Why The Portland Data Center Market Will Have A Strong '17

It's a good time for the data center market in greater Portland. Data centers are poised for further growth in 2017, Infomart president John Sheputis tells us.

Portland has a number of advantages over other markets, John says. Portland has what he says Infomart, which owns and operates wholesale data centers, looks for when selecting a data center market. "We call it S.O.A.R. (Sustainability. Operating expense. Access. Risk.)," he says. "In Portland, sustainability is higher due to the ability to access hydropower and an overall energy mix that's lower in carbon than anywhere else in the country."

As for operating expenses, the Portland market has the lowest operating costs on the West Coast thanks to no sales tax and the city's Enterprise Zone status. "Also, Portland is highly connected, providing access to an international subsea cable system," John says, and it's on the primary North/South and East/West fiber intersections.

Not only that, John says Portland is also a risk-averse location, since it's the only major city on the West Coast that isn't located on a fault line. "Our goal is to be where we think IT operations should be occurring. Portland is a great example of this, and we look forward to seeing tremendous growth in the market.”

Pictured: Infomart's Portland location. Following a 16 MW and 100k SF expansion finalized this summer, the facility now totals 24 MW and 340k SF, making it the largest merchant data center in Oregon and one of the largest on the West Coast. Infomart also has data centers in its hometown Dallas, as well as Silicon Valley and Ashburn, VA.