Telecom Case Studies - Hosted PBX, Wireless Expense Management, Ethernet, And Data Center

In the month of April we had the privilege of hearing from four fantastic partners who agreed to share their secrets of success.

These case studies highlighted the unique hosted PBX capabilities of Vocal IP and Advantix's wireless expense management solution, a Comcast Ethernet installation, and a data center deal with Telx.

The following calls are now available online:

Advantix Solutions (wireless TEM)

Comcast (fiber solutions)

Telx (colo solutions)

 Vocal IP Networx (large retail opportunity)

To take advantage of any of the services mentioned above simply request a no cost quote here ....

Telecom and IT

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Cross River Fiber Attends ITW 2012 in Chicago

The Windy City is about to get a lot more Windy with the arrival of over 5,000 global telecom executives about to enter town. The annual International Telecoms Week is set to begin in Chi-town on May 14 running through May 16. This year, Cross River Fiber will make its ITW 2012 debut – as the company launched in June 2011 it is their international coming out party.

What is most exciting about Cross River Fiber is its focused, high-touch, custom dark fiber network solutions. As they build out network throughout New Jersey, they are ensuring that many municipalities, hospitals; enterprise campuses and data centers are connected with the most modern fiber infrastructure available.

Don’t get me wrong; the Cross River Fiber team has been to ITW for many years – just not in their current form. The team hails from such esteemed companies as 4Connections and Optimum Lightpath (which acquired 4Connections). The founder and CEO of Cross River, Enzo Clemente, is highly regarded in the telecom engineering sphere as he has designed some of the NY metro region’s most reliable and fastest network connections. Also attending with Enzo is Mike Sevret. Mike re-joined Enzo, as they worked together at both 4Connections and Optimum Lightpath, and is now an executive at Cross River serving as the company’s Chief Strategy Officer. Both are well-connected and extremely knowledgeable executives – their experience and know-how can help companies plan their network expansions throughout the New York metro area.

To meet the team at ITW2012 email: crossriverfiber@imillerpr.com. For information about Cross River Fiber visit: www.crossriverfiber.com.

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Vineyard Data Center Park Provides Affordable Options for Colorado Springs Facilities

There’s been quite a bit of ‘rumble’ about Wal-Mart’s Colorado Spring Data Center.  According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, the world’s No. 1 retailer has a 210,000 square foot data center under construction.  As previous photo blogs have shown, it is well on its way to be completed by the end of 2012.   

So if these mega-companies are so discerning, why are they selecting Colorado Springs?  The team at Vineyard Data Center Park knows best.  According to Vince Colarelli, a principle with Vineyard LLC and owner of Colarelli Construction, Colorado Springs was named one of the ten best cities for data centers by American Banker, the report cite cost of operations and security as key advantages.  Vineyard takes it a step further.  They’re building a ‘very green-focused type of data center park.’  The data center park will be supported by biomass and waste-to-energy plants powered by Colorado Springs Utilities.  

Colorado Springs offers a hotbed of sustainable energy and cooling options, tax incentive programs, immense power supply and is safe guarded from natural disasters and major terrorist threats.  It appears that companies, like FedEx, Hewlett Packard, Verizon, Progressive Insurance and Wal-Mart are on to something.  With Vineyard Data Center Park’s construction underway, many other companies will be able to take advantage of the natural benefits offered in Colorado Springs – without investing $100’s million.

For more information about the Vineyard Data Center Park and data center availability in Colorado, contact wiredre@imillerpr.com

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Who Is Mosaic Networx?

Mosaic NetworX is a carrier-neutral, data services provider specializing in high-availability, low-latency networks. Mosaic NetworX designs and delivers custom network solutions using: metro private line, IP transit, Ethernet, MPLS, dark fiber and more. Mosaic NetworX also provides data center and colocation solutions throughout the United States and globally.

What You Should Know About Mosaic NetworX

Mosaic is a global voice and data service provider. Mosaic executes and deploys their customers critical network needs. Their mission is to be neutral and objective, providing a positive customer experience; resulting in the best solution for you.

Mosaic NetworX Products....

* Private Line Service

* Metro Service

* Internet Service

* Voice Origination

* Voice Termination

* DID Service

* Colocation

* VLAN Solution

To see what Mosaic Networks can do for you ... including a free rate quote ... simply ask here:


Custom Data Network

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How Energy Efficient is Your Data Center?

