Colliers International in greater Phoenix has launched a strategic partnership with the IT design and architectural firm, GlassFire, Inc., to provide comprehensive converged data center solutions for clients with mission critical or new data center requirements.
With the global data center construction market expected to boom from $14.6 billion in 2014 to $22.7 billion by 2020, according to a January 2015 data center industry report issued by Research & Market, the Colliers’ Technology Solutions Group partnership with GlassFire will enable businesses to reduce downtime risk and unnecessary capital when making IT-related real estate decisions and invest in the right size of technology the first time.
Currently, businesses that want to build or lease a data center frequently issue loosely written Requests For Proposals, either through their own procurement teams or a real estate broker, that generate a wide range of proposals and, at times, invite the wrong service providers to the bidding process. Through the new partnership with Colliers, GlassFire’s service offering will provide comprehensive on-site technology assessments and detailed architectural plans that account for the company’s total cost of operations and long-term IT needs. GlassFire has the ability to produce detailed design requirements that optimize availability, capacity and efficiency which deliver more specific and narrow requirements for power, cooling, redundancy, connectivity and density.
“By ensuring our clients have accurate and specific IT proposals, we will help businesses save millions over a typical 10-year lease term by tailoring their technology real estate needs on the front end rather than after they’ve made a real estate decision,” said Michael Ortiz, an associate vice president at Colliers specializing in data centers and a member of the Technology Solutions Group.
The decision whether to lease or own a data center is another element which can be a complicated process involving multiple vendors to design the cooling, power and floor space. GlassFire uses industry-leading solutions from VCE, Cisco, VMware and Future Facilities to optimize the architecture and reduce the operational costs of management and administration of data centers.
“Today’s enterprise networks are complex and vital to any organization, making it extremely challenging to develop a plan for relocating technology applications,” said Todd Bylsma, co-founder of GlassFire. “Our partnership will allow organizations to migrate and power down data centers faster. Clients will begin seeing a return on the project investments through a major decrease in data center operational costs.”
The partnership will pilot in Southwestern and Midwestern top data center markets including Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago, St. Louis and Cincinnati and launch nationally at a later date.
“The Technology Solutions Group partnership with GlassFire will save clients time and capital, integrate data centers into their businesses quickly and avoid overspending on a facility that is larger than necessary,” said Bob Mulhern, managing director of Colliers International in Greater Phoenix. “Our new partnership with GlassFire will enhance Colliers’ mission of accelerating business opportunities for clients.”
About Colliers International
Colliers International is a global leader in commercial real estate services, with over 15,800 professionals operating out of more than 485 offices in 63 countries. A subsidiary of FirstService Corporation, Colliers International delivers a full range of services to real estate users, owners and investors worldwide, including global corporate solutions, brokerage, property and asset management, hotel investment sales and consulting, valuation, consulting and appraisal services, mortgage banking and insightful research. The latest annual survey by the Lipsey Company ranked Colliers International as the second-most recognized commercial real estate firm in the world. Colliers International in Greater Phoenix has served clients locally and globally for more than 30 years. For the latest news from Colliers International, visit colliers.com/us/news or follow us on Twitter: @ColliersIntl
About the Colliers Technology Solutions Group
The Technology Solutions Group (TSG) is comprised of operations and compliance IT real estate experts who empower clients with strategies for cost efficiencies and best practices. The Technology Solutions Group engages the client to discover opportunities to assess and develop action plans which address their immediate and long-term IT needs. TSG works collaboratively with the largest data center service providers on delivering a custom solution. Through the partnership with GlassFire, TSG will design an IT requirement with precision, determine the right service platform to address not only the IT real estate need today, but provide options and scalability to meet the client’s IT requirements in the future. TSG deploys a service-oriented approach focused on people, product and process which is unrivaled in the data center brokerage business. While our competitors many times approach technology solutions as just another office deal, Colliers’ method is holistic, delivering customized relevant technology solutions. For a more in-depth look at how the Technology Solutions Group can help you bridge the gap between IT and real estate, please visit us as: http://www.colliers.com/en-us/us/technologysolutions.
About GlassFire Inc.
GlassFire is comprised of VCE veterans Dave Pickens and Todd Bylsma. With over 50 years of IT industry experience with large enterprise networks and manufacturers, GlassFire was started with a focus on simplifying the data center construction, remodel or relocation by combining the physical space, power, cooling and technology into one modular, product. GlassFire’s strategic partnerships and products provide more accurate designs, quicker implementations, reduced operational costs and more compliant solutions. The team at GlassFire has experience in many industries and understands first hand, the challenges of relocating or ramping-up a new data center. GlassFire’s anchor technology partner is VCE, with their market leading converged products and a focus on simplifying data center infrastructure.
