Involta, LLC plans to build and operate a state-of-the-art 40,000 square foot data center in Tucson, AZ. While final approvals from local agencies are still pending, design of the facility is currently underway. The facility is scheduled to be operational in December of 2012.
The high-security colocation data center will house mission-critical computer systems and related components for healthcare organizations, businesses, government and educational institutions within the Tucson region and throughout the U.S.
The $15-million facility will be a stable, predictable, high-performance data center complete with environmental systems and controls, redundant back-up power and specialized fire suppression. The facility will feature a total capacity of 20,000 square feet of conditioned data center space that will contain approximately 600 cabinets of IT equipment. The facility is being designed to meet LEED certification requirements.
The Tucson data center facility will present significant advantages for area businesses and customers from the Phoenix and Southern California areas.
“The ability to share the substantial costs of housing and managing mission critical systems and the option of off-site data storage for disaster preparedness planning is becoming increasingly important to businesses,” said Bruce Lehrman, CEO of Cedar Rapids, IA-based Involta. “Building and maintaining a separate, stand-alone data center is very costly. By colocating, organizations can realize the advantages of an advanced data center while actually cutting costs. Use of this data center will allow business leaders to focus on their core businesses rather than complex infrastructure and facilities issues.”
Lehrman praised local governmental and business development organizations for their assistance in making the project a reality.
“Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities (TREO) and the Tucson Chamber of Commerce were helpful in adding value to our process of expanding our business to Southern Arizona,” he said. “Tucson Electric Power [also] was a valuable strategic partner on the project, assisting with the site selection, technical requirements and introducing us to area business leaders. The team at TEP understood our objectives and helped create a business opportunity that will benefit economic development for the entire community. Overall, we could not be more pleased with the attractive business agreement, rate structure and power infrastructure that TEP offered to bring our new facility to Tucson.”
