CentriLogic

December 2011 Newsletter by The Editor

The Editor — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 03:00:19 +0000




POPULAR POSTS FROM OUR RESOURCE CENTER & BLOG
CentriLogic Woos Global Enterprises with New Downtown Toronto Data Center Hosting Provider Opening New Data Centre in Toronto Top 5 Places to Build a New Data Center Building a Mobile Management Practice: 4 Key Questions Mobile Market Boom Presents VARs with Opportunities, Challenges
OFFICIAL OPENING: DOWNTOWN TORONTO DATA CENTER
CentriLogic has officially announced the opening of its new data center on York Street, in Downtown Toronto, Ontario. This 16,000 square-foot facility in the heart of Downtown Toronto will be used to provide our full-suite of hosting services, including: Co-location Hybrid Hosting Solutions Managed Services Cloud Computing To find out additional information, or to submit an inquiry or request regarding this facility, please click here.
CENTRILOGIC AWARDS CEREMONY: DECEMBER 08, 2011
CentriLogic is pleased to announce the Award Winners from our Employee Awards Ceremony that took place company-wide on Thursday, December 08, 2011. Two employees were recognized for their outstanding contributions encompassing all aspects of our business. The award titles, award descriptions, and award winners are as follows: Customer-First Award: Deb Utz – Operations Center Supervisor Deb always takes the confidence and peace of mind of the customer into consideration, and strives to make each interaction with CentriLogic an ethical, positive, and memorable experience. Award for a Vision of a Better Future: James Hollingsworth – Implementation Manager James endeavors to anticipate, communicate, and prepare to invervene in – or control – an expected or predicted situation, particularly one that has the potential to be difficult or negative. Congratulations to Deb and James for their accomplishments!
DATA CENTER EXPANSION PROGRAM: BRACKNELL, UK
CentriLogic is still providing the opportunity to secure preferred space and pricing in our Bracknell, United Kingdom data center. Please click on the following link to receive more information and to secure your first-come first-served position (no obligation). Bracknell, United Kingdom Additional details on pricing and location will be available once the facility is officially announced.
TOP 5 TWEETS LAST MONTH
How many data centers are there in the world? How big is the world of cloud computing? Top 10 Data Center stories of 2011 Hybrid Cloud Takes Off: Top 10 IT Predictions for 2012 Cloud and Virtualization Technology Make Biggest Impact in 2011

November 2011 Newsletter by The Editor

The Editor — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:48:06 +0000



POPULAR POSTS FROM OUR RESOURCE CENTER & BLOG
Cartoon Company Uses Cloud Computing to Reduce Data Center Costs Mobile Market Boom Presents VARs with Opportunities, Challenges Building a Mobile Management Practice: Four Key Questions Cloud Computing and the Truth About SLAs Ten Vital Steps for Cloud Computing Implementation > Visit the CentriLogic Resource Center \| > Visit the CentriLogic Blog
GTA IT MEETUP – HOSTED BY CENTRILOGIC
CentriLogic would like to thank everyone who expressed interest in our GTA IT Meetup on December 08, 2011. There are currently no spaces remaining at this event. Our next event in this series is scheduled for late January 2012, in Downtown Toronto, Ontario. The event will primarily be focused on future industry trends for 2012, with a special emphasis on IT Outsourcing and Hybrid Hosting. Please stay tuned to our website (www.centrilogic.com) as more details will be available soon. If you are eager to secure a spot at our January IT Meetup, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
JOB OPENING: FACILITIES MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN (TORONTO, ON)
CentriLogic is seeking an experienced Facilities Maintenance Technician for our downtown Toronto, Ontario data center. Our Facilities Team provides excellent customer service at all times. This team requires a full-time permanent responsible and motivated individual to be the primary on-site technician. For more information, please visit the detailed job description by clicking here
DATA CENTER EXPANSION PROGRAM: TORONTO, ON & BRACKNELL, UK
CentriLogic is still offering preferred space and pricing in our new Downtown Toronto Data Center. Space is filling up quickly and there is very limited time remaining for this current promotion. Please click on the following link to receive more information and to secure your first-come first-served position (no obligation). Toronto, Ontario, Canada CentriLogic is still providing the opportunity to secure preferred space and pricing in our Bracknell, United Kingdom data center. Please click on the following link to receive more information and to secure your first-come first-served position (no obligation). Bracknell, United Kingdom Additional details on pricing and location will be available once both facilities are officially announced.
TOP 5 TWEETS LAST MONTH
Study: IT’s Future Lies with Cloud Computing, Security, & Mobile How the Cloud Can Enhance Application Recovery Cloud-based Disaster Recovery as a Service Options from @datacenter Extend Your Data Center’s Life Expectancy Do You Know Your Data Privacy Laws? CentriLogic’s Jim Latimer Shares His Insights on the Geographic Location of Data

