Detroit: Transforming Model T’s to IT

At the beginning of the 20^th century, Henry Ford and his assembly line model of mass production revolutionized the automobile industry and established Detroit as the car capital of the world. Detroit became a symbol of the United States’ industrial strength with unrivaled manufacturing power and labor force.

Over a century after Henry Ford built the Piquette Plant, Detroit is going through a 21^st century economic makeover. In the early 20^th century Detroit’s quickly growing infrastructure fueled the high demand for labor and supported the city’s economic growth. Present day Detroit is not much different, however, it is the IT infrastructure that is providing economic opportunity to business in Detroit.

On the forefront of the Detroit technology revolution is colocation and service provider Online Tech. The 34,000 square foot data center Online Tech opened on August 1 in Westland, Michigan is responsible for delivering critical IT infrastructure for Detroit businesses. Online Tech’s new data center will provide enterprise class IT infrastructure with the security and compliance demands of 21^st century business.

Online Tech co-CEO Yan Ness delivered the following statement about their newest facility, “Detroit’s potential is immense. Our new data center brings crucial technology infrastructure to a city with an economic engine that is beginning to rumble. Data centers are the indispensable infrastructure for today’s U.S. companies in the same way that large factories were in the 20^th century and railroads were in the 19^th century.”

Detroit companies in healthcare, e-commerce, and financial services need data centers with a complex balance of technical, compliance, and security demands. These companies are working hand in hand with data center and colocation providers to move attention put on Detroit from abandoned factories to an image of economic growth. The success of 20^th century Detroit was measured by clouds of smoke rising from its many factories. The Detroit of the 21^st century will be built upon its data centers powering businesses 24/7.

Category: Data Center News