The greater Dallas-Ft. Worth region is like a giant petri dish of data center innovation. If you can call the 13-county metro region a microcosm of anything, then the modern cloud computing and data center industry may be it.

One would be hard pressed to name a global technology and business trend that doesn’t intrinsically involve the data center. And if it involves this modern-day equivalent of industrial-era factory automation, then it’s going on - big-time Texas-style - in this market. This activity is the focus of DCD’s Colo+Cloud conference on September 27 at the Dallas Intercontinental.

dallas petri

Facebook will soon commission its first of three 250,000 sq. ft. buildings, a total approximate $1B investment, at its new Ft. Worth hyperscale cloud facility. Winning the competition for a Facebook site says a lot about who you are as a globally competitive market player.

“We know that factors like available low-cost power, abundant water, and a highly qualified labor pool matter in these decisions,” says DCD’s CEO George Rockett. “But for leaders like Facebook, clean energy and eco-sustainability matter, too.”

Energy efficient matters

Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, has said (in a recent Facebook post) that the Ft. Worth site will be “one of the most advanced and energy efficient data centers in the world”.

Nearly 200 data centers of all descriptions, from server closets to QTS’s new 700,000 sq. cloud services mega facility dot the region. “Among other fast movers in this tier one market are Skybox with its Plano sited wholesale power shell concept due to open in October this year and intended for cloud services providers,” says Bruce Taylor, EVP DatacenterDynamics. “Cloud is the most significant growth factor, and it’s inherent – directly or indirectly – in nearly every announcement coming out of this innovation hotbed.”

Aligned Data Center has expanded into the market with it’s revolutionary “pay-as-you-go” for power-used, utility-style business model.

Ascent Data Centers has introduced its Tornado hardened network edge data center in Dallas-Ft. Worth, known primarily as a core network hub.

Other colo and cloud services engaged in this top US fast market include other colo and cloud services data center operators – large global leaders and smaller one-offs, currently active in Dallas: Aligned, Ascent, CenturyLink, CyrusOne, DataBank, Equinix, Infomart, Internap, TierPoint, T5, Viawest, and Zayo.

Telecom Corridor in the Cloudy Light

The telecommunications industry – also a major data center player – is undergoing a revitalization with the venerable “central office” being innovatively re-imagined as a major cloud services provider.

AT&T, Alcatel Lucent, Ericsson, Verizon, Samsung, Texas Instruments and MetroPCS are among the leaders in the Richardson-area hub. DCD Colo+Cloud will shine a spotlight on this developmental area with a OCP Telco Project pre-conference workshop on September 26 and with the OpenCORD (central office re-architected as data center) initiative.

DCDs new free-by-invitation delegate model means this event will be at no registration fee for qualified IT and data center executives, managers and technical professionals – Click here to apply for your complimentary pass.