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(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — On Monday, IT service provider giant IBM (www.ibm.com) announced that it is planning its first cloud delivery center in Canada, the IBM Compute Cloud Centre, which it says will address “the growing demand from enterprises to reduce cost, increase efficiencies and access new technologies.”

The company says the $42 million facility will offer Canadian businesses the means to securely develop, host and test applications, paying only for the computing power they use. The company is selling the service partly on the geography and adherence to Canadian privacy regulations.

“Confidential information is protected and kept securely resident in Canada in accordance with Canadian privacy laws,” says the press release.

The Canada-specific cloud offering isn’t something you see mentioned often. IBM’s product, like many of the company’s IT outsourcing services, seems aimed more at the enterprise portion of the cloud computing market. But it is interesting to note that there is not a significant public cloud infrastructure offering based in Canada.

In the announcement, IBM cites Canadian software development firm VisionMax and IBM Canada business partner Buchanan Technologies as among the first clients to take advantage of the company’s Compute Cloud Centre in Canada.

The company says the new Smart Business Compute Cloud Centre complements IBM’s existing network of 17 data centers across Canada.

IBM says that while the service is already being provided (as in the case of VisionMax and Buchanan), Monday’s announcement marks the expansion of an existing facility, as well as the development of an entirely new location.

More detail – including pricing – for the Canadian cloud hosting offering from IBM is available in the “cloud development” section of the company’s website.

The release quotes Canadian IDC analyst Mark Schrutt who, in a review of the cloud computing market, wrote, “IBM becomes the first Tier 1 multinational IT service provider to establish Canadian cloud delivery capabilities, in a market that is expected to grow by more than 40% over the next three years, breaking the C$1billion mark by 2015. IBM’s global cloud footprint is impressive and is a critical component in addressing some of the technical issues around cloud such as latency. More importantly, at least for the Canadian market, IBM Smart Business Compute Cloud provides an in-country solution for buyers concerned about data residency.”