Datacenter United is Building Belgium’s Digital Future: “We Don’t Think in Silos, We Think in Ecosystems”
Demand for digital infrastructure is growing at an unprecedented rate. From cloud solutions and AI applications to high-performance computing, organisations require reliable, scalable and sustainable data centre capacity. Datacenter United is playing an increasingly important role in meeting this demand. With fourteen data centres across Belgium, the company is building a future-ready platform where innovation, sustainability and customer focus are at the heart of everything it does.
Founder and CEO Friso Haringsma looks beyond the company’s growth and focuses on the impact Datacenter United can have on Belgium’s digital infrastructure. “We provide a platform of data centres to the Belgian market. Our aim is to make data centre services accessible to a broad audience, in a way that is sustainable in the long term and based on a fair and transparent way of doing business.”
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From Two Employees to a Team of Seventy Professionals
When Friso and his technical partner founded Datacenter United, the company was a start-up in the truest sense of the word. “There were just two of us when we started Datacenter United. In the beginning, we did everything ourselves. I had one technical colleague, and I handled everything that wasn’t technical.”
Today, the company employs around seventy people. “When I see that we now have seventy people actively working within the company, that we are able to support families through the jobs we create, and that people come to work every day with genuine passion, that gives me enormous satisfaction. The fact that people believe in the Datacenter United brand, in the company, and in me as a person is something I’m truly proud of. You are always looking ahead to the future. But when you occasionally stop and reflect on what has already been achieved, that’s really remarkable.”
Growth Driven by Market Needs
Datacenter United’s ambitions are clear: continue to grow while responding to the evolving needs of customers and society. “Our ambition is to continue building on what we are doing today. We want to further expand our portfolio of locations and ensure that we can provide the capacity the market is demanding.”
This growth is supported by financing from organisations including NIBC. Rather than funding a single project, the investment supports the company’s broader long-term development. “With this financing, we are working on efficiency improvements, further implementing our sustainability strategy and expanding capacity across several of our locations.”
Machelen as a Showcase for Sustainable Innovation
One of the most visible projects is located in Machelen, where Datacenter United is currently upgrading the entire cooling system of an existing data centre to improve operational efficiency. “We want to move from a PUE of approximately 1.7 to around 1.3. Those are significant efficiency gains.” At the same time, the site is being expanded to support customers with greater computing requirements.
“We are seeing increasing demand for higher-density deployments and greater computing power. We will be providing that capacity in both Machelen and Brussels.” This enables Datacenter United to respond directly to growing demand driven by AI and high-performance computing.
“A significant part of the market has traditionally looked towards the Nordics, but there is also a need for this type of capacity locally. We want to be able to meet that demand from within Belgium.”
Building While Everything Remains Operational
One unique aspect of these expansion projects is that they are being carried out within fully operational data centres, requiring exceptional precision. “Everything takes place in a live environment. Our customers’ operations must continue uninterrupted. When components are replaced or taken offline, continuity can never be put at risk.” This makes the projects highly demanding from a technical perspective.
Sustainability Goes Beyond Energy Efficiency
While data centres are often judged primarily on their energy consumption, Friso views sustainability in a much broader sense. “Sustainability is not only about efficiency gains. It is also about people, how you work together as an organisation and how you build for the long term.”
At Datacenter United, this commitment is reflected across multiple areas, from employee development and wellbeing to circular water usage and renewable energy. The company now operates entirely on renewable electricity and is actively exploring ways to repurpose residual heat. “We work closely with several cities to make our residual heat available for district heating networks and other industrial applications.” These efforts have not gone unnoticed. “Recently, these initiatives were recognised through an EcoVadis Gold Medal rating, confirming that we are on the right track.”
Shared Values
According to Friso, Datacenter United’s core values form the foundation of everything the company does. “Our key values are Connected, Certified and Committed.”
These values are reflected not only in the company culture but also in its service offering. In addition to traditional colocation services, Datacenter United increasingly provides complementary services such as connectivity, interconnection between locations and internet access. “We want to be more than a colocation provider. We want to be a platform that helps customers gain easy access to the entire ecosystem. We do not think in silos. We look at what the sector needs, what our customers need and how we can help.”
The company describes its collaboration with NIBC as particularly positive. “NIBC shares the same values. For us, it is important to work with a local bank that understands how the sector operates and is willing to grow alongside us. It is extremely valuable to work with a partner that understands our business, can think strategically with us and shares the same long-term vision.”
What sets NIBC apart is its knowledge of the market and the sector. That makes it much easier to tell our story and work together on future plans. NIBC stays close to people. Not from an ivory tower, but truly alongside us. And that is exactly how we approach our own customers and the sector as well.Friso Haringsma | Founder and CEO Datacenter United
Any questions? Please contact Frederik de Haas van Dorsser
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