Since its founding in 2002, data center and managed services provider ViaWest has expanded steadily from its Denver headquarters. The company now offers 24 enterprise-class data centers in Utah, Oregon, Texas and Nevada, but its next data center will be closer to home. ViaWest recently started construction on its fifth Colorado data center in Douglas County, the Parker Chronicle reported. Sandwiched between Denver and Colorado Springs, Douglas County offers an ideal climate, some unique opportunities for data center design and proximity to several burgeoning business tech markets.
The new data center, which will be located in the Douglas County Industrial Park in Inverness, Colo., will offer 204,000 square feet of space to local and national clients, according to the news source. At the outset it will house 25 ViaWest employees and approximately 100 third-party workers per week. ViaWest will utilize the new data center to deliver managed server hosting, cloud solutions, colocation and disaster recovery management services to its diverse client base.
“We provide services to medium- to large-size enterprises specifically related to IT infrastructure services,” ViaWest CFO Mike Krza told the Chronicle. “This climate and the low occurrence of natural disasters in the region tend to attract folks from both coasts. It is a large attraction for them to put their disaster recovery here.”
Douglas County Data Center: A Community Effort
Data center real estate markets in many states and communities benefit from friendly tax initiatives that support business growth, and Colorado government bodies have consistently proven themselves to be supporters of colocation and data center expansion. On June 30, Douglas County commissioners waived business personal property taxes for the first 10 years of occupancy, which produced an estimated $3 million in taxes and related fees, the Chronicle reported. County officials spoke to the importance of fostering a business-friendly financial environment that can positively influence long-term growth.
“This is a continuation of our economic development efforts to help insure our financial viability in this county,” stated commissioner Jack Hilbert.
Minnesota Is Next
Continuing a pattern of aggressive investing in the objective to offer more data centers for lease, ViaWest will soon also have data center space available in Minnesota. In May, the company announced plans to construct a Tier IV design certified data center in the Minneapolis region to offer colocation, managed services and cloud infrastructure to businesses in the area. In preparation for the project they acquired a 155,000 sq. ft. industrial facility on 28 acres of land as well as existing infrastructure, according to their website. The new data center is expected to be ready for occupation in the first quarter of 2014.
