The deals provide Latisys with a footprint in northern Virginia, one of the most active data center markets in the nation. The fast-growing managed hosting provider has existing data centers in Irvine, Denver and Chicago. The Corporate Campus at Ashburn Center is located in a fiber-rich section of Ashburn adjacent to major data center campuses operated by Equinix, DuPont Fabros, MCI and Digital Realty Trust.

”We believe the addition of this campus in Ashburn provides an outstanding east coast presence in a strategic market, while at the same time complimenting our other U.S. markets, allows us broader reach into business and government customers, while positioning Latisys with an important gateway to Europe” said Pete Stevenson, Chief Executive Officer at Latisys. “The expansion reaffirms Latisys’ flexible service delivery approach is resonating with organizations that face demanding IT infrastructure and growth requirements.”

Latisys acquired Pryme, which had an existing lease for all 71,192 square feet of space in Building C of the complex. Latisys assumed Pryme’s lease and also leased an additional 51,905 square feet in Building B, apparently for development as a data center property. The two leases will each expire in May 2021.

Latisys was founded in 2007 as Managed Data Holdings (MDH) with backing from Catalyst Investors and Great Hill Partners. It has moved quickly to build a footprint in the managed hosting sector, acquiring three providers and quickly expanding its data center capacity. Here’s a recap:

• October 2007: Buys managed hosting Intelenet in Irivine, Calif and adds 12,000 square feet of new space.
• January 2008: Acquires Denver colocation and managed hosting company Data393 and accelerates a planned 10,000 square foot expansion.
• August 2008: Purchases Stargate in the Chicago market and starts an expansion project.
• March 2009: Rebrands as Latisys.

The interior of the Latisys data center in Oak Brook, Illinois, which has recently been expanded.

Latisys has completed an expansion of its Chicago data center, adding 9,000 square feet of high-density raised floor space, the company said today. Latisys has also accelerated the second phase of the expansion project, which is currently underway and will add an additional 13,000 square feet of space to the 86,000 square foot Oak Brook, Illinois facility in the third quarter of 2009.

The company said that 70 percent of the new expansion space was pre-sold, and the Oak Brook facility now houses approximately 70 managed hosting and colocation customers. Latisys has roughly doubled the size of its Chicago employee base since the beginning of the year and expects to add additional staff over the next six months.

“An increasing number of organizations are turning to our suburban Chicago facility as a cost-effective, secure and seamless way to address their long term need for additional data center space, power and services,” said John McCreary, general manager, Latisys Corp. “The completion of the first phase of our facility expansion and employee growth reflect Latisys’ commitment to providing customers with the scalability, flexibility and agility to grow and thrive.”

Credit Crunch a Demand Driver
Latisys said the expansion was driven by demand for additional space from Chicago-area companies that have maxed out the power and space in their existing facilities. It also noted that the tight credit markets have made it more difficult to raise funds for data center expansion, leading companies to opt for outsourcing their requirments rather than building their own facilities.

“Demand for scalable outsourced IT infrastructure management solutions in Chicago mirrors the positive response we are seeing at all of our nationwide colocation facilities,” said Evans Mullan, chief operating officer of Latisys Corp. “Despite the growth, Latisys remains laser-focused on providing each customer with the highest level of service.”

Latisys was founded in 2007 as Managed Data Holdings (MDH) with backing from Catalyst Investors and Great Hill Partners. It has moved quickly to build a footprint in the managed hosting sector, acquiring three providers and quickly expanding their data center capacity. Here’s a recap:

• October 2007: Buys managed hosting Intelenet in Irivine, Calif and adds 12,000 square feet of new space.
• January 2008: Acquires Denver colocation and managed hosting company Data393 and accelerates a planned 10,000 square foot expansion. 
• August 2008: Purchases Stargate in the Chicago market and starts an expansion project.

“We’re taking the logical next step in the evolution of our company,” said Peter Stevenson, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Latisys. “We are an emerging national services provider designed to meet customer needs for colocation and IT management solutions. And our strategically located data centers in different geographical regions let us provide cost-effective disaster recovery solutions.”

