Google's Speedy Site Location Process

When a major Internet server wanted to find a site for a server farm how did they do it? Google googled its way to a major Pryor engagement. As Lloyd Taylor, director of global operations for Google, tells it, the company knew it needed a lot of land, a lot of electricity and a lot of water. They wanted the facility to be more or less in the middle of the country. How did they find Pryor? They went on the Internet.

"They haven't really discussed this, but I think one of the things that made us attractive to Google was that we were ready to move on the spur of the moment. We had an 86,000 square foot building already in place, which we had built on speculation. ... In other locations so many agencies have to sign off on a project that it can be a year or more before any real movement can be made. I don't think the team at Google was willing to wait that long."