DALLAS, Feb. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Compass Datacenters has acquired two companies that make Compass the first and only provider in the data center industry that can deliver dedicated mission critical facilities from the core to the edge—all with a common management and service platform. The companies that have been acquired are EdgePoint Systems, which delivers, installs, monitors and maintains fully-integrated edge data centers anywhere they are required, and BitBox USA, a pioneering facility management platform and solutions integrator specifically tailored for the edge.
“This is an exciting time for the data center industry because the definition of a data center is changing so dramatically. It wasn’t that long ago that the only model for a corporate data center was a monolithic, end-user-built structure that was inflexible, capital-intensive and inefficient in a hundred ways. Data centers have evolved significantly since then and need to be much closer to end users. Our acquisition of EdgePoint and BitBox put Compass at the forefront of where data centers are needed now,” said Chris Crosby, CEO of Compass Datacenters. “These are strategic investments for Compass that enable us to offer a broader range of mission critical solutions to customers to match their specific needs from the core of their IT infrastructure all the way out to the extreme edge, no matter how a customer defines the edge and where it resides.”
Compass’ newest offering, Compass EdgePoint, is designed as an IT-ready data center that is rapidly deployed directly on any customer premise. This dramatically reduces latency wherever companies need networking, compute or storage capacity. Compass EdgePoint was designed from the ground up for the most demanding IT environments, protecting the multi-million-dollar investments in high-end gear that requires higher density and redundancy than cannot be provided by other containers and telco huts available today. With its patent-pending design, Compass EdgePoint solves the issues associated with high-end, high-density IT gear at campus or edge locations that require a small form factor.
Additionally, the Compass EdgePoint solution offers a level of IT fit-out customization and pre- and post-installation support unmatched by competing alternatives. In the pre-installation phase, Compass Datacenters coordinates and supervises all necessary permitting and installation requirements while simultaneously working with the customer to integrate and configure their IT equipment to deliver a fully commissioned plug-and-play solution. Post-activation, BitBox personnel monitor and maintain each Compass EdgePoint unit with a white glove service. The standard offering comes in 10 rack increments, each increment with a fully 2N MEP design and over 80KVA of IT power. Each unit’s hardened shell can be expanded in size and delivered just-in-time to any location. An integrated vestibule and “mantrap” ensure all IT equipment is unaffected by internal temperature and humidity fluctuations due to personnel ingress and egress. These new data centers can serve as regional hubs or support smaller data center requirements at the network edge. Additional offerings are available in smaller rack increment sizes.
“Compass has one of the most respected names in the industry, and we share a vision for how data center infrastructure needs to evolve to meet the technical and business requirements of tomorrow. Our solution is based on the experience Jon and I have gained from deploying hundreds of Google Fiber huts across the country,” said Sharif Fotouh, founder of EdgePoint who will continue to lead the company as Compass EdgePoint. “Companies in content, cloud, telecommunications, industrial, pharma and manufacturing need a robust edge solution, without compromises, that can be deployed quickly and that can work seamlessly with the rest of their data center infrastructure. These facilities not only eliminate latency, but also eliminate the high costs and risks of fiber backhaul. This allows critical facilities – like factories, hospitals, network and content distribution nodes – to stay online and running without fear of fiber cuts. We are the only provider who can offer customers dedicated data centers from the core to the edge.”
BitBox USA will continue to operate under its current name and BitBox’s facility management platform will be the foundation of Compass’ vision for distributed data center access control, monitoring and on-going maintenance.
“Compass has a holistic vision of IT infrastructure that views all data center assets as an integrated whole. That is particularly important as data center infrastructure becomes more distributed in order to move computing power closer to end users. These are challenges I tackled while founding BitBox for some of the largest hyperscale and technology companies,” said Jon Trout, Founder of BitBox who will continue to lead the company. “BitBox gives customers the tools to integrate and manage all of those facilities effectively, from the core out to the edge—and I am really energized about continuing this work as part of the Compass family of companies.”
“Beyond the strategic importance of these acquisitions and how the technology benefits our customers, there is also tremendous value in bringing Sharif and Jon to Compass as members of our management team,” said Crosby. “I have tremendous respect for both of them as thought leaders in our industry who not only have great ideas, but who make them a reality through their creativity and hard work. I couldn’t ask for two smarter, better people to be part of the team.”
Compass acquired both companies from a common owner, and financial terms of the acquisitions are not being released publicly.