Mario Spanicciati Executive VP of Operations and Executive Director of EMEA BlackLine Systems

As part of its continuing effort to provide the highest level of service to clients around the world, BlackLine Systems has opened data centres in Amsterdam and London to support the growing demand for the company’s enterprise-class financial close SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) solution in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region. 

Data will reside on servers at Verizon subsidiary Terremark – the world’s leading provider of sophisticated data centre and security solutions.  The top-tier facilities will provide BlackLine’s EMEA-based clients with unmatched performance, security and availability, as well as long-term scalability, as BlackLine continues its rapid global expansion.

Achmea, a pan-European insurance provider and the largest carrier in the Netherlands, is up and running on the new BlackLine European data centres.

“As a Dutch insurance provider serving clients across Europe, finding a hosted service provider partner that operates here, as well, was very important to us,” Pieter Ettes, information manager, Achmea, said.  “With BlackLine’s new data centres located right here in Europe, we are assured our data is housed in some of the world’s most secure, high-end facilities, offering the highest industry standard levels of uptime, availability, security and reliability – and compliant with European regulations for the insurance industry.”

Research shows that more than 90 percent of companies in Europe (and worldwide) still do account reconciliations using Excel spreadsheets, rather than implementing a system to automate and optimise the process.

“Some estimates suggest that as much as 95 percent of companies are still reconciling their balance sheet accounts manually!  We have a wide open market opportunity,” Mario Spanicciati, executive director of EMEA & EVP of Operations, BlackLine Systems, said.   “Coupled with the fact that SaaS subscriptions in general are expected to continue to increase at an exponential pace, we want to be sure we have a scalable infrastructure in place for our enterprise-class Cloud offering that will provide our clients with world-class performance and security and also support our growth for the long haul.”

The data centre provider of choice for many of the largest technology, media and entertainment companies, financial and healthcare institutions and governments worldwide, Terremark is equipped with advanced infrastructure and managed service offerings that deliver the scale, security and reliability necessary to meet the ever-increasing, and often mission-critical, requirements that large enterprises and even government agencies demand.

“Access to Terremark’s expertise in secure co-location, managed hosting and network services, as well as the company’s global capabilities, will be invaluable to us and our clients going forward,” added Spanicciati.
BlackLine’s new European data centres include components and technology from the world’s leading networking and infrastructure providers including Cisco, Dell, SAP and VMware.  Taking security to another level, BlackLine recently became the first account reconciliation and financial close software provider to successfully complete a SOC 2 Type 2 security examination – an internationally recognised standard, providing a set of guidelines for auditors to use in order to objectively assess the data security and privacy practices of service organisations.  BlackLine’s successful SOC 2 Type 2 audit confirms even greater focus on controls related to the security and availability of the BlackLine Financial Close Suite.   

BlackLine’s SOC 2 Type 2 audit complements its SOC 1 Type 2 report prepared in accordance with the Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements No. 16 (SSAE 16), which the company also was first in the industry to achieve and has since updated annually.  In conjunction with its SSAE 16 audits, BlackLine also has completed annual International Standard on Assurance Engagements No. 3402 (ISAE 3402) examinations using the standards set forth by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), further ensuring that BlackLine has system controls in place and operating effectively in compliance with international standards.

BlackLine Systems was the first to develop and offer a commercially available Balance Sheet Account Reconciliation solution.  An experienced provider of software to companies from the Fortune 100 to beyond the Fortune 1,000, BlackLine provides quick-to-implement, scalable and easy-to-use applications that automate the entire financial close process to help improve financial controls for companies of all sizes.  BlackLine software applications complement existing Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.

BlackLine offers clients its enterprise-class software in a simple and secure OnDemand/SaaS platform.  With a proven track record and a commitment to customer success, BlackLine seeks to reduce the burden the financial close places on accounting and finance professionals.

BlackLine headquarters are in Los Angeles, with offices in Atlanta, Chicago, London, Melbourne, New York City and Sydney to serve the company’s growing global client base.