The name Latisys (pronounced LAT-eh-sis) combines the words “latitude” and “information systems,” which the company says reflects its national reach and breadth of services.

“Demands placed on IT organizations and businesses for cost-effective outsourced data center solutions, information storage, security and scalability are significant,” said Stevenson. “Latisys offers scalable infrastructure management solutions that provide customers with exactly what they need, when they need it.”

The company was founded as Managed Data Holdings in June 2007 by Catalyst Investors and Great Hill Partners. It has moved quickly to build a footprint in the managed hosting sector, acquiring three providers and quickly expanding their data center capacity. Here’s a recap:

• October 2007: MDH buys managed hosting Intelenet in Irivine, Calif and adds 12,000 square feet of new space.
• January 2008: MDH acquires Denver colocation and managed hosting company Data393 and accelerates a planned 10,000 square foot expansion. 
• August 2008: Managed Data buys Stargate in the Chicago market and starts a 13,000 square foot expansion.  

The int.stargate.comerior of the Stargate data center in Oak Brook, Illinois (Stargate.com)

Managed Data Holdings continues to invest in expanding and upgrading the data center facilities it has acquired. The company has hired Syska Hennessy Group Construction, Inc. to design and build a major expansion of its recently acquired Stargate data center in Oak Brook, Ill. The 13,000 square-foot expansion will add approximately 7 megawatts of critical power to the facility, enabling Managed Data to provide a full suite of managed services at the facility.

The addition will give the Stargate center 29,000 square feet of raised floor space, with Managed Data projecting a full build-out of more than 65,000 square feet of usable space during 2009.

Managed Data Holdings (MDH) was founded in June 2007 by Catalyst Investors and Great Hill Partners. It has moved quickly to build a footprint in the managed hosting sector, acquiring three providers and quickly expanding their data center capacity. Here’s a recap:

• October 2007:MDH buys managed hosting Intelenet in Irivine, Calif and adds 12,000 square feet of new space.
• January 2008:MDH acquires Denver colocation and managed hosting company Data393 and accelerates a planned 10,000 square foot expansion. 
• August 2008:Managed Data buys Stargate in the Chicago market and starts a 13,000 square footexpansion.  

The Stargate data center is an 86,000 square foot facility that was completed in late 2007.

“This expansion and design, along with the investments we are making in our other data centers, allows us to provide the types of colocation, managed hosting and managed services that customers require for their critical systems in the most reliable manner,” said Evans Mullan, chief operating officer of Managed Data Holdings. “In addition to our flexible and adaptable solutions ranging from cabinets to 5,000 square-foot secure microsuites, customers will get an environment meeting their expansion needs, within a secure data center of our size and capabilities.”

Syska Hennessy Group provides engineering and construction management services for data center facilities to a range of clients, from moderately sized regional companies to many of the Fortune 100.

The Stargate acquisition continues the strong deal activity in the data center and managed hosting sector. Earlier this week the private equity firm ABRY Partners bought Q9 Networks, marking its third deal in the industry in the past year.

Managed Data Holdings said it expects to continue investing in infrastructure upgrades for the 86,000 square foot facility near Chicago, which was originally developed by Exodus and will continue to operate under the Stargate brand. MDH has funded expansions of the data center infrastructure for Intelenet and Data393 as well. 

“As the demand for high density data center space grows, we are committed to meeting those demands by increasing cooling and power capacity within the facility,” said Evans Mullan, COO of Managed Data Holdings. “These capacity increases, along with the full suite of managed services, including virtualization already available in our other data centers, will benefit current and future customers by providing both increased efficiency today and a clear growth path for future requirements. We will continue to deliver top shelf customer service to our existing customers at the center, and we’ll use our hands-on service approach to convince Chicago area business customers that our data center is the place to be.”
Stargate was founded in 1989 by CEO Gary Chaffin as a telecommunications company, and soon gained accreditation as an ICANN domain registrar and added shared and dedicated hosting services. Last year the company sold its domain business and shifted its focus to the colocation business with the opening of the Oak Brook data center. The acquisition by MDH highlights the continued strength of the Chicago market.  

