Silviu Catalin Balaci

Romania is committed to expanding its digital infrastructure and connectivity capabilities, with its power availability and skilled technical workforce providing ample opportunities for growth. 

Capitalising on this growing trend is EvoBits IT, a company that is currently managing over 900 AI servers to meet growing demand for AI.

The organisation has been on quite a journey since it was first founded and now seeks to provide the essential infrastructure for businesses to power ahead in the digital transformation revolution. 

“We started initially as a programming company, focusing solely on software development for the first few years. Then we moved into the data centre business, starting with hosting during the cryptocurrency boom in 2017-2018,” says Silviu Balaci, founder and IT consultant at EvoBits IT. 

“Between 2020 and 2021, we moved completely to the data centre business. Starting in 2020, we stopped all external software development services. We're no longer doing software development except in extremely rare cases when clients specifically request it.”

From crypto to AI: A strategic evolution

EvoBits’ path towards the data centre market has been marked by calculated shifts in its business focus. First founded in 2014 as a software development firm, EvoBits IT first started engaging with data centres during the cryptocurrency mining boom of 2017. 

In 2021, Silviu sold his shares of EvoBits IT but remained with the company as a consultant in a role equivalent to Chief Technology Officer, managing business direction and technical strategy. This restructuring ultimately positioned the company for its next phase of growth in the AI infrastructure market.

Such a deliberate strategic move coincided with growing demand from AI startups seeking managed infrastructure services. More data centre power is required to support business demand for emerging technologies like AI and cloud computing, which has caused the market - particularly in Europe - to swell.

The company's approach to hardware deployment now differs from standard industry practice. While purchasing pre-built servers for high-end requirements, EvoBits IT assembles many AI servers in-house and also incorporates desktop-level central processing units (CPUs) for enhanced single-core performance that can take place throughout the data centre. To overcome the main disadvantages of using desktop-level CPUs, this assembly involves custom power distribution boards and PCIe switches, components that manage power delivery and data transfer between computer parts.

“To become competitive with the bigger companies, we had to do something different,” explains Silviu. “For the high-end servers that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, we still purchase those, but for smaller AI servers, we actually assemble them ourselves.”

This infrastructure supports a concentrated client base, as EvoBits IT currently has fewer than 10 clients. However, it has managed to generate a turnover of €7 million (US$7.29m) over the last year. 

Able to maintain its clear focus on data centre infrastructure, the company is looking to expand its facilities, which include a new two-megawatt (2MW) Tier III certified data centre and an eighteen-megawatt (18MW) modular liquid-cooled data centre.

Keeping your partners close

In order to support its continued growth in the European data centre market, EvoBits IT maintains a strong network of partnerships with three primary suppliers, including Innova Engineering, who support the design and build of EvoBits IT data centres, whilst also helping to address the specific challenges of AI infrastructure. 

“We have worked together since 2017,” Silviu explains. “They're flexible and willing to consider different approaches, even though they build many traditional data centres that don't face the same challenges we do. They treat us as knowledgeable partners, which isn't always easy to find.”

Likewise, long-term partner and IT giant Supermicro provides EvoBits with server hardware through a relationship strengthened by joint project presentations, whilst IT distributor ASBIS handles component distribution across Eastern and Central Europe.

These close-knit partnerships form part of the core ethos of EvoBits IT.

“As a company, we've faced significant challenges, including once coming close to bankruptcy, but we've overcome every obstacle and continued growing,” Silviu shares. “What sets us apart is our philosophy of operating more like a family than a company, even with our customers.”

To read the full story, click HERE.

Explore the latest edition of Data Centre Magazine  and be part of the conversation at our global conference series, Tech & AI LIVE and Data Centre LIVE. 

Discover all our upcoming events and secure your tickets today

Data Centre Magazine is a BizClik brand