GTA IT Meetup Hosted by CentriLogic by The Editor

The Editor — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 17:24:18 +0000

The Data Management Industry is ripe with change and growth these days. An important question remains: how do you effectively transition your company from legacy IT Infrastructure through to cloud computing? What factors determine what balance to look for, and how to migrate?

This is an ongoing series of peer networking and knowledge-sharing meetups exclusively for IT Professionals. Expect some exciting guest speakers sharing their expertise and experiences around IT Infrastructure migration, in focused 20-minute presentations, followed by an open networking session.

Spaces are limited and they are filling up quickly.
Click here to register and secure your FREE ticket.

Details:

2 Robert Speck Parkway
Unit 507
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L4Z 4E8
Thursday, December 8, 2011
4:00pm – 7:00pm (ET)
Map

Presentations at this Event:

James Patterson, COO, BPS Resolver

Migrating Legacy IT Infrastructure to Cloud: A 3-part company case study discussing the challenges and rewards of deciding that a migration through to cloud computing was right for BPS Resolver, investigating cloud providers, migrating to cloud, and then “life on the cloud.”

Jim Latimer, Chief Strategy Officer, CentriLogic

The Hybrid Data Center: As organizations migrate more of their applications to the cloud, but also retain existing equipment and use co-location and other physical services, the hybrid data center is at the epicentre of change in the way IT is used and consumed.

Interested in being a sponsor or presenter?

If you would like to find out more about being a sponsor or presenter at an upcoming GTA IT Meetup, please send an email to Matt Callahan.

CIO Magazine Article Outlines Customer Benefits Achieved by Outsourcing to CentriLogic by The Editor

The Editor — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 06:30:28 +0000

Toronto’s Cookie Jar Entertainment is a leading global producer and distributor of children’s programming. Cookie Jar’s dual role as developer and distributor places a significant strain on their IT resources. The successful delivery of Cookie Jar’s core business relies on scalability, automatic RAM provisioning, and burstable bandwidth. Having been a long-time customer of CentriLogic, Cookie Jar has been able to leverage our Cloud and Hybrid Hosting offerings in both Toronto, Ontario, and Rochester, New York, to achieve significant business benefits.

A CIO Magazine article, published on November 16, 2011, titled “Cartoon Company Uses Cloud Computing to Reduce Data Center Costs” outlines the IT Outsourcing strategies initiated by Mike Haas, the Director of IT at Cookie Jar. Haas’ decision to consolidate Cookie Jar’s IT Resources within CentriLogic’s facilities has resulted in operational, financial, and strategic benefits.

To read the full article, please click here.

CIO Roundtable – Trends in the Cloud by The Editor

The Editor — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 15:40:52 +0000

As a courtesy to all guests who attended last week’s CIO Roundtable Dinner in Fairport NY, we have published the presentation slides on our Slideshare page. The pesentation gives a brief overview of the types of cloud computing offerings, and further investigates the benefits, implications, growth potential, and risks associated with cloud computing.

