Supporting the Evolution of IT with Hybrid Colocation

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1 Supporting the Evolution of IT with Hybrid Colocation LightEdge - Des Moines, Iowa, US A trusted partnership with Schneider Electric helps LightEdge Solutions meet its customers data center needs and supports digital transformation. #WhatsYourBoldIdea cloud-colo.schneider-electric.com

2 Contents Overview 3 Evolution of LightEdge and IT 4 Trusted Partnership 5 Flexible Design 6 Ongoing Work 7 cloud-colo.schneider-electric.com September

3 Overview Enterprises trying to do more with less, often looked first at IT for cost-cutting opportunities. As cloud emerged, it was perceived as the ultimate solution for reducing capital expenditures, streamlining staff, and became the go-to place for applications and critical data. Now, the state of digital transformation is forcing some applications back to more secure and compliant data centers, resulting in the need for a combination of solutions. Meeting this market demand, LightEdge s hybrid colocation model is enabling its customers to handle today s complex mix of data intensive applications, bandwidth-intensive technology and demand for speed and processing power. Getting the most out of a hybrid approach involves managing a combination of public and private cloud and on-premises data center a tough challenge for enterprise IT alone. So, LightEdge helps its customers design, implement, and mange hybrid cloud solutions. The board and C-level have come to understand the potential positive impact of digital transformation. Therefore, the importance of the IT function is on the rise again, but its purview is more complex than ever, says Jim Masterson, CEO, LightEdge. To simplify, we become an extension of our customers IT departments. We guide them on the solutions model that will best support their digital evolutions, while also freeing them from the daily responsibility of data center management. In turn, they can be of more strategic value to the business. We are not in the real estate business, and are not construction experts. We re IT guys who happened to get into the facilitiesbased business, so we rely on Schneider Electric s depth and breadth of knowledge to help build our data centers. Jeffrey Springborn, COO LightEdge Project at a glance LightEdge operates data centers in Des Moines, Iowa and Kansas City, Missouri, serving both Midwestern and national companies. Its facilities are ISO 20000, ISO 27001, SSAE 16 SOC 1, 2 & 3 Type II and PCI-DSSv3.0 certified with data center operations meeting stringent HIPAA compliance requirements. Along with design and build data center lifecycle services, LightEdge uses the following Schneider Electric equipment: Square D switchgear MegaWatt UPS Racks Rack PDUs cloud-colo.schneider-electric.com September

4 Evolution of LightEdge and IT There is a growing request from enterprises for single-provider-managed, multi-sourced hybrid cloud solutions, and LightEdge has grown to fit this need. It operates data centers in Des Moines, Iowa and Kansas City, Missouri, serving both Midwestern and national companies. We own and operate the fiber, facility, enterprise-level cloud platform and the bulk of the security, says Jim, and are a one-stop shop for our customers. Concurrent with a changing enterprise IT, LightEdge has advanced from simply being a network provider to become a full solution partner that can meet the multifaceted business requirements key to enabling digitization. Our turnkey options for on-premises colocation and hybrid cloud planning, implementation and management support the complete evolution of the IT organization, says Jim. Because of a substantial migration to the cloud, IT is now dealing with latency and performance issues, so we are seeing many organizations move applications into our regional hybrid solutions centers, Jeff adds. IT then has more control over the creation, capture, and performance of IoT data which is especially important as no fiber is yet capable of handling the tremendous volume. Heavy data must be stored, processed and used locally. Jeff also notes an emergent need for edge solutions compute power and data closer to users for emerging applications like IoT and real-time data analytics. Our capabilities are expanding to support customers on site to create controlled IoT environments, he says. In edge computing, distributed IT architecture processes data at the edge of the network, as close to the source as possible. It complements the cloud or central data warehouse to provide redundancy and consistent bandwidth while reducing latency and network congestion. Edge helps manage the massive volume of workloads businesses are now dealing with because of digital demand; workloads that are dependent on an interconnectivity in which milliseconds can be critical for application performance. cloud-colo.schneider-electric.com September

5 Trusted Partnership Altogether, LightEdge offers an ecosystem of technology where edge meets the backbone, public cloud meets private, and security and compliance are notably in place. LightEdge has become a trusted advisor to its customers and credits Schneider Electric as its trusted partner of choice. The bottom line, Jeff says, is that Schneider Electric always follows up and has my back. From the sales team to the engineering group, they have tremendous knowledge throughout the data center lifecycle. For its first data center, Jeff says LightEdge worked with a local construction company, but quickly realized a more strategic partnership was needed. That s when they began working with Schneider Electric. Schneider was the only organization that could talk colocation design, explains Jeff. Other providers wanted us to tell them what went where in terms of servers, cabinets, loads and density. They couldn t get past the fact that we were constructing a building, but didn t know how it would be configured inside. Schneider was the only organization that could talk colocation design. From the sales team to the engineering group, they have tremendous knowledge throughout the data center lifecycle. Jeffrey Springborn, COO LightEdge cloud-colo.schneider-electric.com September

6 Flexible Design Flexibility in design was key for LightEdge to be able to adapt to customers needs. For example, the plan for power distribution for the entire facility had to be considered, as those requirements change often, and the cost of which had to align with varying revenue streams. Flexibility started with the design agreement. Schneider Electric completed the design, but LightEdge did not have to lay out any capital upfront, Jeff says. Per our contract, if we did not use Schneider Electric to build and implement, then we would incur the cost of design. This exemption gave us room to evaluate several different options. Schneider Electric completed the design, but LightEdge did not have to lay out any capital upfront. if we did not use Schneider Electric to build and implement, then we would incur the cost of design. This exemption gave us room to evaluate several different options. Jeffrey Springborn, COO LightEdge Another plus, according to Jeff, is that Schneider Electric owns the entire solution, but doesn t take over everything. The engineering team works with the local trades, developing critical relationships in the local marketplace, which benefits everyone in the long run, he says. Once the business is operational, Schneider Electric also helps develop performance standards, operating processes and assists in ensuring compliance. We don t have staff for that, says Jeff. so what Schneider brings to the table allows us to focus on our core capabilities. cloud-colo.schneider-electric.com September

7 Ongoing Work LightEdge worked with Schneider Electric on its Kansas City, MO data center within SubTropolis Technology Center s (STC) underground limestone mines. Together, they ve also augmented an existing Des Moines, IA data center and then expanded to a second 73,000 square foot facility at the same location. A new market build in Omaha is also being planned. The Schneider Electric Mission Critical Services (MCS) team truly understands our vision, says Jeff, and even takes it a step further. They are experts in not just the enterprise space, but in the colocation industry, as well. Jim sums up their ongoing work, LightEdge and Schneider Electric s relationship is hand and glove. It s the most strategic and integrated partnership I ve ever seen. We could not be happier. LightEdge and Schneider Electric s relationship is hand and glove. It s the most strategic and integrated partnership I ve ever seen. We could not be happier. Jim Masterson, CEO LightEdge Want to to learn more? Watch the video of our partnership with LightEdge play cloud-colo.schneider-electric.com September

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