EVERETT – FiberCloud Inc., a subsidiary of Whidbey Telephone Co. that operates data centers in Everett and Bellingham, is extending its reach by acquiring Seattle-based Compass Communications Inc.
FiberCloud will take over Compass Communications’ main data center in Seattle’s Westin Building. That building also houses an Internet hub for the entire Northwest.
“The Seattle presence gives FiberCloud a significant footprint in the core center for the region,” said George Henny, president of FiberCloud. “By having a presence here, it not only gives our customers options, but it gives Compass customers options for having off-site servers in Bellingham and Everett.”
Yale Wong, who founded Compass Communications a decade ago, called the combination of the two data center firms “an incredible fit.” Terms of the deal between the private companies were not released.
In addition to the Seattle data center, FiberCloud takes over a Compass center in Spokane. Wong will continue working for FiberCloud.
Data centers – also called co-location centers, telecom hotels or server farms – offer business services ranging from fast links to the Internet to complete Web site management. Many companies also use the secure, high-capacity facilities for backup storage of critical computer data.
In 2001, Whidbey Telephone began setting up its first data center in the Everett Mutual Tower. The business was called LightStream Data Centers until it acquired Bellingham’s FiberCloud LLC in early 2003.
With those two locations, the company focused on serving companies in the I-5 corridor from Snohomish County north into Canada. The third location – which increases FiberCloud’s capacity by at least another 50 percent, Henny estimated – bolsters the company’s ability to provide disaster recovery and continuity services.
That segment of the data center industry has gained attention in recent years as businesses have taken steps to protect their information against the threat of terrorism.
Henny added that he has talked to several customers in Seattle interested in using FiberCloud’s servers outside Seattle for that and other purposes.
“It should enhance Everett’s growth significantly,” he said of the data center here.
FiberCloud employs nine people, including contract workers. Henny said no decisions have been made about how many Compass employees and contract workers, which number about eight, will be retained.
Nationally, many of the companies that entered the data center industry with gusto during the dot-com boom have since closed. By stressing FiberCloud’s personal service and regional focus, the company has grown well, Henny said.
“We are coming out on top, in lot of respects, because we’re making some strategic moves,” he said. “The Bellingham data center was a terrific acquisition, and Compass is as well.”
In addition to its data center services, FiberCloud provides high-speed wireless Internet service to the Peninsula Apartments, the Everett Events Center and several other downtown buildings. Henny said he still hopes FiberCloud can be a catalyst in creating a more “digital downtown.”
“My goal was always to bring more business to Everett,” Henny said. “It continues to be something we work hard on.”
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
Joe Nicholson / The Herald
FiberCloud Inc. President George Henny says the Compass Communications deal gives customers of both firms more options.
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