Latisys and Ascenty Announce Strategic Partnership

ENGLEWOOD, CO and SAO PAULO, BRAZIL--(Marketwired - May 9, 2013) - Responding to growing international demand for continuity of IT infrastructure services delivered on a common platform, Latisys, a leading US provider of outsourced IT infrastructure solutions today announced a strategic partnership with Ascenty, a rapidly emerging metro fiber and data center services provider in Brazil. Ascenty was formed from the merger of Metro Fiber Telecommunications of Brazil (MFB) and Data Centers of Brazil (DCB) creating an integrated platform to service medium-to-enterprise-size business customers in Brazil's major markets and is managed by a team with significant experience in the Brazilian technology services market.

Under terms of the agreement, Latisys gains access to the Brazilian market and will leverage Ascenty's Sao Paolo IT Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) platform and local operations to support its enterprise customers. Ascenty gains access to the US market through Latisys' high-density, high-security IaaS platform. This strategic relationship expands the addressable market for Latisys in international markets and does the same for Ascenty's entrance into the US market.

The two companies formed the partnership after recognizing a distinct similarity both in vision and approach to IT infrastructure service delivery. Both Latisys and Ascenty build high density data centers that serve as a platform for colocation, managed hosting and cloud services. Both deliver a high-touch services model -- with special emphasis on solutions that are tailored to each customer's unique needs. The partnership includes formal collaboration on critical elements such as IaaS platform best practices, go-to-market strategies, data center engineering and design, technology selection, operational excellence and customer support models.

Brazil represents a significant IT growth market with strong prospects for continued expansion. The recent Brazil Information Technology Report Q1 2012 estimates double digit growth in IT spending for Brazil, noting that Brazil stands out as the largest IT market in the region. It also estimates demand for IT products and services to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15% over the forecast period, making Brazil one of the best-performing global IT markets.

With an eye on international expansion, Latisys has built a state-of-the-art national IaaS platform that serves medium-to-large enterprises and select government agencies from eight data center locations in four markets across the US. Ascenty features a growing high capacity fiber-optic network encompassing over one thousand kilometers across Brazil -- South America's largest country. Ascenty opened its first data center in Campinas, São Paulo during Q3 2012 with approximately 25,000 square feet of IT space, supported currently by 6MW of power. Ascenty is currently constructing its second facility, a tier 3 facility in the São Paulo market that will deliver approximately 30,000 square feet of IT space supported by 12MW of power. Both companies serve large global customers with growth strategies in their respective regions.

"There are real challenges that go with international expansion," said Pete Stevenson, Latisys CEO, based on his significant international experience. "For large IT service providers, it's a big decision in deciding whether or not to spend capital in a foreign market where the operator has no experience. We think it's more efficient to manage the execution risk by partnering with a strong local partner so we get speed to market and local operating knowledge for current and future customers that have deployment needs in Brazil. The Latisys-Ascenty partnership is meaningful because it is built on a foundation that includes common platforms and business philosophies. For example, Ascenty has had its operations and management team work closely with Latisys engineering, operations and management team over the past year to focus on standardized procedures and infrastructure design."

"Latisys' national IaaS platform in the US gives us a significant advantage in providing continuity of services for Brazil-based customers with business in the US," said Chris Torto, CEO of Ascenty. "At the same time, we provide Latisys with important local market expertise -- adding significant value to existing and new customer engagements in Brazil. Ultimately this partnership lowers risk by ensuring more efficient distribution of human and investment capital -- all while accelerating expansion for both companies to a pace that cannot be achieved by going it alone."

About Ascenty
Ascenty is a data center and telecommunications company focused on providing colocation, managed hosting, managed services, public & private cloud solutions and telecom services to medium-sized and enterprises businesses in Brazil. Ascenty has over 1,000km of fiber optic network in the State of Sao Paulo and launched its first Tier III, high-density data center in the city of Campinas, Sao Paulo in October 2012. The company has announced the construction of its second data center in the city of Hortolandia, Sao Paulo with planned availability in Q4 2013. More information can be found at www.ascenty.com or by calling +55-19-3517-7600.

About Latisys
Latisys is a leading national provider of colocation, managed hosting, managed services, disaster recovery and private cloud solutions to medium-sized businesses, enterprise customers and government agencies. With a heritage of serving business customers since 1994, and multiple high-density data centers across the United States, Latisys offers a scalable outsourced IT infrastructure platform that provides customers with what they need, when they need it. As a client-centric company -- with state of the art data centers in Ashburn, Virginia, Chicago, Denver and Irvine, California -- Latisys is quickly becoming the IaaS platform of choice for companies that demand more from their IT infrastructure partner. All while optimizing clients' return on investment. All while 'delivering more_'. Call 1-866-956-9594, visit www.latisys.com or follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/Latisys for additional information.