Compass Datacenters, a new data center provider formed by Chris Crosby, the industry visionary who helped build Digital Realty, today unveiled its business strategy which makes dedicated modular data centers a reality for the 98 percent of the market not served by current wholesale data center providers.

“The data center market is very dynamic today, but when you look closely, a couple of things are clear: the market is very limited geographically and the industry has become less customer-centric. The bulk of current investment in the U.S. is concentrated in only six markets with data center products that meet the needs of a very narrow set of customers. That approach ignores 98 percent of the potential overall market, which means there is a huge untapped market for an innovative company that can pioneer a solution aimed at that large segment of underserved customers,” said Chris Crosby, founder and CEO of Compass Datacenters.

This focus on un-served markets is consistent with recent industry research:

“Our research of markets has found that much fewer data center options are available in markets outside of the top-ten markets in North America providing a clear business opportunity,” said Jeff Paschke, research manager, Multi-Tenant Datacenters at 451 Research. “Wholesale data center providers have traditionally focused only on the largest markets, leaving customers in smaller markets with limited options. We see smaller markets being a major growth area for data center providers in the coming years.”

Crosby added, “The Compass solution also expands the realm of customer options. We are a pure play wholesale provider, but we offer customers the ability to purchase as well as lease the facility. We also offer them a level of control that is unique in the industry, including enabling them to completely brand their data center with their own logo and color scheme.”

Compass Datacenters has developed an innovative design for Truly Modular data center facilities that makes it possible for companies to locate their data centers where they need them—at an affordable cost—rather than where their provider happens to have a facility.

Crosby added, “We have shifted the paradigm of current data center offerings to match how the IT world thinks. IT capacity planning is quite simply the hardest thing for any company to do, but, with Truly Modular, the building matches the data center as integrated modules. That means Compass customers no longer have to settle for a hybrid option because the data center building is the module.”

Compass Datacenters’ management team also includes co-founder and senior vice president Chris Curtis, an experienced investor and developer of complex, high-security government real estate projects with a special focus on cost-effective, smaller buildings. Curtis brings more than a decade of experience developing dozens of projects in 22 markets across nine states.

“A company in Nashville, Minneapolis, Charlotte, Denver, or other too-often-ignored markets will no longer be faced with the stark choice between either setting up their data center in one of the big six markets, going into a retail colo environment, or paying a premium for a custom facility with huge capital requirements. None of these choices is ideal, but there has not been a viable alternative until now,” said Chris Curtis. “No matter where you are, Compass Datacenters can provide your company with a hardened, LEED Gold, Tier III-certified* facility that has a financial structure that works for your bottom line. This is the start of a major new phase of growth for the data center industry."

Together, the management team of Compass Datacenters has experience managing more than $2 billion in design and construction projects, spearheading more than $500 million in acquisitions, securing more than $2.5 billion in sales/leasing contracts, and managing more than 6 million square feet of data center facility space. Compass Datacenters is headquartered in Dallas, and additional details about the company’s target markets and its product offering will be announced shortly.