This is the question asked by Deerns Consulting Engineers' white paper published in the fall of 2011.  The white paper addresses key issues associated with energy optimization of data centers, with an emphasis on implementing cost-savings solutions.  "Based on Deerns' experience, energy savings of 15-35% with a payback time of less than one year are feasible, even for very efficient facilities," cites the paper.  What they know can help companies excel at creating reliable data centers while reducing costs associated with energy bills - and who doesn't want cost savings?

According to Deerns' paper, now is the right time to upgrade your data center facility.  There are a number of nationwide rebate programs from utility companies, municipalities and state and federal grants that companies can leverage.  While many data centers have already taken advantage of these incentives, Deerns can help you do so too - while they are still in play.  So how do they reduce your energy consumption? ..... Read the full article here, How Energy Efficient is YOUR Data Center? courtesy of WiredRE

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Fire Suppression Considerations for Your Data Center

Researching information on the different methods of fire suppression for data centers, I came across this article from 2006 written by Matt Stansberry of TechTarget.  He writes, "fire suppression experts determined one method is not enough to keep your facility safe and equipment functioning. You need both."

What are the options?  There's water and gas.  One of the article participants included a Florida-based automotive services company that uses clean agent gas with sprinklers as backup.  "The dry system acts a lot quicker than water. It's activated by smoke."  When constructing smart data center solutions, it would be logical to assume that gas - a clean agent - would be the most preferential choice.  Since 2006 there have been some tremendous strides in fire suppression solutions, one such company, Fenwal Protection Systems, offers a number of options specifically designed for data centers, IT facilities, telecommunications centers and switch gear rooms.   

Fenwal 9300 Series features an environmentally friendly, sustainable technology that is clean and non-toxic.  It is certified for use in occupied spaces.  It is a compound of carbon, fluorine and hydrogen in a colorless, odorless and electrically non-conductive gas.  It suppresses fires by a combination of chemical and physical mechanisms without affecting the available oxygen.  The benefit of this gas for data centers is that is its clean, leaves no residue and nearly eliminates costly after-fire clean-up.  Most materials such as steel, stainless steel, aluminum, brass and other metals as well as plastics, rubber and electronic components are unaffected by explores to FM-200.  

But just knowing you have gas versus water - or both isn't enough to protect your facilities from fires.  You need to have the right fire alarms and smoke/heat detectors.  The alarm devices themselves make a huge difference and the sensitivity is key to effectively managing a dire situation.  But that's not all companies need to worry about.

 

Training is another important factor. Making sure your network operation center and data center technicians know how to effectively manage a smoke and fire situation is key to ensuring the equipment not only stays up but is protected.  Many hardware manufacturers will also want to see their gear to ensure that it doesn't happen to others - so not over taxing it with too much water or the wrong type of fire suppression fluid or gas is key to ensuring safety in the data center not just for your gear but all others as well.

For information about Fenwal Protection Systems and to learn more about the steps you should take to protect your data center, IT equipment and more visit www.fenwalfire.com or contact info@wiredre.com for a consultation to ensure you install the right solution. 

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Northern California Data Center Presence Strong...And Getting Stronger

With an estimated three million square feet of data center real estate, the greater San Francisco area is one of the top three data center markets in the nation. And as the northern California region hits a refreshed economic stride, the region that is synonymous with technology will benefit from the recession's pent up demand, as well as ongoing corporate adoption of cloud strategies across all types of industry.

On a big picture level, Campos Research & Analysis just completed a study for Digital Realty Trust, which was released this week. Overall, the North American data center market demonstrates an incredible appetite for expansion, as the survey found that 92% of senior decision makers at large corporations have plans to expand their data center presence in 2012. 54% of these respondents identified expectations of projects to span 15,000 square feet or more in size.

Consider as a supporting barometer, the direction of office real estate in general within the tech sector.  This benchmark accounted for 29% of all growth in the US office market in 2011, adding an estimated 10.2 million square feet of space as identified by real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc.  A positive marker indeed.