Click here to view the presentation

CIO Roundtable Dinner Featuring CentriLogic President & CEO, Robert Offley by Matthew Callahan

Matthew Callahan — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:22:24 +0000

On November 8, 2011, CentriLogic President and CEO, Robert Offley, will lead a Western New York CIO Roundtable discussion on the future of cloud technology. The discussion will focus on near-term and long-term trends, likely directions in offerings, and appropriate roles for adoption. Robert will be sharing his insights on such topics as:

Public, Private, & Hybrid Clouds
The impact of geopolitical boundaries on data location
Solutions for demand variability
SaaS vs. PaaS vs. IaaS
Where to focus your IT resources
Green Initiatives
Enabling mobility
Pricing models
Why all clouds are not created equal

For more information, please visit http://www.cioroundtable.org/ or contact your CentriLogic Account Executive.

October 2011 Newsletter by Matthew Callahan

Matthew Callahan — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 07:30:53 +0000

CENTRILOGIC & INDUSTRY UPDATES
Section 1: Popular posts this month in our Resource Center & Blog Section 2: CIO Roundtable Dinner featuring CentriLogic CEO Robert Offley Section 3: European Data Centre Expansion Program – Bracknell, United Kingdom Section 4: Canadian Data Center Expansion Program – Toronto, Ontario, Canada Section 5: Top 5 Tweets Last Month
POPULAR POSTS FROM OUR RESOURCE CENTER & BLOG
Border Games: Do you know your data privacy laws? By Jim Latimer Report: Global data center energy use will rise nearly 20% next year The Hybrid Cloud is not a Silver Bullet How Cloud Computing is changing data center designs and costs > Visit the CentriLogic Resource Center \| > Visit the CentriLogic Blog
CIO ROUNDTABLE DINNER FEATURING CENTRILOGIC CEO ROBERT OFFLEY
On November 8, 2011, CentriLogic President and CEO, Robert Offley, will lead a Rochester CIO Roundtable discussion on the future of cloud technology. The discussion will focus on near-term and long-term trends, likely directions in offerings, and appropriate roles for adoption. Robert will be sharing his insights on such topics as: Public, Private, & Hybrid Clouds The impact of geopolitical boundaries on data location Solutions for demand variability SaaS vs. PaaS vs. IaaS Where to focus your IT resources Green Initiatives Enabling mobility Pricing models Why all clouds are not created equal For more information, please visit CIO Roundtable
EUROPEAN DATA CENTRE EXPANSION PROGRAM: BRACKNELL, UK
In an effort to expand our facility infrastructure and International footprint, CentriLogic is still acceptig first-come first-served applications for preferred space and pricing in our new data centre in Bracknell, United Kingdom. The facility resides just outside of London, England (Thames Valley) and is ideal for organizations that require presence in the UK. Reply to this email, contact your CentriLogic Account Executive, or click on the link below to receive more information. Additional details on location and pricing will be available once the facility has been officially announced. > Pre-Register Now to secure limited space and preferred pricing (No Obligation)
CANADIAN DATA CENTER EXPANSION PROGRAM: TORONTO, ONTARIO
CentriLogic is still offering preferred space and pricing in our new Downtown Toronto Data Center. To receive more information please respond to this email, contact your CentriLogic Account Executive, or click on the link below. Additional details on exact location and pricing will be available soon. > Pre-Register Now to secure limited space and preferred pricing (No Obligation)
TOP 5 TWEETS LAST MONTH
Interesting cloud disaster management story from Japan Cloud Use greatly outpaces understanding Oracle CEO Larry Ellison: “Virtualization is critical to cloud computing” Can IT learn from marketing? Cloud security ‘not an issue’ as Department of Homeland Security adopts IaaS

Western New York: An Ideal Location for Housing Data Centers by Matthew Callahan

Matthew Callahan — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:03:56 +0000

Western New York has gradually earned a reputation as one of North America’s most desirable geographies for housing data centers. The attractiveness of the region was further validated in 2009, when Internet giant Yahoo! opened a 155,000 square-foot, purpose-built data center in Lockport. Today, Western New York is home to numerous data centers and hosting companies, including CentriLogic.

