Relera's Rollout Rolls On
Managed hosting firm opens two more data centers

May 3, 2001 -- Another day, another data center launch for Relera.
The managed hosting provider debuted new facilities in Raleigh, N.C. on Monday and Salt Lake City on Wednesday, marking the seventh and eighth 11th openings since late February for the year-old company. Three more centers are scheduled to open by the end of next month.
Relera's rapid expansion is remarkable for its timing, coming amidst a sharp slowdown in the hosting industry. Numerous facility developers are currently downsizing their ambitions and staff, or at least adjusting their timetables in the face of a dwindling pool of tenants.
Relera's strategy is to target "underserved markets," building data centers in 25 cities that have active business and research communities, but not the critical mass of Internet firms seen in top-tier data center clusters such as Silicon Valley, New York or the Washington, D.C. area.
An example is Raleigh, which together with Durham and Chapel Hill serves as home to the Research Triangle Park (RTP).
"RTP is an excellent example of a business community that can benefit from the type of managed hosting solutions that Relera offers,'' said Jeff King, director of the company's Raleigh center. ``Relera can handle all of a company's IT needs so that company can focus on its core business, whether it be biotech, financial, manufacturing or technology.''
The two Relera facilities that launched this week debuted with customers already in place. BioSignia, a company providing "disease risk profiling," is the first tenant in the Raleigh data center. The elective surgery portal iEnhance and communications solutions provider I-Link are the first clients in the Salt Lake City facility.
"We've seen a positive response to Relera,'' said Pat Christensen, the director of the company's Salt Lake City data center. ``The community here is well-educated and knows what to look for in an IDC. We offer what companies need - a local alternative to on-demand storage, intelligent load balancing, advanced caching, state-of-the-art security, and 24/7 support.''
Relera has established partnerships with some industry heavyweights - including Cisco Systems, Inc., Juniper Networks, Level 3 Communications - to offer its customers a package of infrastructure and managed services.
Founded in January 2000 and backed by more than $300 million in equity financing, Relera plans to develop 1 million square feet of data center space.