To close the gap and provide a secure solution to cloud computing, last week we announced our launch of a private network cloud computing solution called FlexSafe Cloud. (See the Press Release.)

FlexSafe Cloud is a secure approach to cloud computing that meets the needs of organizations that want the flexibility, scalability and cost savings of virtualization, but that also require the security of a private computing platform. 

Horizon CEO Lance A. Smith  says the FlexSafe Cloud continues the company’s strategic focus on filling the gap in the marketplace by providing leading edge, flexible, full-service IT outsourcing options that can serve both enterprise clients and small to  medium-sized businesses.  What we have found is that customers like flexibility.  We pioneered the concept on the data center/storage side of the equation with our DCFlexSpaceSM colocation model. 

Our FlexSafe Cloud delivers immediate benefits for Software as a Service (SaaS) companies, e-commerce applications that experience fluctuating transaction volumes, financial firms, government agencies, and other entities that want the greater efficiencies and cost savings of virtualization without giving up security.

Technology Partners: The highly scalable FlexSafe Cloud is based upon our industry leading Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offering.  We begin with Tier III data centers (we have two in Dallas) built on leading edge technology providers like AboveNet, Cisco, F5 Networks and HP.  From firewall to storage, the Horizon FlexSafeSM Cloud service is virtualized using VMware, and provides the High Availability (HA) performance and security levels required by enterprise data center customers.  HDCS currently has two DFW area data centers, connected by the aforementioned private fiber ring, providing fast, reliable data backup and replication solutions.

Although that might sound like a tall order for any business, we are confident that the team we’ve put together can achieve all of that – and more. During our first year in business, we’ve welcomed dozens of clients, more than tripled our original capacity, and built a company that is poised to continue triple digit growth in the coming years.

Last summer, we launched Horizon Data Center Solutions with a small but strong executive team, firm funding, an innovative strategy, and a business plan built on giving customers something that had long been missing in the data center marketplace: flexibility.

To provide flexibility we set out to build top tier, world class data center facilities, with state of the art technology infrastructure, and the type of data security the world’s largest businesses have been relying on for years. We partnered with Digital Realty Trust and to date have opened two data centers with more than 50,000 square feet combined in Dallas, Texas.

More than the physical feat, what we’re proud of is that we’ve been able to make world class data center services available to businesses of all sizes. Our clients include billion dollar enterprises, as well as those just on their way. It’s an interesting mix of big and small, but without exception every customer we serve gets the same top tier level of service and the best in mission critical data management available anywhere.

At Horizon, we’re proud of what we’ve achieved in our first year in business. As optimists, we set some high goals for customer acquisition and growth. With just one year under our belts, we’re proud to say we’ve surpassed our own lofty expectations. Our business has not only grown, but our customers are satisfied. Our success to date has allowed us to attract top talent, acquire a successful managed service business (Mareechi), and give our customers even more of what we set out to provide.

It’s been a great first year. Best of all, we’ve only just begun.

From a technical perspective, we’ve got that covered. There is no one better than our team at handling the technical demands of our business. However, data centers are real estate intensive. We’re not real estate experts. So we went out and found the people who are truly the experts at finding and securing facilities that meet our location, security, climate control, and energy consumption needs.

GVA Cawley Mission Critical Connect is a specialty brokerage and division of GVA Worldwide. Their expertise is in siting data centers and high technology facilities. They know what’s important to us and to our customers, and they are the best at finding the right sites in the appropriate locales.

GVA Cawley will assist Horizon Data Center Solutions with our expansion plans in Dallas and Houston in early 2009, and in other major markets going forward. We welcome the experts at GVA Cawley to our team. With their professional expertise and direction, we will be able to grow fast and meet the needs of the people that are trusting us with their collocation, data storage, data security and more.

It’s always a pleasure dealing with real pros.

Although we set out to create the type of infrastructure that can provide service to the biggest data users in the industry, we also set in place a philosophy at Horizon that says: Every Business is Important.

We know and respect the fact that every company, no matter its size, relies on the security of its data and the up-time of its systems to stay in business and to thrive. Whether annual revenues are ten billion dollars or a few million dollars, a company’s data is its lifeblood.

The Horizon DCS FlexSpace Program was designed specifically to provide exactly what businesses of all sizes need in a data center – with service levels that meet their needs both today and tomorrow. We know that smaller companies grow, and as they do, their business needs grow with them.

Every day we’re proving that there is a better way to do business in the data center industry. Our efforts are being rewarded with multi-year contracts with huge government and business entities, as well as businesses that want the best in service no matter their size. Our portfolio of data centers is growing rapidly, as we’ve tripled our size in just nine months.

Recent contract awards have included big retail and government entities, and smaller but growing companies, like Main Event Entertainment, which never thought a Tier III data center company like us would consider servicing their needs. But at Horizon, we’re proud to work with companies like Main Event. Their business customers trust them with important information about their companies and their employees, while individuals, students, and families need to know their credit card transactions and personal information is safe.

Partnering with Horizon is a smart business decision for Main Event. In addition to collocation and data center services, they are a perfect candidate for many of our managed services. Main Event offers an excellent example of how our business philosophy of working with businesses of all sizes is the right decision – one that works for them, and for us too.

Because Every Business is Important.

But what makes our recent win of a $47 million multi-year contract with the Army & Air Force Exchange Service even more special to the people at Horizon is the type of business we’re supporting.

AAFES serves military personnel and their families stationed around the world. They operate more than 3,000 retail operations worldwide, as well as an extensive online buying service featuring 18 million items that military personnel and their families need.

They are a major global retail entity, and the security of their nearly $10 billion in retail transactions each year is critical to supplying military men and women and their families with the products they need.

At Horizon, our executives come from military backgrounds. We did our part and served our country, and when we were in the service the AAFES, its BX stores, movie theatres and fast food restaurants were there for us and our families everywhere we went – all over the world.

The data center industry is a technology based industry, but the services we help our clients deliver mean millions of people get what they need when they need it. Every time. All the time.

We are thrilled to be doing our small part for the men and women of the Armed Services.