Colocation provider Expedient will open its Memphis data center this week, in a building formerly used by Hilton Hotels.

Expedient bought the former Hilton data center for just under $4 million in October 2014, and has since spent some $9 million upgrading and improving it. It is now reborn as the eleventh colo data center in Expedient’s network, and the first significant colocation data center in Memphis Tennessee. Expedient is also offering VMware hybrid cloud services in the vCloud Air Network, using a local NOC and hiring technical staff from within the local community.

Looking to secondary markets

Expedient’s 11 data centers serve what are considered secondary markets, many of which are poorly served by larger providers, such as Memphis, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Baltimore, and Boston.

The Memphis facility itself is a total of 35,000 sq ft (3200 sq m), with 7500 sq ft (700 sq m) of raised floor space. Connectivity is provided via a 10Gbps fiber backbone that connects with Expedient’s ten other data centers. 

In addition to colocation, Expedient offers cloud computing and managed services to its customers, and promises 100 percent uptime guarantees for customers looking for highly available services.

The Memphis location is Expedient’s first expansion beyond the northeastern US and Ohio.

There is more to come: Expedient plans to open a twelfth data center, its sedond in the Columbus Ohio area, in November 2015. This facility is being built from the ground up with an investment of $50 million.