Strategy Development Lead, Innovation Partnerships
The challenge
Green Mountain wanted a marketing tool that it could use in various settings to present the numerous benefits of its Norwegian data centres to potential clients globally, and build trust in its services without clients having to visit the data centres in person.
The solution
Green Mountain's VR tour highlights the benefits of its state-of-the-art data centres in Norway – a country with one of the lowest power prices in the world. The VR tour provides a highly realistic experience of visiting the facilities and their surroundings.
For more information: Enhanced Reality Centre of ExcellenceAbout the customer
Green Mountain AS is a data centre company specialized in delivering high-end data centre services to demanding enterprise and wholesale customers around the world. The company currently operates two data centres in Norway. Both data centres are Tier III certified by Uptime Institute for design and facility.
Visit Green Mountain's website.
Immersive experience
A unique dimension to showcase the key features of data centres such as security, cooling and infrastructure.
Virtual presence
A truly realistic VR tour for potential clients and partners around the globe, supporting swift decision making.
Interactive content
A fully interactive and versatile VR marketing and sales tool for client meetings, exhibitions and presentations.
Showcasing Green Mountain’s advanced data centres to clients worldwide
Up to 80% of Green Mountain’s clients are situated in locations far away from its data centres in Norway. Potential clients typically wish to visit a data centre before deciding on a service provider, but visiting the centres in person would require a significant investment of time for overseas clients.
The company wanted to create a versatile VR marketing tool that its sales personnel and partners could use in meetings, exhibitions and presentations – a virtual reality tour of its data centres and their surroundings that would reflect the superior quality of its facilities and services.
Green Mountain wanted the VR tour to give a realistic view of both of its data centres: DC1-Stavanger, a unique underground data centre in a former high-security NATO ammunition storage facility; and DC2-Telemark, a data centre situated in an ideal location for clients with specific growth requirements, with many large hydro-power stations nearby that guarantee robust and low-cost power to the site.
Green Mountain wished to showcase not only its own world-class facilities, but also their surroundings, to ensure clients could appreciate the expansion opportunities it provides, and see how Green Mountain utilises fjords and the cool Norwegian climate as a cooling source.
The entire process of creating our VR tour was very well-run and smooth. Tieto asked all the right questions and the thorough, iterative process ensured we got exactly what we wanted: a superior VR experience that reflects the extremely high standards of service we provide our own clients. I now use the VR tour in every single meeting I have, and it receives marvellous feedback.
Svein Atle Hagaseth
Chief Sales Officer at Green Mountain AS
An outstanding VR experience of the data centres and their surroundings
The 360-degree tour realistically portrays the security, space and capabilities offered at Green Mountain’s data centres. It highlights business critical elements and enables potential customers to virtually examine all the possibilities and benefits that the data centres offer.
The VR experience works on two different platforms: as a full-on virtual reality tour with VR-glasses, which can be used for example to attract crowds at exhibitions or in pivotal client meetings; and a lighter web-based solution that is easy to use during initial client meetings and public speeches.
As Green Mountain has always been a thought leader in its industry, the tour was built to reflect the company’s cutting-edge approach to technology and correlate to the high standards of its own services.
The tour gives potential clients a chance to experience what it would be like to walk through Green Mountain’s data centres without travelling to Norway. The outcome depicts the company’s green values and unique data centres. It also provides an x-ray vision into certain areas of the data centres, thus allowing users to gain a comprehensive picture of the facilities within a short time span. During the virtual walkthrough of the facilities, users also experience sound effects, for example the accurate echoing sound of footsteps in the underground DC1-Stavanger data centre.
Today, Green Mountain’s sales personnel utilise the VR tour in their work on a daily basis. Green Mountain’s representatives describe the feedback the VR tour receives from clients as fantastic, and also note that the VR experience aptly demonstrates Green Mountain’s thought leadership and pioneer position in its industry. 
For instance, one senior executive of a leading global company said it is the best marketing tool he has ever seen in our industry – and I assure you, he has seen it all.
Svein Atle Hagaseth
Chief Sales Officer at Green Mountain AS
Green Mountain wanted to make sure that there is no dissonance between the high quality of its data centres and the VR tour that showcases them. Together with Tieto, Green Mountain invested significant time and resources to create a superior VR experience that allows potential clients everywhere in the world to gain a realistic experience of all the benefits Green Mountain’s data centres have to offer.
We used an iterative process to create a highly realistic VR tour
Green Mountain and Tieto have a long history of collaboration in various projects. Upon hearing about Green Mountain's need to provide potential clients around the world with a genuine experience of how reliable and advantageous their data centres are, we proposed creating a VR tour that would highlight their service and bring new value to their business.
We started the project with a thorough walkthrough of Green Mountain's two data centres, followed by in-depth discussions to ensure we knew exactly what Green Mountain wished to achieve with the VR tour. We first created the entire VR experience together with our trusted technology partners for one of Green Mountain's two data centres, before moving on to complete the other.
We had several iterations throughout the process to guarantee that we included exactly the right footage to create the feel Green Mountain was looking for, and achieved a great storyline and flow for the entire VR tour. A key issue we needed to consider was pace, as Green Mountain wanted people to be able to have a full VR experience of their data centres and their surroundings in just a few minutes.
To ensure Green Mountain can make the most of its VR tour, we created two variations: a lighter web version which is easy to use in for example client meetings, and a high-end, fully immersive version, which is used with VR-glasses for example at events and exhibitions.
