.
Paratus is Africa’s quality network. With an eye on the future, the group’s investment in infrastructure underscores its long-term commitment to transform Africa through exceptional digital infrastructure and customer service. Paratus is managed by a passionate and professional operational team in seven African countries – Angola, Botswana, DRC, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zambia. The business’s extended network provides a satellite connectivity-focused service in 37 African countries to a magnitude of customer satellite connections across Africa. This connects African businesses across the continent and delivers end-to-end service excellence. The group’s footprint extends beyond Africa to international (points of presence) PoPs in Europe, the UK and the USA.
The company has built and runs two DCs in Luanda, Angola; one in Lusaka, Zambia; two in Namibia, one in Windhoek and one in Swakopmund (the Paratus Equiano Cable Landing Station). Its Data Centers in Angola and Namibia were the first carrier-neutral, Tier-III by design DCs in those countries. Generally, ISO certifications are seals of approval from the International Standardization Organization. They verify that a company is adhering to extremely high international standards in all its practices. This assures African and global customers that the Paratus Group offers unrivalled service levels, security, and overall DC management.
For Paratus, information security and quality management are of utmost importance. Acquiring the ISO 9001, ISO/IEC 27001, and PCI-DSS certifications serve as confirmation that the group is performing at optimum levels and meeting international management criteria. The ISO/IEC 27001 certification is one of the most recognised and stringent information security standards.
The PCI Data Security Standard v3.2.1 certification covers all physical security aspects of the data center. This certification also speaks to financial industries since they are all required to store, process, and transmit payments through a PCI-compliant institution. Having this certification proves that Paratus is readily available to host financial institutions.
All five of the Paratus carrier neutral DC facilities are Tier-III by design and offer various colocation services, from half-cabinets to multi-tenant rows and private cages, as well as key features such as dedicated generators – per A&B feed, for comprehensive resilience and fuel autonomy. In addition, it has Diverse Power Feed design throughout from utility to cabinet level and separate utilities UPS to ensure electrical autonomy.
The DC also has dual UPS feeds per cabinet, Cold Aisle Containment and inter-resilient CRAC cooling units at N+1, multiple diverse carrier routes with separate Meet-Me-Rooms (A&B) as well as access to tower across diverse infrastructure from fiber to microwave, direct link to the new Equiano cable and CLS in Swakopmund – Namibia and access to Paratus backbone network linking multinational customers to the Paratus Data Centers in Angola and Zambia.
Paratus Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Schalk Erasmus said, “Paratus has reached the optimum certification required for all five of our data centers. This fits well with our vision and aim of transforming Africa through exceptional digital infrastructure and customer service. We’ve passed the international inspections, and, in turn, we will help enable our customers to implement their local and international digital business strategies. This, together with providing Africa’s quality network, means we’re helping to ‘unlimit’ the future of Africa.”