09-17-12 | Blog Post
What’s new with Online Tech? Today we announced our plans to add four more data centers in the next two years, in addition to our existing Ann Arbor data center, Ann Arbor 2 data center and Mid-Michigan data center. Missouri-based News-Press & Gazette (NPG), a media company, has invested $20 million in Online Tech to help it expand into new markets across the Midwest.
Based in traditional media, NPG owns and publishes 14 newspapers; owns and operates 40 broadcast television and four radio stations; and recently began operating two data centers in Missouri. With an eye on emerging markets (aligned with journalism’s shift to digital), NPG began investing in data centers this year.
Today’s AnnArbor.com article highlights a few reasons why our Michigan locations are ideal for data centers:
While they are looking to build their new centers outside of the state, maintaining the cloud and keeping client’s servers up and running is a task that Michigan is uniquely suited to, Klein said.
“Michigan has the lowest rate of major natural disasters of any state in the continental 48,” he said. “And it has a very good climate for holding the centers.”
In addition to a lack of severe weather and earthquakes, Michigan also has two separate power grids, an attractive proposition for an industry where backing up and staying online are always major concerns.
“In the big power outage in 2003 when the whole East Coast went dark, DTE lost power but Consumers Energy was still up and running,” Klein said. “So we’re able to assure people that we have centers just 53 miles away, an ideal distance for data backup, and they are on different grids.”
And this article from DataCenterKnowledge.com also explains the partnership:
Most news organizations are adapting to the Internet by beefing up their web sites and diving into social media. The News-Press & Gazette Company (NPG) is taking a different path – it’s building and buying data centers.
About Online Tech, LLC.
Online Tech is the leader in secure, compliant hosting, including private cloud hosting, managed cloud hosting,hybrid cloud hosting, and colocation services. Online Tech Midwest data centers deliver mission critical hosting, backed by independent HIPAA, PCI, SAS 70, SSAE 16, and SOC 2 audits required for its clients to comply with financial, government & industry regulations. For more information, visit www.otava.com, call (877) 740-5028, or email [email protected].
About News-Press & Gazette Company
The News-Press & Gazette Company, or NPG Co., is headquartered in St. Joseph, Mo., and owns and operates 40 broadcast television and four radio stations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, Oregon, and Texas; owns and publishes 14 daily, weekly and monthly newspapers in Missouri and Kansas; as well operates two data storage facilities in Missouri. Its mission is to be the dominant provider of local news, information, and advertising in the communities it serves. Family-owned in its fourth generation, NPG prides itself on strong community involvement, a commitment to sustainability and a focus on its employees’ success. For more information about NPG Co., visit www.NPGCO.com.
