Internet: Eight months after the serious fire of its data center, the heavyweight of the cloud OVH does not stop… – 20 Minutes

The news had panicked the Web. Literally. Last March, the fire of an OVHcloud data center in Strasbourg had caused disruption to many websites across Europe. The company specializing in Internet hosting and cloud technology had recorded “120,000 impacted services” after the destruction of its SBG2 data center and part of the SBG1, reports Marie Vaillaud, head of corporate communications.

Today, where is the Strasbourg site of OVHcloud? “Since the end of April, everything was” up “, with 100% of services restored in a few weeks,” says Marie Vaillaud. The company has “started the dismantling of SBG2” which “is going to be rebuilt”, she specifies. In addition, a fifth data center, logically called SBG5, will see the light of day in Strasbourg : “Our insurers have covered damage to the tune of 58 million euros, out of the 61 million euros of damage caused by the fire. This allowed us to continue our growth in a calm manner. “

“The only European in the global Cloud Top 10”

With this in mind, the company, whose head office is based in Roubaix, has just announced its initial public offering. Almost a necessity for “the only European in the global Top 10 for cloud technology, behind the two Chinese and American blocks,” indicates Marie Vaillaud. Opposite, our competitors are Google and Amazon. We are in an exponential market and that is why we need to invest. We continue to grow on all of our sites, it is a general dynamic. And the IPO will allow us to accelerate even more. “

Despite the fire in Strasbourg? “In the case of OVH, it is very clear. The fire could have delayed the introduction, but I think that there was no impact neither in the continuity of the operation of the company, nor for the investors and, by ricochet, on the introduction in Stock market ”, analyzes a specialist in IPOs who wished to remain anonymous. On the contrary, according to him, “it proved that the company had strong backs. “

“It proved that the company had strong backs”

The success story is incredible for its founder Octave Klaba, who baptized his company from the initials of a pseudo student “Oles Van Herman” (later changed to “We host you?”). In 1999, then in Lille, the entrepreneur of Polish origin borrowed 7,000 euros from his family to create his hosting company. In 2020, OVHcloud recorded a turnover of 632 million euros and has 1.6 million customers in 140 countries.

In 2017, OVHcloud, which employs 2,400 people worldwide, also became the first French start-up to have acquired the status of “unicorn”, these companies valued at more than a billion dollars which are neither listed on the stock market. , nor subsidiaries of a large group.