Within the northern California region, the City of Santa Clara, with its proximity to Silicon Valley is already considered one of the densest data center hubs in the country.  Developments in the San Francisco Bay area are seeing opportunity, such as a project in the vibrant South of Market ("SOMA") District, which is now coming up to speed. The Fiber Depot is a six story, 105,325 rentable square foot data center, telecommunications and office building,  The former Hawley Terminal Building was previously a storage facility for the Southern Pacific Railroad, and was converted into a telecom switching building, utilizing its ideal location to two primary fiber network loops. Offering a substantial power supply, an upgraded carrier neutral meet-me-room, and large floor plates with load-bearing capacity for heavy equipment, transitioning to data center tenants was a natural evolution.

At present, the site attracts a diverse group of telco and data center tenants, including AT&T, AOL/Time Warner, Global Crossing and Neutral Tandem, with the remaining space leased to office and retail tenants. For details on the Fiber Depot carrier hotel facility, or data center real estate, colocation and design services, visit Wired Real Estate Group, Inc.

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Wal-Mart's Data Center Construction Photo Montage

Just South of Colorado Springs, from the Vineyard Data Center Park, there is a vision of splendor.On the Approach, it looks like any other construction complex. It's active, walls are up, the insides are strewn around the property.As you approach, you see the massive undertaking, as construction crews build Wal-Mart's newest data center.The crews are constructing a state of the art data center, expected to be completed by the end of 2012. The company is anticipating a spend of $100 million to just build the data center with an additional spend of $50-$100 million in machinery and equipment over the next 15 years.To find out how you can leverage the power of Colorado Spring's incentive programs to build or lease your own data center, contact the Wired Real Estate Group, representing the Vineyard Data Center Park to learn more: info@wiredre.com

This blog was originally posted at TelecomNewsRoom.

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As the Crow Flies – Network Connectivity Taking the Straight Path

If you could just dig a trench from one location to another and not worry about anything in between – or simply fly direct, over land and sea to get to your destination we can get to where we are going a lot faster. In reality, we have hills to climb, lakes to traverse, turns to maneuver and obstacles to get around. There are buildings, homes, trees, gardens, farms, stores, schools, private property and more to overcome. Getting from point A to point B is not as easy as pulling a string across the room to measure the distance from one wall to another. In the land of communications, building the shortest path is not so easy. There are municipalities to work with, permits to acquire, construction to undertake and many obstacles to overcome – both above and under the ground.

What gets the job done is experience, know-how and contacts. That’s what makes the team at Cross River Fiber so affective. They have built, at the time, best of breed dark fiber networks throughout New Jersey before. Now, the team has amassed even more knowledge, contacts and has identified the routes that need the most attention and have undertaken the construction of building the newest and most direct dark fiber communication routes throughout the State of New Jersey.

I’ll Take You There

That’s the motto at Cross River Fiber. They are in the throws of constructing brand new fiber paths that will reach the towns and villages of Edison, Iselin, Woodbridge, Piscataway and Somerset New Jersey. Not only are they connecting major data centers, enterprise campuses and buildings, but they have the ability to provide custom solutions that deliver dark fiber network directly to hospitals, Government offices, University campuses, major enterprise campuses and more. To find out how Cross River Fiber can ‘Take you There’ contact the team at info@crossriverfiber.com. They will provide you with a network review, project plan and timeline to get you connected – the most direct way.

This blog was originally posted on TelecomNewsRoom.

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Colorado Springs Lures Major Data Center Projects, Vineyard Data Center Park Makes the Region More Accessible

What has lured Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world to build its new Data Center in Colorado Springs?  Land is one thing but incentives sealed the deal.  The local government in Colorado Springs offered Wal-Mart $4.5 million in sales and business personal property tax rebates as incentives to close the deal.  And Wal-Mart isn’t the only company to tap into these resources.  Agilent Technologies’ data and technology centers also received over $4 million in incentives that include city personal property tax exemptions and sales and use tax rebates.  Furthermore, Colorado Springs is becoming a hot-bed for data centers serving major corporations including Progressive Insurance, FedEx and Hewlett-Packard.

How can others get into this game and what’s in it for them?

