Data center provider NorthC Switzerland, part of the Dutch NorthC Group, and Swiss cloud provider Phoenix Systems will jointly launch an ‘AI-as-a-Service’ (AIaaS) in Q1 2024. As part of this strategic partnership, Phoenix will open a new kvant Cloud Region – Phoenix’ service offering – in the NorthC data center in Basel, Switzerland. This step will make it significantly easier for organizations to access and use artificial intelligence (AI).
With this AIaaS offering, organizations will be able to use AI features without having to develop their own AI expertise or infrastructure. The AI platform will support a wide range of proven use cases and increase customer value. Phoenix already provides turnkey solutions for this, which can be implemented without complex customization. Among other things, both partners see great potential for the first public AI cloud of this type for the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries, for research, as well as for finance and other digitized industries. As Basel is a key hub in Switzerland and Europe for these and related industries, the local NorthC data center is the ideal location to host this new service offering.
Switzerland leads in AI and data protection
Florian Nöll, Chief Executive Officer of Phoenix Systems, stressed the importance of this strategic collaboration: “This collaboration is an important step, not only for Phoenix Systems but also for Switzerland as a location for innovation. We are once again demonstrating that Switzerland is leading the way in Europe, without compromising on data protection or international compatibility. For Phoenix Systems, this strategic collaboration is an important milestone, as this will allow us to further expand our offerings in the area of digital sovereignty. At the same time, our customers with critical digital infrastructure retain fully in control of their AI projects.”
Frank Zachmann, Managing Director DACH for NorthC: “NorthC and Phoenix Systems complement each other in an ideal way: Both companies place great emphasis on providing customers with innovative solutions and a sustainable, time- and cost-efficient service. Digital sovereignty and local proximity are key aspects on both sides – and the joint offering takes the provision of digital infrastructure to a new level: in NorthC’s data centers, the foundation is created to shape the AI landscape in Switzerland in a sustainable way. We are proud of this and look forward to working with Phoenix and to the possibility of introducing this service at other locations.”
