[December 15, 2010] Paetec opens new data center downtown Tweet Dec 15, 2010 (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A rapidly expanding New York telecommunications company has opened a new data center in downtown Milwaukee. Paetec Holding Co. said it offers data storage, back-up and other services to businesses in Milwaukee and the Midwest. Milwaukee's proximity to some major Midwestern metro areas and the area's skilled technology workforce played a role in the decision to locate the data center here, said Forrest Knueppel, Paetec's regional director for Wisconsin. Paetec previously had a small data operation in Milwaukee. "It's going to be able to support services for a lot of the other large markets that are in the area, so St. Louis, the Twin Cities, Chicago, Madison," Knueppel said. It takes six people to staff the center now, but that will increase as service expands to more customers, said Christopher Lodge, Paetec's vice president for data center services. One goal of the new data center is to enable to Paetec to gain more "cloud computing" clients. Cloud computing lets businesses store and have access to their data at sites other than their own computer systems. That means companies can reduce spending on in-house hardware, software and tech employees. It also gives them a secure off-site location where important information is stored. Data centers are important to financial services and health care operations that must avoid computer system failures, said Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. Wisconsin has a lot of those businesses, but the state also is a good location because of access to reliable utilities, major Internet trunk lines and stable geography that has few natural disasters, he said. "In general, Wisconsin is ideal for data centers," Still said. Paetec also has data centers in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Texas. It plans to open another in Phoenix in January. The Fairport, N.Y., company, which is expected to generate nearly $2 billion in revenue this year, is on Deloitte's 2010 Technology Fast 500 list of the fastest-growing tech companies in North America. "They are trying to become a nationwide provider of communications/cloud computing services with a focus on medium-sized businesses," said industry analyst Timothy Horan, of Oppenheimer & Co. in New York. "However, they do also serve some small businesses and large enterprise/institutions. For example, they have over 100 universities as customers. They have usually three-four competitors in any market, with the largest being the incumbent telephone company." Paetec has about 30 employees in Wisconsin now, Knueppel said, but hopes to double or triple the sales force over the next few years. To see more of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.jsonline.com. Copyright (c) 2010, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]