El Corte Inglés has taken another step in its digital diversification strategy by rebranding its data centers company with a new name: Kumo Networks. This move, aimed at distancing itself from its previous phase linked to KIO Networks in Spain, comes at a time when the data center market is experiencing a clear boom: increased capacity demand, greater regulatory pressure, and above all, a rising need for reliable infrastructure to support public and corporate services.
The new name is no coincidence. Kumo means “cloud” in Japanese and aligns with the type of business the subsidiary aims to project: not just hosting systems, but offering services such as private cloud, business continuity, backups, and resilience capabilities against incidents—factors that today weigh almost as much as raw power.
From industrial partner to full ownership: the post-KIO phase in Spain
Until recently, the data center business in Spain operated under a shared scheme: El Corte Inglés controlled 50% of the company, and the other 50% was held by the Mexican group KIO Networks, which maintained its own international activities separate from the Spanish joint venture.
With the purchase of the remaining stake (a transaction El Corte Inglés completed in 2024), the group now controls 100% of the subsidiary. This corporate move naturally led to the next step: building its own identity. Kumo Networks is, in practice, the public signal that the company wants to compete with its own voice in a sector where the brand (and the trust it conveys) is part of the product.
Murcia as a key piece: public contracts, critical services, and continuity
One of the pillars of this subsidiary has historically been its relationship with the autonomous government of the Region of Murcia, where the company has acted as a provider of technological infrastructure for critical services. In recent years, these contracts have evolved from classic hosting and operations towards models closer to managed private cloud, with a greater focus on availability, inter-sede connectivity, and incident recovery.
According to information provided by the user (sourced from a journalistic source), the Region of Murcia awarded Kumo a 27 million euro contract for five years, aimed at renewing and expanding capacities: private cloud, maintenance of connectivity with regional public centers, and strengthening associated services (backups and cyberattack response plans). In practice, such agreements often serve as a thermometer for two realities: the growing dependency of the administration on digital systems and the value assigned to operational continuity.
What does (really) a “Tier IV” data center mean
In a context where almost everything is marketed as “critical,” certifications have become a common language for risk assessment. Kumo highlights facilities with Tier IV level, a category associated with fault-tolerant designs and redundancies that allow services to operate even if a significant part of the infrastructure experiences an incident.
In plain language: these are centers with duplicated components, alternative power and cooling routes, and operational capacity that ensures services remain available even if a failure occurs. The figure often associated with this level (and used as a sector benchmark) is an annual downtime of only a few tens of minutes under theoretical design and operation conditions.
Why this change matters beyond the name
Changing a name doesn’t make a data center bigger or a network faster. But it does change the framework:
- For El Corte Inglés, Kumo is a way to highlight an industrial asset in a market where data centers are no longer “invisible infrastructure,” but a strategic factor for companies and administrations.
- For the public client, the continuity of such agreements confirms a simple idea: digital transformation is no longer about “modernizing,” but about sustaining essential services (such as processing, healthcare, education, e-government) with guarantees of availability and recovery.
- For the sector, this case illustrates an increasingly common pattern: traditional companies seeking a second major phase supported by digital infrastructure, where margins are gained through operation, security, and reliability—not just with “square meters and kilowatts.”
In all, Kumo Networks emerges as a brand at a moment when private cloud and quality housing are moving from niche technical solutions to strategic conversations involving risk, continuity, compliance, and reputation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a private cloud, and why do some public administrations prefer it?
A private cloud is dedicated (or strongly isolated) computing and storage infrastructure for an organization, offering more control over security, data governance, and customization than a public cloud.
What does a Tier IV data center offer compared to other levels?
It provides fault tolerance and advanced redundancies that minimize the risk of service outages—key for critical systems and 24/7 operations.
Why is it relevant that El Corte Inglés has its own data center subsidiary?
Because it consolidates a presence in a strategic sector (digital infrastructure), with the capacity to compete in private cloud projects, continuity solutions, and critical services.
What changes for a client when a provider severs links with a previous brand?
Operationally, the main differences involve clarity in the brand, strategic roadmaps, alliances, and positioning. What matters most is maintaining (or improving) service levels, support, and contractual guarantees.