The Daily T1R Newsletter 10/26/09

Providers you should know: Xand
By Dan Golding

In this continuing series, T1R is looking to find the 'missing hosting providers' – the several hundred firms, globally, who comprise the smaller end of the colocation and managed hosting sector. While many lie off the beaten track, they generally have strong businesses, are owner operated and produce meaningful cash flow by servicing satisfied customers.

The latest firm to catch T1R's eye is Xand Corporation, a managed hosting and colocation provider based in Hawthorne, New York (Westchester County). The firm has $12 to 15m in annual revenue providing services to a variety of mostly small and midsized businesses: manufacturing, law firms and financial services providers. Products run the gamut from retail colocation to managed hosting (excluding applications), as well as business continuity workspace. Xand's revenue is evenly split between colocation and managed hosting services.

Xand has a single datacenter in Hawthorne with 30,000 square feet of raised floor and a significant amount of business continuity space – offices ready for enterprise to use during disaster recovery situations. BC space has become an increasingly common offering for datacenter providers looking to monetize unused space and T1R thinks we'll see more of it as phased or modular shell datacenters become even more common.

Xand's datacenter is SAS 70 Type II certified and carrier neutral, featuring fiber from Verizon (MCI and Verizon classic), as well as LightPath Technologies. A number of Internet carriers are lit into the facility including Cogent, Level 3 Communications, Global Crossing, Verizon and RCN. The facility has two 1.25MW generators and 1.35KVA of UPS capacity. Although that datacenter build is modest, Xand is looking to expand with another datacenter in an adjacent State – perhaps a wholesale datacenter option might be a good fit?

In terms of managed hosting, Xand offers relatively basic managed server services, including both Linux and Windows-based hosting, although the majority is Windows and Xand is a Microsoft Gold Partner. Additionally, Xand offers the usual set of managed bandwidth and security services.