Two Utah County computer hosting and services companies are now one.
Center 7 Inc. of Lindon has purchased Tier Four Inc. of Orem and changed the name of the combined companies to C7 Data Centers.
The purchase means that C7 now has four secure computer facilities, including one in Salt Lake City, where it hopes to expand.
"It's just a simple way to grow our business," said Nathan Hatch, president and CEO of the company founded in 1999.
C7 offers what is known as colocation, in which a company contracts to house its computer system in a secure facility, one with backup systems for data, power, cooling and Internet access, and that can survive disasters.
The company also provides virtualization services in which businesses remotely access computing power from a C7 center. Finally, the company also offers Internet service providers a path to connect to the Internet.
With the buyout, C7's computer facilities include two in Lindon, one in Orem and the one in Salt Lake City, the latter two formerly owned by Tier Four.
"It actually broadens our reach," said Hatch. "A good example is serving those customers in Salt Lake who want to be very close to a data center, but our other locations were too far away. Now it gives us the ability to sell them right in our backyard."
C7 is privately held and operating on its own revenues after backing from Canopy Ventures, said Hatch. The purchase of Tier Four was a cash deal.
The company has kept all Tier Four employees and has 16 full-time and 12 part-time workers, the CEO said.
Alianza and MStar are two of more than 150 companies using the services of C7 Data Centers, the company said. It also said its data centers are designed to save energy, with the newest center in Lindon using 35 percent less power for cooling than originally planned.
