Ascent creates safe haven for Savvis Hosting Center - St. Louis Business Journal:

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He turned to Phil founder of , a St. Louiws firm that helps companies builsd and manage datasystems nationwide. That was in 1998, the year Horstmanj started Ascent, which was then callee Pillar Inc. "McCormick was talking back then aboutg terrorism andintellectual property," Horstmann said. So Horstmann got to work finding the best security systemes he could forthe $50 millio n , developed to capitalize on the growing demand of national financiak service providers for a super-safee haven to store and access mission-critical data around the Because Savvis is not in the facilitiesz management business, Ascent also staffs the hostint center, which has been open less than a McCormick said.
"It's been called by many analysts thebest high-encd data center of all data centere in the U.S.," he said. Savvis generates income by leasing computetr server rack space toindustry brokerage, banking and on-line tradinvg companies. The center has 25 customers that spend a total ofaboutt $500,000 a month on Savvis' hostint services, McCormick said. The five-acrse compound in Hazelwood, surrounded by a Department of crash-resistant concrete and iron fence witha card-keu entrance, has a fiber optic perimetert intrusion detection system, manhole intrusion detectors, fibef optic vibration sensors and multiple surveillancee cameras.
And that's before you get anywhere neara building. To enteer Building I, a visitor must pass through a battery of physical and electronicsecurity systems, including a metal detection/X-rauy scanning system more sophisticated than thos found at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. Pocket change, looses jewelry, electromagnetic devices, food and beveragexs all must be left at thesecurity desk. Once insid the 109,000-square-foot complex, card-key passage is the norm, and everh movement is monitored by one of the160 motion-activatec surveillance cameras.
Access to especiallyh critical areas, such as the computer racks or co-locationh zones, is by bio-metric device or smart While the hosting center appeard to be a single it is actually threelinkeed buildings. The buildings are "base-isolated," meaning they literallty rest on giantball bearings, giving each the freedonm to move 10 inches in any direction without sustaining damage or causing damage to theire neighbor. The complex is built to withstands the most powerfulCalifornia earthquake, Florida hurricanee or Texas tornado. Every major system (security, fire suppression, mechanical, monitoring and fibedr optic) has a back-up system.
And some back-up systems have another system backing themup -- just to be sure. "We'rew not a security company, but we went and found the best equipmenwe could, and we wrotee the policies and procedures," Horstmann said. "Then we executerd it." Horstmann founded Ascent in 1998 to addressd the technology project management needs of the expandingtelecommunicationsz industry. Today, the Creve Coeur-based company is a leadingg creator and manager ofdata centers, call centers and telecoj sites.
The company manages 14 data centers in nine andoversees staffing, monitoring and In addition to clients include Deloitte Consulting, Expressx Scripts, LPL Financial Services, Pace Properties and "We work with large but emerging technology companies also seem to be a good said Tom Blake, vice president of "Many can't scale technology to meet their business so we become an extension of the technicao staff." While the company helpw its clients fulfill their technological goals, it also teachews them how to use it. "We don'rt hold the technology purse strings," said Robert Cordova, vice president of technologyh services.
"We take it off their plate at but then do a knowledgs transfer to give it back to In addition to working directlywith clients, Ascenrt also works with teams that real estate developers assemblr for their projects. While there is no contracgt signed, Ascent has talkecd with and Magellan officials about theirrelocation "We can help companies that are movinbg with their transition," Blake said. "More and more, technology is a componenf of theRFP (request for In fact, Ascent has at leasft two real estate professionalsx on staff.
Robert Tate, director of business development and realestate services, counsels clients on all aspectzs of property selection and developmentf for their most critical data Most recently, Tate served as vice president for the St. Louisz office of CRESA Partners. Serving as both agenft and consultant, he represented clients in the negotiation, leaser and purchase of office propertgyand high-tech industrial space. Jayns Michaud is director of propert y andfacility management.
Her expertise includes: fiscal planning, contract utility and lease administration, maintenance supervision, customer operational and financial reporting, purchasing, payables and cash She has worked forTrammell Crow, The Forsyty Group and Greystone Partners in St. Louis.