Centersquare: Scalable Colocation and Hybrid IT Solutions
Centersquare provides secure, high-performance colocation and interconnection services for enterprises, offering flexible edge-to-core infrastructure solutions.
Overview
Centersquare is a leading provider of retail colocation and interconnection services, operating a robust network of data centers across North America. Formed through the strategic evolution of established data center assets, Centersquare focuses on delivering secure, reliable, and scalable infrastructure solutions that serve as the foundation for the modern digital economy. The company’s core business centers on providing mission-critical space, power, and connectivity to a diverse range of clients, from mid-sized enterprises to large-scale service providers.
With a significant market presence in key metropolitan areas, Centersquare offers a geographically distributed footprint that enables low-latency delivery of applications and data. Their service catalog includes traditional colocation, private suites, and a sophisticated interconnection platform that allows businesses to build complex, multi-cloud architectures. Centersquare targets industries where uptime and security are non-negotiable, including financial services, healthcare, government, and technology sectors.
The company’s history is rooted in a commitment to operational excellence and a "customer-first" mentality. By focusing on the mid-market and enterprise segments that require more personalized service than hyperscale providers typically offer, Centersquare has carved out a vital niche in the infrastructure landscape. Their business focus remains on expanding their interconnection ecosystems and investing in facility upgrades to support the increasing power demands of artificial intelligence and data-intensive workloads.
Positioning
Centersquare positions itself as the "Strategic Infrastructure Partner of Choice" for organizations that require enterprise-grade reliability without the impersonal nature of the world’s largest data center operators. Their competitive positioning strategy is built on the pillars of flexibility, proximity, and partnership. They bridge the gap between the rigid, massive-scale hyperscalers and the smaller, localized boutique providers.
In their messaging, Centersquare emphasizes "Connectivity without Complexity." They differentiate themselves by highlighting their ability to tailor infrastructure to the specific needs of a business, rather than forcing a business to fit into a standardized product box. Their brand positioning is centered on being "The Center of Your Digital Universe," reflecting their role as the hub where networks, clouds, and enterprise data converge.
Compared to competitors, Centersquare leans heavily into its consultative approach. While others may compete solely on price-per-kilowatt, Centersquare competes on the total value of the partnership, focusing on how their interconnection density and expert support teams can reduce the total cost of ownership and accelerate digital transformation for their clients. This "solution-led" messaging resonates particularly well with CIOs and IT directors who are managing the transition from on-premises data centers to hybrid cloud models.
Differentiation
The Centersquare product portfolio is characterized by its "Edge-to-Core" flexibility, allowing organizations to deploy workloads across a diverse footprint of Tier III data centers. A primary technical advantage is their carrier-neutral ecosystem, which provides low-latency access to hundreds of network providers, cloud on-ramps, and internet exchanges. This enables a seamless hybrid IT strategy where clients can bridge the gap between legacy hardware and modern cloud environments.
Key product differentiators include:
- Flexible Power Densities: Capability to support high-density cooling and power requirements for AI and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads alongside traditional enterprise stacks.
- Cloud Connect: Direct, private connections to major hyperscalers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, reducing egress costs and improving security.
- Compliance-Ready Environments: Facilities are designed to meet rigorous standards including SOC 1, SOC 2, PCI-DSS, and HIPAA, providing a turnkey solution for regulated industries.
- Remote Hands & Managed Services: A highly skilled on-site technical team that performs complex tasks, reducing the need for client travel and improving uptime through rapid incident response.
Their innovation focus lies in maximizing power efficiency and sustainability within the data center, ensuring that as client power demands grow, their environmental footprint remains optimized.
Ideal Customer Profile
The ideal Centersquare customer is a mid-to-large enterprise or a high-growth technology company with a "Cloud-Adjacent" or Hybrid IT strategy. They typically have sophisticated infrastructure needs that cannot be met by public cloud alone due to cost, performance, or regulatory constraints.
Key Characteristics:
- Size: Mid-market to Fortune 500 enterprises.
- Industry: Finance, Healthcare, Gaming, SaaS, Media/Entertainment, and Government/Defense.
- Technical Maturity: High; possesses internal IT teams capable of managing server hardware and complex networking.
- Budget: $5,000+ Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) for small deployments, scaling into the millions for wholesale footprints.
- Geography: Primarily North American-focused, requiring a presence in major NFL (National Football League) cities like Northern Virginia, Chicago, Dallas, and Silicon Valley.
Best Fit
- Hybrid IT Strategy Support: Organizations moving away from 100% on-premises data centers but not ready for 100% public cloud. Centersquare excels at bridging these environments via low-latency interconnects.
