Kansas City’s data center hub 1102 Grand, is not only the largest carrier neutral facility in the Kansas City Metro area, but it is also one of the fastest growing of its kind in the Midwest. The services provided by this voice and data traffic hub seem endless with the means necessary to provide Kansas City startups, savvy enterprise organizations and Fortune 500 and Inc. 500 companies with cost-effective infrastructure for carriers, service providers, and enterprise customers.
Darren Bonawitz, co-owner of 1102 Grand, describes the company as a trusted partner and extension to many organizations' IT operations. "Since we invest in and manage the data center infrastructure, collocation customers are able to focus on their core business as well as free up precious capital to reinvest elsewhere in their business," he says. This is especially beneficial for Kansas City entrepreneurs and startups!
The ownership group of 1102 Grand has invested nearly $13 million to transform the building into a full service carrier hotel and colocation center that houses multiple data centers. All colocation areas are connected to one central point; the Meet Me Room, via Ethernet, coax, fiber, etc. This Meet Me Room area has become known as the heart and soul of the facility where all of the interconnections take place. The space has prided itself on the notion that it is a neutral facility, as tenants are allowed to purchase their own space, power, and cooling directly from the building owners and then arrange for the bandwidth and any other desired services separately.
"The best part of our job is that we have the opportunity to work with a diverse mix of customers with their own unique challenges and objectives," says Bonawitz. "Our team really enjoys the opportunity to work closely with our customers to create tailored solutions ensuring their specific needs are met."
So what’s next for the Kansas City data center hub? 1102 Grand is expanding its collocation area, adding 5,000 square feet of additional caged space for carriers, service providers, and enterprise customers. The new collocation area is expected to be finished by the end of 2010. Even with the new collocation space expansion underway, 1102 Grand is also hosting its 1102 Grand IT networking series with KCnext on Thursday, November 18th from 5-8pm. One month from today, join 1102 Grand and 300 Kansas City innovators, IT professionals, and upper-level executives at the Press Bar and Panini Grill at Crosstown Station for a beneficial Kansas City networking opportunity.
With its 5,000 square foot expansion to be completed in December 2010, over $7 million already put forth to transform the building into what it is today, and the ability to help bootstrapping Kansas City startups and enterprise organizations better themselves, 1102 Grand knows what it means to Think Big!
Written by Allison Way. Allison is a writer and videographer for Think Big Partners and bizperc, two of Kansas City's newest entrepreneurial resources. To read more of Allison's work, please visit the Kansas City Entrepreneurship Examiner.
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