365 Data Centers Partners with ColoCrossing in Buffalo

Managed hosting provider ColoCrossing  has formed a partnership with colocation services company 365 Data Centers. Buffalo, New York-based ColoCrossing will serve SMBs and enterprises out of the 365 Data Centers facility located in Buffalo's Main Place Tower.

In ColoCrossing, 365 Data Centers (formerly 365 Main), which has tailored its colocation offerings to the SMB market, gains a managed services partner that will help bring customers into the facility, which provides access to 22 network carriers.

"365 Data Centers has a strong track record for delivering excellent reliability and customer service, and the speed at which they have delivered on their promises far surpasses other providers in the market," Joe Robinson, vice president of corporate development at ColoCrossing, said. "We continue to see high demand in Buffalo because it is extremely strategic for our customers to be centrally located between large markets, such as Toronto, New York City and Chicago."

Buffalo economy roaring back?

Both companies are citing rapid growth in the number of technology-oriented businesses in Buffalo. One of the largest IT companies pledged to add hundreds of jobs in Buffalo, they said. The company was not named, but IBM recently pledged this exact thing. Governor Andrew Cuomo's Buffalo Billion economic development plan was also cited as a major turnaround factor. The governor committed a $1 billion investment in the area's economy in 2012.

"Thanks to local economic development initiatives, we have seen Buffalo begin to transform into the newest technology hub of the east," said John Scanlon, CEO of 365 Data Centers. "Working closely with local companies, such as ColoCrossing, is the cornerstone of our business, because we truly believe the data center is a key to accelerating business growth on a local level."

365's SMB strategy working

365 Data Centers' namesake comes from the iconic 365 Main facility in San Francisco, now owned by Digital Realty Trust. In 2012, 365 Main co-founders Chris Dolan and James McGrath resurrected the brand by acquiring 16 data centers from Equinix, seeing an opportunity to create a “national player with a local focus."

The deal worked out perfectly for Equinix, as it was looking to divest some facilities by Switch and Data, a company it bought in 2009. The data centers it sold to 365 Main did not fit into its overall strategy of serving top-tier markets.

Last year, 365 Main added a data center in Emeryville, California, previously operated by a company called Evocative, bringing its portfolio to 17 facilities. It also undertook a a branding and strategy change, taking its current name and ditching multi-year colocation contracts in favor of month-to-month contracts, which are more attractive for SMBs in emerging markets.  Their goal is to optimize their offerings for small businesses, making colocation as user-friendly as possible.