(DURHAM) -- IBM on Thursday celebrated the opening of a new data center in the Research Triangle Park. The center is designed to support what is called, cloud computing. Cloud computing is a modern term that generally describes the delivery and consumption of IT resources over the Internet.

The new data center reduces technology infrastructure costs and complexity for clients while improving quality and speeding the deployment of services.  IBM contends that the new facility uses only half the energy required of a similar facility its size.

"Data centers have always been a critical part of IBM's global technology services, and they will be even more important as the processes, infrastructure, and systems that define business today become increasingly connected and intelligent," said Pat Kerin, general manager, IBM North America.

The data center will ultimately total 100,000 square feet at IBM's Research Triangle Park campus and is part of a $362 million investment by the corporation to build the new data center in North Carolina. IBM owns or operates more than 450 data centers worldwide.