On July 15, 2011, Buffalo Business First published an article entitled Centered on Data. The article highlighted the benefits of locating data centers in Western New York and included statements from CentriLogic’s CEO, Robert Offley.

CentriLogic, along with many other hosting companies, has invested in the Western New York region and here are some of the compelling reasons why we did so.

Benefits of Western New York:

Power and Network Infrastructure:

Western New York – and Buffalo, in particular – is often praised for its technical infrastructure. The area is adequately wired and is an appealing location for data centers due to its pre-existing copper and fiber networks. Major Internet providers and other hosting companies are already well established throughout the area, which has created an environment where connectivity is easy and bandwidth is readily available. The primary power grid that supports the area is also regarded as one of the most reliable in North America. During the 2003 blackouts that left most of the Eastern Seaboard in the dark, the city of Buffalo remained largely unaffected. Small pockets of Rochester and other nearby cities also maintained power. With such reliable infrastructure supporting Data Centers, providers like us are able to provide customers with ample clean power (for racks, cages and suites), diverse bandwidth, the ability to scale rapidly, and more easily maximize uptime.

Geography & Climate:

Western New York’s technical infrastructure is exposed to minimal environmental elements and resides in a relatively stable climate. Aside from typical snowfalls, an analysis performed by Sperling’s Best Places confirms that the region is at a constant low risk level for natural disasters, including floods, fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, and hurricanes. Temperatures throughout the area fluctuate seasonally but rarely reach hot and cold extremes. As a result, minimal strains are placed on heating and cooling equipment within data centers year round. Such low environmental risks allow vendors to offer industry-best Service Level Agreements and uptime guarantees, providing customers with confidence and peace of mind.

Overhead and Cost of Doing Business:

Another benefit of housing data centers in Western New York is the additional tangible values inherited by organizations establishing themselves throughout the area. The expenses of opening, running, and maintaining data centers in Western New York are much lower than in larger and higher-populated metropolitan areas. The region’s stable and predictable climate results in highly efficient facility operations, therefore reducing heating and cooling costs. Vendors in Western New York will also experience savings in real estate, maintenance, and employee payroll. New York State also offers many taxable benefits available to emerging companies performing business within the telecommunications and data center service industries. CentriLogic is able to leverage the area’s relative value and forward the benefits to our customers through comprehensive service offerings coupled with competitive pricing arrangements.

People:

Western New York is home to many postsecondary colleges and universities. Furthermore, the region has a long and prosperous history of quality business service and manufacturing industries. This gives us access to a pool of human resources comprised of post-secondary educated individuals, skilled technical workers, as well as an extensive network of trade professionals.

Proximity to Other Major Hubs and Cities:

Western New York is within close proximity to other hubs and major cities in both the Eastern USA and Southern Ontario, Canada. As a result, vendors throughout the area have immediate access to a vast customer base. Data centers in Western New York can conversely serve as ideal secondary sites or backup facilities for nearby enterprises. The nearby Canadian border and connectivity capabilities enable high-speed cross-border connections with low latency. CentriLogic’s Buffalo and Rochester data centers are vital components to our current geographical footprint, and we are constantly pursuing new opportunities throughout the region.

CentriLogic’s Western New York Strategy:

CentriLogic opened its Rochester data center in 2007. In 2009, CentriLogic added to its Western New York footprint by opening a data center at 350 Main Street in Buffalo. Both facilities are able to serve as primary or secondary sites for customers of all sizes. These facilities also work in unison with CentriLogic’s two data centers in Southern Ontario, Canada, which allow our customers to transfer, back up, and host their data in both domestic and international jurisdictions. These cross-border capabilities create flexibility for customers who are bound by domestic compliancy measures such as the US Patriot Act or Canada’s PIPEDA.