“Stargate, located in the heart of the Midwest, provides a strategic geographic location with leading edge data center technology, and bolsters Managed Data Holdings’ disaster recovery offerings to mid-size and enterprise business customers,” said Peter Stevenson, Chief Executive Officer of Managed Data Holdings, who said the deal would “facilitate continued organic growth and geographic expansion.”

“We are very pleased to be joining forces with Managed Data Holdings,” said John Rante, Stargate’s Chairman. “This new company brings the necessary resources to meet our customers’ growing needs and accelerate the company’s growth trajectory. Besides providing customers with premium data center solutions, we will now be able to offer Managed Data Holdings’ existing disaster recovery, managed hosting and managed service offerings to the Chicago market. It’s a very exciting opportunity.”

Managed Data Holdings was founded in June 2007 by Catalyst Investors and Great Hill Partners, and invests in data centers in Tier I and Tier II markets in the U.S. to meet enterprise demand for managed hosting, colocation space and disaster recovery services.

“The demand for colocation and managed hosting continues to grow at an attractive rate,” said Brett Jones, General Manager of Data393. “We’ve heard from our current and potential customers about their needs for higher density power and cooling to support blade technology. Simultaneously, we are accommodating more growth space as businesses consolidate computing infrastructure from their offices to our data center. Our investment meets those needs with increased power and cooling while delivering greater options for tailored colocation bundled with high touch managed services.”

Data393 will increase the total amount of raised floor space to a total of approximately 30,000 square feet in its facility in the Inverness Business Park in southeast Denver.

Managed Data Holdings (MDH), which was founded in June 2007 by Catalyst Investors and Great Hill Partners, and bought Irvine, Calif. provider Intelenet Communications in October. MDH’s strategy is to invest in data centers in Tier I and Tier II markets in the U.S. to meet enterprise demand for managed hosting, colocation space and disaster recovery services.

This is the second acquisition for Managed Data Holdings (MDH), which was founded in June 2007 by Catalyst Investors and Great Hill Partners, and bought Irvine, Calif. provider Intelenet Communications in October. MDH’s strategy is to invest in data centers in Tier I and Tier II markets in the U.S. to meet enterprise demand for managed hosting, colocation space and disaster recovery services. Catalyst’s interest in the hosting sector dates to mid-2006, when it acquired Aplus.net.

The Data393 transaction fits a profile also seen in the CyrusOne deal in July - a private equity firm buys a provider that has an existing facility, customers and expertise, but may need deeper pockets to expand its data center infrastructure.

“As the demand for IT infrastructure service continues to grow, our search for a buyer with sufficient capital and industry experience to continue Data393’s long term growth strategy and data center expansion led us to select Managed Data Holdings,” said Lee Woodward, CEO and President of Data393. “This transaction will allow Data393 to continue its rapid growth and bring additional data center capacity online in early 2008.”

Peter Stevenson, Chief Executive Officer of Managed Data Holdings, noted Data393’s “proven ability” to deliver data center services. “We believe that moving forward immediately with the expansion of available high density, raised-floor capacity at Data393 and offering customers diverse, multi-site solutions are important additions to an already excellent brand in the marketplace,” said Stevenson.

Managed Data Holdings expects to operate the business under the Data393 brand name. “Data393 has experienced phenomenal growth in 2007 and we anticipate that will continue into 2008,” said Brett Jones, the new General Manager of Data393. “Managed Data Holdings is committed to maintaining the innovative, robust services and outstanding customer service that have allowed Data393 to become a market leader in the Rocky Mountain region.”

Between the Intelenet and Data393 facilities, Managed Data Holdings now has combined high density, raised-floor capacity in excess of 60,000 square feet.