- Edge Computing Requirements: Businesses requiring compute power closer to end-users in major North American markets to reduce latency for applications like streaming, gaming, or real-time analytics.
- High-Density Power Needs: AI and high-performance computing (HPC) projects that require specialized cooling and power delivery (e.g., 20kW+ per rack) that standard retail colocation providers often struggle to support.
- Compliance-Heavy Industries: Healthcare, Finance, and Government entities that require physical security and rigorous audit trails that exceed standard commercial offerings.
Offerings
- Retail Colocation: Scalable space from a single rack to multi-rack cages. Ideal for businesses that need flexibility and quick deployments.
- Wholesale Data Centers: Large-scale, private suites or dedicated data center halls for organizations requiring 1MW+ of power and complete environmental control.
- Hyperscale Solutions: Customized builds designed for the massive scale of cloud providers and large internet companies.
- Interconnection (The Fabric): A software-defined networking layer that allows for rapid, virtualized connections between data centers and cloud providers.
- Managed Services: High-touch support including migration services, infrastructure design, and hardware procurement assistance.
- Workplace Recovery: Physical office space and business continuity seats located within data center facilities for use during disasters.
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Introduction
This buying guide provides an in-depth evaluation of Centersquare (formerly known through its Cyxtera and Evoque roots), a leading provider of retail and wholesale colocation and interconnection services. As enterprises shift toward hybrid IT models, choosing a data center partner is no longer just about floor space and power; it is about connectivity, edge proximity, and the ability to scale with AI-driven workloads.
In this guide, IT leaders and infrastructure architects will learn about Centersquare’s core capabilities, from high-density power solutions to their extensive North American footprint. We will explore the technical prerequisites for a successful deployment, realistic implementation timelines, and the specific business scenarios where Centersquare outperforms competitors. Whether you are consolidating data centers or building a distributed edge network, this guide serves as a roadmap for your procurement process.
Key Features
- High-Density Colocation: Purpose-built infrastructure capable of supporting the extreme power and cooling demands of AI, machine learning, and GPU-intensive workloads.
- Extensive Interconnection Ecosystem: A robust "fabric" of connectivity allowing customers to link to service providers, partners, and clouds with sub-millisecond latency.
- Carrier-Neutral Connectivity: Access to a wide array of global and regional telecommunications providers, ensuring competitive pricing and redundant network paths.
- Advanced Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM): Real-time visibility into power usage, temperature, and humidity through a centralized customer portal, enabling better capacity planning.
- Remote Hands Services: On-site technical support available 24/7/365 to perform hardware reboots, cable management, and equipment installations, reducing the need for customer travel.
- Resilient Power & Cooling: N+1 or 2N redundancy configurations for UPS and cooling systems, backed by industry-leading uptime SLAs (often 99.999% or higher).
- Edge Presence: Strategically located facilities in key metro markets that allow businesses to process data closer to the end-user for improved application performance.
Use Cases
- Disaster Recovery (DR) and Business Continuity: A financial services firm uses Centersquare to maintain a synchronous mirror of their primary data center, ensuring zero data loss and rapid failover capabilities.
- AI Model Training: A tech startup leverages Centersquare’s high-density liquid cooling racks to house clusters of NVIDIA H100 GPUs, avoiding the power constraints of their previous provider.
- Content Delivery Optimization: A streaming media company uses Centersquare’s edge locations in Chicago, Dallas, and Silicon Valley to cache content closer to users, reducing buffering and improving the customer experience.
- Legacy App Modernization: A healthcare provider uses Centersquare to house legacy "monolith" applications while using direct cloud on-ramps to connect them to new microservices running in AWS.
- Retail Multi-Cloud Hub: A global retailer uses Centersquare as a central "traffic cop," routing data between their private servers and multiple public clouds to avoid high egress fees and vendor lock-in.
Pricing Models
- Cabinet/Rack Pricing: Typically based on a "per-rack" monthly recurring charge (MRC) which includes a base amount of space and cooling.
- Power Consumption: Often billed via "Power Draw" (fixed monthly fee for a set kW limit) or "Metered Power" (billed based on actual kWh usage). AI/HPC workloads usually favor metered or high-density flat rates.
- Interconnection Fees: Monthly charges for physical cross-connects (Fiber, Copper, COAX) and virtual connections to cloud fabrics.
- Setup/Installation Fees (NRC): One-time non-recurring charges for cage construction, rack installation, and initial cabling.