CentriLogic is adamant in maintaining its status as a leading provider of Outsourced IT Infrastructure Services as the WNY region and corresponding data center and hosting markets flourish. As we continue to increase occupancy in our Rochester and Buffalo data centers, we are helping to stimulate the local economy by attracting new businesses and individuals to the area. CentriLogic’s growth is also providing for an increase in employment opportunities for local residents.

95th percentile madness by Mark Arruda

Mark Arruda — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 12:00:40 +0000

In collecting quotes on managed services, most of the information from managed services providers will be fairly straightforward, but one item may cause confusion the first time you see it on a quote: 95th percentile bandwidth billing. What is it, and why do you want it?

I’ve heard many explanations over the years, each one more confusing than the next. In my role as a solutions architect, I have to be able to articulate many technology paradigms to people that aren’t engineers or otherwise technically inclined.

Simply put, 95th percentile lets you use more bandwidth than you are paying for over a given month. How?

Let’s take a simple scenario:

Customer A gets 1 Mb of bandwidth. They never use more than this, except on Fridays, when they push out a big campaign. They then use over 10 Mb of bandwidth for about eight hours. So over a month they use 10 Mb for roughly 32 hours. At all other times they use their contracted 1 Mb.

What will Customer A’s bill look like at the end of the month? The customer’s first thought is there will be some big overages. After all, they used 10 times their contracted bandwidth.

The answer, of course, is the customer pays the contracted amount, thanks to 95th percentile billing.

Why?

The way 95th percentile is by taking bandwidth measurements every five minutes throughout the month. That’s a lot of measurements! Over a month, with its 744 hours, 32 hours would show up at 10 Mb, with the rest of the samples coming in a 1 Mb or lower. 95th percentile takes the top 5% of samples, and simply throws them away. They didn’t happen for the purposes of billing. In fact, the customer could have used 100 Mb of bandwidth for up to 37 hours in a month, without any extra charges being incurred.

Think of 95th percentile billing as a free pass for customers who go over their allotted bandwidth usage. Managed services providers chop off the top 5% of usage and provide the customer with a bill. It allows for bursts and spikes in traffic without racking up huge overage bills.

Customers can also track this information by the month using the CentriLogic Portal, which provides bandwidth usage graphs that show 95th percentile values.

Now that’s value.

Info-Tech recognizes CentriLogic as Emerging Player in Cloud IaaS by Jim Latimer

Jim Latimer — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:00:19 +0000

Industry recognition of service offerings is something a service provider hopes to see. It validates the business model, the people doing the hard work and, of course, the strength of the service. With this in mind, CentriLogic is proud to be featured as one of only 13 Cloud IaaS providers in Info-Tech Research Group’s “Vendor Landscape: Cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS): How to expand your infrastructure without the capital costs” report.

Info-Tech recognizes CentriLogic as an Emerging Player and recommends our Cloud IaaS services as a good choice for enterprises that have cross-border business between the United States and Canada. CentriLogic has long considered our cross-border data center reach as one of the many strengths of our business offerings, and it solves regulatory compliance problems for our many customers.

In comparison to the many other Cloud IaaS providers included in the list, CentriLogic fared extraordinarily well against some of the biggest companies in the business. Several strengths are identified in the report, including:

Flexibility in both the management and the size of the cloud deployed.
A wide variety of solutions that includes the ability to build heterogeneous infrastructure using services extending from co-location to Cloud.
A highly secure network of managed data centers, which is an edge over competitors that don’t have the management and operational control CentriLogic has.
Global expansion in the next six months.

Info-Tech also gave excellent marks to CentriLogic in the product’s usability, as well as in CentriLogic’s reach and channel.

CentriLogic is noted in the Info-Tech report for its geopolitical sensitivity to the physical location of data (we have data centers in the United States and Canada, and we’ll soon offer Europe as an option to customers) and for the variety of security and operating systems options available.

For businesses evaluating Cloud IaaS providers, Info-Tech recommended CentriLogic to its 8,000 members on the basis that complexity, size and reach is important to their needs.