A French Web hosting firm has its Canadian data centre in Montreal, and it’s for more than just the common language.
Mathieu Halle, director of Montreal-based Ecritel Canada, said Hydro Quebec’s electricity rates are low enough that his company saves 40 per cent less on power alone just by selecting a location in Quebec.
Paris-based Ecritel has had its Canadian subsidiary for about two years now, Halle said, primarily to provide service to large corporations who were already clients in Europe or China. Ecritel also operates a data centre in Shanghai.
“They either want to expand in North America or they already have an office here,” he said when describing Ecritel’s core customer base.
Halle said Ecritel’s competitors include Fusepoint Managed Services, a Toronto hosting provider that was acquired in June by Savvis Inc.
“Our core business is to respond to the needs of customers where they need to host a Web site, intranet or extranet,” Halle said, adding Ecritel can take care of backup and software updates.
Pricing depends heavily on the services a customer wants and Ecritel wants clients to sign up for three years, Halle said.
“You’re not going to see $15 a month for 150 MB on one server,” he said. “We just don’t do that.”