- Remote Hands: Can be purchased as a monthly subscription (e.g., 5 hours/month) or on an ad-hoc hourly basis.
- Contract Terms: Standard contracts range from 36 to 60 months, with significant discounts available for longer commitments and larger footprints.
Technical Requirements
- Rack Specifications: Standard 19-inch racks are typically used; however, customers must specify if they require extra-wide or extra-deep cabinets for specific server models.
- Power Requirements: Support for various voltages (120V, 208V, 480V) and phases (Single-phase, Three-phase). Customers must define their kVA/kW requirements per rack.
- Cooling Compatibility: For high-density deployments, customers must verify compatibility with hot/cold aisle containment or liquid-to-chip cooling solutions if applicable.
- Cabling Standards: Support for Single-mode Fiber (SMF), Multi-mode Fiber (MMF), and Cat6/6a copper.
- Hardware Certification: All equipment must meet standard safety certifications (UL, CE) to be installed in the data center environment.
Business Requirements
- Infrastructure Management Maturity: Organizations should have a clear understanding of their current power draw, rack space requirements, and growth projections over a 3-5 year horizon.
- Networking Expertise: A dedicated network engineering team is required to manage BGP configurations, cross-connects, and cloud on-ramps.
- Physical Logistics Planning: Internal processes must be in place for hardware procurement, shipping/receiving at data center docks, and "Remote Hands" coordination.
- Stakeholder Buy-in: Alignment between the CFO (on OpEx vs. CapEx models) and the CTO (on uptime SLAs and disaster recovery requirements) is essential before committing to multi-year contracts.
- Compliance Readiness: If the business operates in regulated sectors, the internal audit team must be ready to review Centersquare’s SOC and PCI reports annually.
Implementation Timeline
- Discovery & Design (2-4 Weeks): Assessing power requirements, floor space layout, and network topology. Finalizing the Statement of Work (SOW).
- Contracting & Procurement (2-4 Weeks): Legal review of Master Service Agreements (MSAs) and Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Ordering of long-lead hardware components.
- Physical Setup & Cage Build-out (4-8 Weeks): Installing racks, power distribution units (PDUs), and structured cabling. This phase varies based on custom cage requirements.
- Connectivity & Carrier Turn-up (2-6 Weeks): Provisioning cross-connects to carriers and establishing private links to cloud providers (AWS Direct Connect, Azure ExpressRoute).
- Migration & Go-Live (Variable): Moving physical hardware or "swinging" data from old environments. Typically done in phases over 1-3 months to minimize downtime.
Support Options
- 24/7 Global Operations Center (GOC): Round-the-clock phone and ticket support for infrastructure and facility issues.
- Tiered Support Levels: Options ranging from standard facility support to premium managed services and dedicated account engineers.
- Customer Portal: A self-service platform for managing access lists, viewing billing, monitoring power metrics, and opening support tickets.
- Professional Services: Expert consulting for data center migration, network architecture design, and hardware lifecycle management.
- SLA Guarantees: Robust Service Level Agreements covering power availability, environmental stability (temperature/humidity), and network uptime.
Integration Requirements
- Carrier Neutrality: Centersquare provides access to hundreds of Tier-1 and Tier-2 carriers. Integration involves ordering physical or virtual cross-connects within the Meet-Me-Room (MMR).
- Cloud On-Ramps: Direct, private connections to major hyperscalers (AWS, Google Cloud, Oracle, Azure) are available via software-defined networking (SDN) partners or physical ports.
- API Access: Integration with Centersquare’s customer portal via API for automated ticketing, power monitoring, and access management.
- Monitoring Tools: Supports integration with SNMP-based monitoring tools (e.g., SolarWinds, LogicMonitor) for real-time visibility into power consumption and environmental conditions.
- Hybrid Orchestration: Compatible with hybrid cloud management layers like VMware Cloud Foundation or Nutanix for seamless workload mobility between colocation and cloud.
Security & Compliance
- Physical Security: Multi-factor authentication (biometrics, HID cards), 24/7 on-site security personnel, CCTV surveillance with long-term retention, and mantraps.
- Compliance Frameworks: Facilities are regularly audited against SOC 1 Type II, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, and HIPAA standards.
- Federal Standards: Select locations meet FISMA High/NIST 800-53 requirements for government and defense contractors.
- Environmental Controls: Sophisticated fire suppression (VESDA, pre-action dry pipe) and leak detection systems protect physical assets.
- Data Privacy: Strict access control lists (ACLs) managed by the customer via the secure portal to ensure only authorized personnel enter the cage.
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