Currently underway is the Vineyard Data Center Park, a 108-acre development just south of downtown Colorado Springs.  It is designed to be the region’s first covenant controlled, sustainable data center campus.  The region is particularly attractive to major data center operations because power rates in the region are 39% below the nations average power rates, this project includes a storm water conservation program, will use recycled building materials, install a permeable pavement, xeriscaping, wetlands preservation, wildlife habitat preservation, tree harvesting and salvaging, composting, and more.  These green initiatives, together with attractive power rates, affordable land and building space are compounded by the incredible incentives offered by the State and Regional government offices for this region.   Oh, and did we mention that the school district is also expected to offer tax exemptions and rebates too?

Why Colorado Springs?

The area is seeking to attract major businesses that can provide employment opportunities to sustain and grow the region’s economy.  The area offers low-cost and reliable electricity, access to an educated workforce and is located in a disaster free zone, for the most part.  All three of these factors make Colorado Springs particularly attractive to companies like Wal-Mart.

The Wal-Mart project is expected to initially employ 30 people with salaries ranging from $30K-$70K.  Over the course of five years it is expected to add additional employees bringing the total to 40 permanent jobs. The data center is expected to be built for $100M with additional equipment investments to reach between $50-$100M over the course of 15 years.  This project alone is expected to add about $488M into the Pike’s Peak region’s economy over its first 15 years.  This is tremendous value to the region and with many other data centers located throughout the area and with additional developments underway, employment opportunities are about to soar – just as the US economy and job rates need them to.

Colorado Springs – the Time is Ripe

It is a great time to consider new data center space and green-field construction opportunities in Colorado Springs.  It’s going to be home to a truly valuable workforce that will bring talent, skills and knowledge into the region.  To find out how you can tap into the incentives and development opportunities available in the region contact WiredRE at www.wiredre.com or email wiredre@imillerpr.com.  The company represents the Vineyard Data Center Park – a property that offers incentives and land development opportunities specifically for data center projects.

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Signs of Southern California Data Center Recovery

As capital becomes more readily available to the colocation market, the need for speed and more capacity will likely play-out with emphasis. In fact, data center advisory firm, Wired Real Estate Group, Inc. completed the placement of another national colocation company in a 43,000 square foot California data center, as they continue to roll after a 2011 that went down with over 100% growth.

The Los Angeles site has 5 MW of existing utility service, with expectations that the site will ultimately garner over $20 million in investment as a Tier III colocation facility over its useful life. California's colocation market is considered one of the largest in the world, and has seen significant data center finance activity over the last several years. Colocation and property firms deploying new capital in the region include Latisys, Alchemy Communications, Digital Realty Trust, Equinix, Vantage Data Centers, DuPont Fabros, Scale Matrix, American Internet Services, Fiber Depot, RedIT and others.

Wired Real Estate CEO, Everett Thompson, anticipates further consolidation and renewed investment in the market , with 2012 producing accelerated growth opportunities for the firm, as well as other public and privately held colocation firms.  The firm has completed over 200 engagements in the last 36 months with leading enterprises, including numerous members of the Fortune 200. Nationally, the firm represents nearly 1 M square feet of colocation and data centers

For more information about WiredRE and its data center research and advisory services on data center design, planning, brokerage and finance visit www.wiredre.com.

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District of Columbia Data Center Discussion Panel Event

