Involta: Bringing Superior Infrastructure and Services, Operational Excellence, and People Who Deliver to Customers

Biometric iris scanners in place at Involta’s high-performance data centers are but one of the many safeguards in place to ensure the security of its customers’ data.

Purpose-built and company owned, Involta’s 11 data centers are typically the most robust and reliable  facilities available to customers in markets throughout Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

We recently caught up with Josh Holst, director of cloud services, to learn more about the company’s cloud services, its data centers, and what he’s seeing in the move tothe hybrid cloud. We also asked Holst about Involta’s brand promise: superior infrastructure and services, operational excellence, and people who deliver.

“Involta’s promise begins with the foundation – our superior data center infrastructure,” says Holst. “Our facilities host VMware Cloud Verified private cloud services, and they are all interconnected with a vast network of inter-facility communications. And our Hyperscale Connect service delivers software-defined networking to three major public cloud providers and enables hybrid IT delivery with flexible access to private and public cloud instances.”   

Notably, Involta’s data centers feature some of the latest advances and approaches to everything from power generation, including lithium-ion batteries for  backup UPS systems, to innovative cooling technologies. The company’s recently expanded data center in Pittsburgh is but one example. The 39,000 square-foot facility was recently outfitted with 500kW of new power availability and is served by redundant fiber optic connections featuring 24/7/365 critical monitoring and secure access, environmental systems and controls, and fully redundant power sources. 

Accelerating the need to drive innovation

Holst notes that recent events, including the pandemic, have only accelerated the need to think differently and drive innovation with speed and scale, a development he feels aligns perfectly with the shifts he sees driving companies to adopt the cloud.

“The pandemic has forced IT leaders to adapt or develop plans when presented with a remote workforce and a shift in customer interaction,” he says. “Economic uncertainty has also put an emphasis on operational efficiencies that lower costs and drive digital business. All of these developments are accelerating the move to the cloud.”

Holst indicates these issues are not limited to a specific industry, although specific sectors still require vertical market expertise to ensure that their IT assets and practices align with unique compliance requirements and other demands.

“Fundamentally, businesses across all verticals are faced with a similar challenge in how to accelerate and, in many cases, justify the cost of their digital transformation,” he adds. “Regardless of which industry a customer serves, security, cost, and optimization are critical drivers IT leaders need to consider. In addition, most organizations face human and time resource constraints.”

Involta’s VMware Cloud Verified private cloud and Infrastructure-as-a-Service offerings are commonly among the core steps customers take to address these challenges. Both are complemented by Involta’s extensive suite of services that includes Backup and Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service, Security Operations Center services, and Desktop-as-a-Service.

The company also offers extensive vertical market expertise driven by the input from advisory boards for healthcare, finance and manufacturing industries. The insights gleaned helps the company ensure industry IT trends and best practices are deployed to meet the needs of each specific vertical.

Holst explains that Involta’s partnership with VMware is important in all of these efforts and in each vertical market.

“To be recognized as a VMware Cloud Verified partner demonstrates our commitment to best-in-class strategic partnerships, and highlights our understanding that IT solutions must continue to evolve,” he says. “Internal IT teams are being challenged to move faster and become the driver of innovation for their organizations now more than ever. Achieving VMware partner status helps IT leaders feel confident  they can partner with Involta to manage their VMware footprint, and provides the  freedom to focus on their core business. It also helps the internal team maintain a focus on innovation.”

This is also true of hybrid cloud. Holst stresses the need to place the right workloads in the right cloud environment is critical to service delivery and cost containment. To this end, Involta offers hybrid cloud services and an easy-to-use cloud management interface through which customers can quickly gain insights into their public, private, and on-premises deployments.

“While cloud has enabled speed, innovation, and scale compared to traditional IT stacks, it has also introduced additional complexities,” he says. “Our proprietary Involta Cloud Platform, powered by Morpheus, helps IT leaders manage and overcome this challenge. We enable our customers to govern, optimize, automate, consume, and build the network they need within a single platform covering the entire hybrid cloud footprint.”

Learn more about Involta and its partnership with VMware here.