American managed infrastructure provider Online Tech is set to open its fifth data center, located in the metropolitan Detroit area. It will offer secure cloud, colocation, offsite backup and disaster recovery services.

Online Tech says the facility will provide pivotal support to companies leading the rebirth of Detroit’s economy, severely damaged by the global economic crisis of 2008.

The opening was originally scheduled for August, but will now take place on December 2.

Put your hands up for Detroit
Online Tech began its journey in 1994 as one of Michigan’s first Internet Service Providers (ISPs). In 2003, it was acquired by new owners who restructured the company around data center services.

Today, the company operates four sites – three in Michigan and one in Indiana. Next month, it will open a new data center in Westland, a suburb of Detroit.

Following a US$10 million redevelopment project, the building will offer 18,000 sq ft of raised floor space and a total load capacity of 1.2 MW.

Metro Detroit will be carrier-neutral, and compliant with a range of standards including HIPAA, PCI, SOX and Safe Harbor.

“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 US companies in the same way that large factories were in the 20th century and railroads were in the 19th century,” said Yan Ness, co-CEO of Online Tech, when he announced the new campus in June.