"Chain" Survivors

The boom years of the Internet saw a horde of companies pursue the "McDataCenter" approach, building at least a dozen facilities in markets across the country offering colocation and managed services. The chain concept, with its front-loaded costs and high overhead, has been beaten up pretty good in the marketplace. But two early players, Inflow Inc,. and Switch and Data, have survived and are making news this month with milestones.

“Inflow’s total IDC operations are cash flow positive today,” said Mark Hughes, Inflow’s chief financial officer, in announcing this week that the company's Portland, Oregon data center was now EBITDA-positive. It has previously announced EBITDA profitability for centers in San Diego, Minneapolis, Denver, Raleigh, Atlanta and Austin.

The success didn't come without some pain. Back in May, the company closed data centers in Sacramento and Irvine, sold facilities in Dallas and Dublin, and laid off several hundred employees. But in taking those steps, Inflow has earned continued support and funding from its backers.

Meanwhile, Switch and Data is in expansion mode. The Tampa-based colocation provider has made a bid to purchase the PAIX.net subsidiary of Metromedia Fiber Network in a bankruptcy sale.