The Data Center Marketplace and ByteGrid Data Centers          Invite You to Attend District of Columbia Data Center Discussion Panel Event & Reception March 22, 2012 at The Concourse Auditorium Continuing a Series of Excellent Discussions for the Data Center Industry  The New York Data Center Discussion Panel Event 09/29/2011, Part 1 of 4 Where: The Concourse Conference Center/Auditorium 1593 Spring Hill Rd Vienna, VA 22182 Driving Directions When: Thursday March 22, 2012 from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM EDT Add to my calendar Get more information Register Now! ~ Also ~ Please join us for your pre-event Happy Hour* at Wednesday, March 21, 2012  5pm to 7pm 1861 International Drive  Mclean, VA 22102 (703) 448-3900  Network and mingle with sponsors and attendees or Register Here * a "no-host", cash-bar event. Dear Reader, Please accept this invitation to attend our complimentary Data Center Discussion Panel Event Thursday March 22, 2012 from 12:00pm - 5:30pm, at The Concourse Conference Center in Vienna, VA.    A catered reception will follow the main event including wine, beer and hors d'oeuvres. Inviting Economic Development, Scientists, and Technology Professionals for this event, and in preparation for our Data Center Summit - East, September 19th & 20th, at Research Triangle Park Conference Center, in Research Triangle Park, NC. The theme for the Summit is focused on providing a learning experience for providers and consumers of federal, state and/or local data center industry investment incentives, credits to operators of data centers (carbon, etc.), green/eco-friendly technology, laws, accounting and tax treatment, trends and strategies, sustainability, etc..  Find event details below announcement for our pre-event Happy Hour networking mixer at The Capital Grille; located in Mclean, VA.     Click on the link below to register or RSVP. Get more information Register Now! You are cordially invited to attend this free half day of presentations and panel discussion exclusively for IT professionals that are considering colocation, hosting, cloud computing, and network and telecom solutions. This event includes catered food and beverages. Join us bit early to enjoy our caterer's craft for lunch as well as during the mid-event break. At this event, a number of lively and relevant presentations by industry leaders will be presented. Discussions will revolve around trends, issues, alternatives, and challenges Executives are facing today and the solutions that are met through data center, cloud and network options. There will be plenty of networking opportunities with other regional IT leaders seeking to navigate data center and cloud solutions for their business. This dynamic event will showcase technology industry leaders; including: Brady Lambert (CEO, The Data Center Marketplace), Mark Macauley (Co-founder and SVP Sales and Marketing, ByteGrid), Axel Kretschmer (Regional Director, Schneider), Derek Schwartz (Executive Director and Founder, Green Data Center Alliance), Patrick Costello (Renewable Energy Market Expert, ICF International), Jim Kerrigan (EVP and Director, of Grubb and Ellis's Data Center Practice), Ron Vokoun DBIA, LEED AP BD+C (Construction Executive, Mortenson Construction and active in the AFCOM), and more will be speaking about IT issues and state of the art solutions. Don Mitchell, Schneider, responding to question from attendee. Who will be attending, and who will you expect to meet at this event? Data Center Marketplace event attendees are decision makers from Enterprise, Non-profit and Government; including: Chief Information & Technology Office Chief Executive & Financial Officers Datacenter Facilities Managers & Engineers Information Technology & Infrastructure Managers Network, Cabling & Communication Engineers & Integrators Architects, Design Build Consultants, and MEP Professionals Datacenter, Commercial Office Space & Operations Staff NOC, SOC and DOC Staff & Managers Server, Storage & Application Administrators Information Security & Risk Management Executives As an attendee, you'll get real-life answers from industry knowledge leaders about how to make the cloud and data center solutions work for you and your organization. Don't miss this opportunity to learn, query, network and mingle with industry professionals! Get more information Register Now! Please feel free to reply above or contact Brady Lambert with any questions about the event or how to become a show sponsor. We look forward to seeing you at the event! RSVP requested. Sincerely, Brady Lambert, CEO The Data Center Marketplace brady.lambert@datacentermarketplace.com (713) 494-2574 Skype: brady..lambert Voxer PTT (Android and iPhone): 7134942574 Cloud Marketplace: cloud.datacentermarketplace.com Twitter: @datacentermktpl, @cloudmarketplac, @datacentersumit, @datacenterevent, @techvangelistas Sponsors

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WiredRE Meets Data Center Design Evolution With Smart Alliances

In a world of $1,000 per square foot real estate, experienced planning and coordination are critical. WiredRE and Deerns America Align to Provide Data Center Design and Project Management Services

The cost structure and intent of data centers is rapidly changing under the pressure of cloud computing and its move toward massive scale and efficiency.  To adapt in a meaningful way, Wired Real Estate Group Inc.(“WiredRE”), the nation’s leading data center advisor, announces growing momentum in its partnership with Deerns America, offering data center design and project management services. The Alliance was created to offer world-class support, bringing more innovative opportunities to the data center design process and related project management services.

