Twenty-five years in technology is a long time, and we’ve seen some things. Smartphones put the internet in our pockets. Cloud computing transformed enterprise IT. And streaming, connected devices and artificial intelligence (AI) reshaped how we work, communicate and experience the world.
CoreSite looked different, too. We began with two data centers in 2001. Today, 25 years later, we operate 30 network-rich, cloud-enabled data centers across 11 strategic U.S. markets, connecting an ecosystem of networks, clouds, service providers and businesses that help power our digital world.
While almost everything around us has changed, one thing hasn’t: our people and the culture that inspires us to keep looking ahead.
Our history is not only about our data centers. It’s about the dedicated people who embrace change, recognize possibilities and collaborate to develop the infrastructure, products and services needed to deliver business outcomes for our customers and help us achieve our vision of Empowering a More Connected Future.
The Rise of the Internet
CoreSite started in 2001 as CRG West and operated One Wilshire® in Los Angeles, one of the most interconnected buildings in the world, and SV1 in San Jose, California, the MAE-West (Market Area Exchange) building. These facilities provided carrier-neutral locations where networks could connect and exchange traffic. In 2009, we rebranded as CoreSite: a name indicative of the company’s capabilities and mission-critical reliability.
While digitalization was well underway in our early years, our first decade saw a drastic increase in the number of users, applications and data moving across networks, and the iPhone entered the market. Recognizing that the internet traffic surge would require new, more efficient ways for networks to connect and exchange data, our team introduced the Any2 Exchange® for internet peering in 2005. Today, Any2 Exchange is the second largest internet exchange in the U.S. and the largest on the West Coast with 400+ members.
With this digital transformation, more companies transitioned from on-premises data centers to colocation. Our teams across sales, engineering, operations, legal and project management helped build connections with customers and shape secure, reliable, highly connected deployments that addressed our customers’ unique needs and objectives. Building connections with customers, partners and communities is one of our core values, as is our commitment to excellence. These core values underpin our corporate culture and our success — and our people live them every day, in everything we do.
The Emergence of Cloud, Mobile and Connected Devices
As applications became increasingly latency-sensitive, the CoreSite team continued building network-rich data centers close to the businesses and populations our customers need to reach.
By 2010, the cloud had become mainstream, and our company had grown to 11 data centers in seven markets. In 2012, CoreSite was approached by AWS to become one of the first data centers to offer an AWS direct connection within our buildings. This private connection offered customers public cloud access with improved security, speed and throughput, while eliminating egress fees. The same year, CoreSite became the first Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX)-enabled data center operator in North America. Today, CoreSite has expanded our direct connections, offering access to all major cloud providers. We also offer access to 15 global internet exchanges.
Given the growth of the cloud, our people anticipated the need to make connecting to cloud providers simpler and more secure and introduced the Open Cloud Exchange® (OCX), a software-define interconnection platform, in 2013 to streamline hybrid and multi-cloud connectivity.
These opportunities reflect our ability to keep pace with innovation, deliver operational excellence and establish CoreSite as a leader in our industry.
In 2020, the global pandemic instantly made digital connectivity more essential than ever. Offices, schools and medical buildings shut down, requiring people to work, learn, socialize and receive medical care remotely. As a result, the number of people using the internet increased dramatically. According to reports, more than 300 million people engaged in Zoom meetings1, while telehealth appointments increased 766% between March and June 2020, compared to the previous year.2
CoreSite was — and continues to be — home to many of the businesses that kept the world connected during the pandemic and beyond. Not only did we have the infrastructure to support this surge, but our people were ready and committed. Despite the risk and uncertainty at that time, our data center employees showed up every day to perform their critical work responsibilities and keep our customers and their end users online.
This is another example of our people living our core values, as we own it, win as a team and do the right thing.
The Next Generation of Digital Infrastructure
Today, real-time streaming, AI, analytics and increasingly data-intensive applications are raising expectations for latency, connectivity, security and availability. We continue to seek opportunities to develop data centers in metro areas to provide low-latency delivery to large populations, and our people work to ensure our infrastructure can support increasingly complex customer needs.
In 2021, CoreSite was acquired by American Tower, a Fortune 500 wireless infrastructure leader, providing direct access to the capital required to grow with customers and to anticipate and build solutions for their future needs.
While we support a wide range of organizations, it’s important to understand that CoreSite data centers are not AI training facilities. Instead, our colocation data centers provide the space, power, cooling and connectivity for dozens of businesses under one roof, including banks and payment systems, hospitals and healthcare, higher education and research facilities, media and entertainment, software, network providers, cloud providers, suicide prevention hotlines, 911 emergency response systems and local governments.
Today, our colocation data center portfolio offers access to 500+ network providers, 325+ cloud and IT service providers, and 44,000+ customer interconnections — and we continue to expand our portfolio to support the digital economy.
Our Commitment to People, Purpose and Progress
Data centers are not just technology hubs — they’re part of the community, providing high-quality jobs, substantial economic growth and accelerated innovation that help our neighborhoods thrive.
At CoreSite, we are committed to responsibly developing and efficiently operating our data centers. This commitment extends beyond our facilities to the communities where we live, work and serve. Through volunteerism, education, local partnerships and support for youth and underserved groups, we work to create lasting, positive impact and to live by our core value to do the right thing.
Our people help us to serve as a good neighbor, implementing new technologies to make our data centers more energy and water efficient while continuously building relationships with our local communities to understand what’s important to them.
Developing our People to Drive Innovation
None of the innovation and enablement we’ve achieved over the years happens without the right team and culture. Keeping our people engaged about what’s next is something we work at every day. It starts by hiring individuals who align with our culture, have the right skill sets and are committed to making a difference in everything they do and for everyone they encounter. Through our Data Center Operations Qualification Program, we provide development opportunities for employees and maintain exceptional uptime and reliability across all our data centers.
With people working across the U.S., we utilize a one-company, one-team mindset and approach to break down silos and help people appreciate the valuable work each person does. Our employee resource groups (ERGs) offer additional opportunities to bridge the geographic gap and create community within our company. CoreSite also invests in hiring veterans through our Department of Defense SkillBridge program and over one-third of our Data Center Operations team members bring military experience. We also have fun and celebrate our successes along the way.
These efforts have helped keep our employees energized and have surely contributed to an average employee tenure of more than six years.
Looking Forward
We’re proud of our 25-year history of operating high-performance, highly connected data centers across the U.S., and we’re thankful for our people who have adapted to change, shown up for our customers and done the right thing every day of those 25 years.
One thing is certain: technology will continue to change, and so will our customers’ challenges. That’s what makes our future so exciting. While we don’t know exactly what the digital world will look like in 25 years, we know what it will take to help build it: talented people committed to our customers, our communities and one another to empower a more connected future. I couldn’t be prouder of our legacy and what our employees contribute day in and day out.