During the formal "relaunching" announcement, GlobeQuest head Jesus Romero said AyalaPort is expected to augment the existing network of data centers currently being operated by Ayala-owned GlobeQuest.
The data center reverted to its old name after parent firm Ayala Corp. regained control of AyalaPort in December last year from erstwhile partner and majority owner CNG.
CNG took over the management of AyalaPort in early 2004 when Ayala Corp. decided to sell its 60 percent majority stake to the Michigan-based company. CNG subsequently renamed the data center to Global Data Hub (GDH).
Under the partnership agreement, Ayala Corp. retained a 32-percent minority stake in the data center while its Japanese investors held the remaining eight percent share.
Romero did not disclose the amount of money paid by Ayala Corp. to CNG when it bought back the data center from CNG.
The retaking of AyalaPort from CNG was precipitated by the sudden collapse of the US firm after federal government investigators probed its alleged illegal operations, according to an earlier report by Web Host Industry Review.
Ayala Corp. then worked to recover all its shares in the data center, the report added. It also quoted AyalaPort (then GDH) marketing director, Lester Tiongson, who said that Ayala Corp. took over operations of GDH days after Cybernet Group CEO Barton Watson shot himself in his Michigan home amidst a police standoff on November 18. Watson, his wife Krista, and CNG chief operating officer James Horton were being investigated by the FBI for allegedly defrauding several US banks.
"When they were presenting to us, what we saw were the legitimate parts of their business, which from the side of Ayala Corp, were conceivably effective," the report quoted Tongson as saying.
According to GlobeQuest’s Romero, the addition of AyalaPort data center facility in Pasong Tamo and Laguna increased its network of data centers from four to six. The company also operates four other data centers — two in Mandaluyong City, one in Makati, and another one in Cebu City.
Despite the troubled history of AyalaPort, Romero said the data center business still offers rosy opportunities in the country as it gives companies the reasons to expand by focusing more on their core business.
"It used to be that companies built their own data centers. But later on, they realized it cost them huge money and time, so they’re now more open on outsourcing their IT needs to data centers," he said.
Currently, the top service being availed of by local firms from AyalaPort are co-location, followed by business continuity and recovery, dedicated server hosting, LAN-based Internet, and managed security.
