LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Sept. 11, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Windstream Hosted Solutions, provider of cloud and data center solutions and a part of Windstream (Nasdaq: WIN ), a leading provider of advanced network communications, officially celebrated the grand opening of its newest enterprise-class data center in Chicago on Sept. 10. This center, part of Windstream's ever-expanding national network, is a 20,000-square-foot facility with more than 15,600 square feet of raised floor data center space and is fully equipped to support Windstream's new EMC®-powered storage services. During the evening's celebration, guests were treated to exclusive data center tours, as well as a meet-and-greet with National Football League (NFL) legends Mike Ditka and Mike Singletary.
"Our growing network of data centers is designed to support the changing and growing needs of our enterprise customers," said Chris Nicolini, Windstream's senior vice president of cloud and data center operations. "In essence, the Windstream Hosted Solutions team becomes an extension of our customers' Information Technology (IT) staff, handling their maintenance tasks, providing compliance support for industry regulations, keeping critical data protected and making sure their business operations continue in the event of a disaster."
The Chicago center, which opened in late 2013, features EMC-powered storage solutions for the enterprise —such as VMAX®-powered Infrastructure and Storage as a Service, with high-end replication and recovery options that integrate into Windstream's existing Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) product suite. Windstream Hosted Solutions offers a robust cloud computing solution that dramatically improves the efficiency and availability of organizational IT resources and applications, allowing enterprise customers to rapidly deploy capacity without capital investments so they can reshape their environment on demand, with an even greater degree of confidence in their existing infrastructure.
"The Chicago multi-tenant data center (MTDC) market has experienced a supply/demand imbalance in the Western suburbs, as well as in downtown Chicago, for several years now," said Rick Kurtzbein, research analyst at 451 Research. "Windstream's new MTDC facility offers enterprise-quality colocation services, as well as a suite of managed hosting and cloud infrastructure services, providing Fortune 1000 companies with data center services that we expect will be well received in the active Chicago MTDC market."
Windstream, collaborating with EMC Corporation, offers customers the choice to store or back up data to multiple dedicated or shared EMC platforms in cloud-enabled data centers —while leveraging Windstream's high-quality Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network with Quality of Service (QoS) for optimized performance. With data centers strategically positioned throughout the United States, Windstream's state-of-the-art facilities are each designed to deliver enterprise cloud services, traditional colocation, hardware as a service, robust managed services and disaster recovery solutions to enterprise businesses.
"EMC is proud to expand our collaboration with Windstream and enable them with industry-leading technology and solutions designed to help customers redefine their IT," said Anna Dorcey, senior director, Americas Partner Marketing, EMC Corporation. "EMC is accelerating our customers' journey to the cloud by providing a joint go-to-market connection for Windstream and resellers to address customer requirements in an agile, cost-efficient and trusted manner."
The new data center in Chicago will feature a full array of features and benefits, including:
- Highly redundant modular design for easy capacity expansion as needed
- 3600 kVa of utility capability, expandable to five times that amount
- 800 tons of cooling capacity to keep inside temperatures constant at an average of 74 degrees Fahrenheit
- Redundant 10Gbps OC-192 circuits, connecting each center to multiple Windstream core POP sites with fully redundant peering
- On-site Network Operations Centers (NOCs), fully staffed 24 x 7 x 365, providing facilities and network monitoring, security and technical and remote hands support
"The Chicago data center is the perfect example of the industry-leading technologies that support the competitive differentiators that are in high demand in today's business marketplace – those rooted in our 'smart solutions, personalized service' brand promise," said Windstream's executive vice president of enterprise sales, John Leach. "As the first EMC service provider to offer both network and data center solutions, this relationship strengthens our shared commitment to an excellent experience, for our enterprise customers as well as our partners."
Windstream Hosted Solutions offers a robust cloud computing solution that dramatically improves the efficiency and availability of IT resources and applications for enterprise businesses, allowing them to rapidly implement cloud services without capital investments so they can reshape their environment on demand. The Hosted Solutions suite includes public, private, and hybrid cloud products, available to businesses nationwide. These managed and dedicated hosting solutions, combined with Windstream's full line-up of advanced network communications and technology products —including voice and data services such as VoIP, SIP trunking, MPLS, and dedicated high-speed internet—allow Windstream to offer its customers a complete set of integrated services.
For more information about Windstream Hosted Solutions, visit windstreambusiness.com .
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About Windstream
Windstream (Nasdaq: WIN ), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company, is a leading provider of advanced network communications, including cloud computing and managed services, to businesses nationwide. The company also offers broadband, phone and digital TV services to consumers primarily in rural areas. For more information, visit windstream.com .
Tanja Jameson 501.748.7236
