Latisys, which operates three data centers in Colorado, California and Illinois, has chosen Englewood for its corporate headquarters.
The privately held company was founded in Virginia in June 2007 and entered the Denver market six months later by acquiring data-center operator Data 393.
“We’ve identified the Denver market as a place where we want to plant the big flag,” said Latisys chief executive Peter Stevenson, citing the area’s technology talent base as a key reason.
The move doesn’t mean an immediate boost in jobs locally, but key operational decisions, such as expansion plans, will now be made from the Englewood office. The company employs 125, including 45 in metro Denver.
Latisys had revenue of $34.5 million in 2008, according to Inc. magazine. Stevenson said the company’s sales have since grown by about 50 percent.
Data centers store computer servers and other equipment and connect them to the Internet for businesses. Many operators also offer data-storage and Web-hosting services.
Colorado is home to a number of data centers largely because of the lack of natural disasters in the area, industry officials say.
“Both here and the Front Range, and right across the border to Cheyenne, there’s a pretty low propensity to natural disasters, and that’s probably been one of the primary reasons that the data-center industry is focused on this region,” said Shawn Mills, chief executive of Green House Data, a data-center firm based in Cheyenne.
In September, Green House opened an office in Denver, which is where Mills is based.
Denver’s ViaWest is one of the state’s largest independent data-center companies, with facilities in Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Nevada and Texas.
Technology giants IBM and Sun Microsystems also operate data centers in the metro Denver area.
Andy Vuong: 303-954-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com