As an interesting reference, Bernard Golden's blog at CIO.compointed out that there is an old school perspective that cost advantage through “utilization” focused on more efficient use of existing design center patterns. Though, new contemporary perspectives look at transforming the cost basis of data centers by creating new design patterns. “It’s critical to integrate the technical aspects of data center development, design and operations with business planning and commercial feasibility. With experience advising half of the top investment banks in the US, our commercial planning and advisory practice looked to further integrate design and operational expertise via a best-in-breed design firm. We wanted a strategic partner that was exclusively engaged on mission critical infrastructure, and Deerns was an obvious fit,” commented Everett Thompson, CEO, WiredRE. “Deerns has an 80+ year track record producing high-efficiency designs for more than 2,300,000 SF of IT space worldwide, with an IT power of more than 670MW.” 

WiredRE’s alliance with Deerns Supports its Holistic Approach to Data Center Real Estate Advisory Solutions

With this highly focused expertise, The Deerns/WiredRE Alliance intends to support large and small-scale developments with integrated solutions for high-density and high-efficiency computing, from feasibility assessment and conceptual design, through commissioning and full-scale operations. Deerns is exclusively focused on critical infrastructure, including Data Centers, Operations Centers, Airports, Hospitals, Clean Rooms, and Level 3 and 4 Bio Hazard Labs, with a strong emphasis on energy efficiency, reliability, modularity, and scalability. Most recently, Deerns has provided data center design and project management services to Green House Data, and DR Fortress, and design recommendations to Travelport.

Innovative features that will be rapidly deployed include technologies such as Guiding the Cloud©and Green Cooling for Data Centers©.  In fact, expectations are that their 100% free cooling solution will find a strong audience. For more information about Deerns’ solutions for critical infrastructure, visit www.deerns.com.  To find out how WiredRE’s holistic approach to data center real estate advisory solutions visit www.wiredre.com. 

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Vineyards Data Center Park, Incentives and Features Your C-Suite Should Know About, Part 1

WiredRE Blog Post: By: Everett Thompson CEO, Wired Real Estate 

With shirt-sleeves rolled-up, and a passion to deliver a highly progressive development, the project at Vineyards Data Center Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado has achieved remarkable strides. Local and Federal zoning and incentives, along with the inherent features and benefits of the region's geography, combine with an insightful green design platform.  Any single piece of this puzzle presents the CFO crowd with a very attractive decision point on the next home for their ever expanding data center requirements, let alone the bundled package presented.

The scope of the nearly $1B development spans 105 acres situated 60 miles south of Denver, and southeast of Interstate 25 and Circle Drive.  Some 800,000 sq ft of data center space will ultimately be available in a region that is already populated with other corporate facilities for Verizon Wireless, HP, FedEx, T. Rowe Price, Progressive, Agilent, Intel  and most recently Walmart.  Vision for the site includes single occupancy, wholly owned or leased buildings, colocation and traditional data center support services.  The concept also includes data center pods sized at about 3000 sqft, as well as large campus spaces.

A Chain of Public – Private Partnering: Key Steps in the Advancement of the Project

Many state governments are now chasing business with aggressive incentives.  The Colorado Springs development especially benefits from a  number of fortunate events that have been put into play.

• Designated Urban Renewal Site
• Qualified as an Enterprise Zone
• Recipient of Federal New Market Tax Credits 

Last year, the Vineyard's land was designated an Urban Renewal site when the Colorado Springs City Council unanimously approved creation of the special taxing district.  This move makes available $55 million in public funds by applying future tax revenues on the property to pay for improvements such as telecommunications infrastructure, utility improvements and roads.

In an effort to attract new business to locate to the region the project site has been qualified as an Enterprise Zone, allowing for investment tax credits on the purchase of capitalized equipment and furnishings.

Additionally, the site is a recipient of federal government based New Market Tax Credits. This program is also another tool aimed at revitalizing impoverished communities.  Tax credit incentives are available to investors amounting to 39% of the investment paid out - over a period of seven years.  All together, the combination of financing and NMTC brings a reduction of the capital cost of constructing a data center at the Vineyards to an estimated 40 to 50% of comparable sites.

In a follow-up blog, we'll discuss additional features of the project design.  While the attractive incentives bundled make a compelling story and competitive business option against any other prospective US sites, an equal wealth of environmental friendly design considerations have gone into the overall planning, from renewable energy to grey water reuse.  A theme of sustainability appears to make a great compliment to the concepts scalability and affordability. 

For more information CLICK HERE to visit the Vinyard Data Center Listing on the WiredRE web site.

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