Savvis

Savvis
Name	Savvis
Type	Private
Industry	Information technology, Telecommunications, Data center services
Fate	Acquired
Founded	1995
Founder	Philip S. Kaplan; Jim Hagemann Snabe; James L. Stegeman
Headquarters	St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Area served	Global
Products	Managed hosting, Cloud computing, Colocation, Network services
Num employees	(varied; peak ~4,000)
Parent	CenturyLink

Savvis was an American provider of managed hosting, cloud infrastructure, and colocation services that grew during the dot-com era and through the 2000s into a significant global data center and network operator. The company became known for providing enterprise-class infrastructure to customers in finance, media, and technology, and later was acquired by CenturyLink in a transaction that reshaped consolidation in the telecom and hosting sectors. Savvis's operations and assets intersected with major firms, industry standards bodies, and regulatory frameworks across North America, Europe, and Asia.

History

Founded in 1995 amid the expansion of World Wide Web services and the rise of e-commerce, Savvis expanded from early hosting to a portfolio including managed hosting and network services. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the company navigated the Dot-com bubble and pursued growth through acquisitions and organic expansion, mirroring strategies used by contemporaries such as Rackspace, Equinix, and Terremark Worldwide. In the 2000s, Savvis acquired multiple companies to broaden its footprint and technology, paralleling consolidation seen with AT&T and Verizon Communications as telecoms sought data center capabilities. Leadership changes and capital markets activity connected Savvis to institutions like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs during fundraising and advisory engagements. By the early 2010s, competitive pressure from firms including Amazon Web Services and Google influenced the industry, and Savvis became an acquisition target for CenturyLink, which completed a purchase that integrated Savvis's assets into a larger communications and cloud strategy.

Services and Products

Savvis offered managed hosting, cloud computing, and colocation services tailored to enterprises such as banks and broadcasters. Its portfolio included dedicated servers and virtualized infrastructure designed to support workloads for clients like NASDAQ, Bloomberg L.P., and media companies distributing content over networks such as Akamai Technologies. The company provided hybrid cloud solutions leveraging virtualization platforms from vendors including VMware and interoperability with operating systems from Microsoft and Red Hat. Networking services encompassed private networking, internet transit, and distributed denial-of-service mitigation in partnership approaches similar to offerings from Level 3 Communications and NTT Communications. Savvis also delivered managed security, compliance support aligned with regimes like Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and frameworks used by financial regulators such as Securities and Exchange Commission and Financial Conduct Authority-regulated entities.

Corporate Structure and Ownership

Initially privately held, then publicly listed, Savvis's corporate structure evolved through private equity involvement and public markets before becoming part of a larger carrier. Board and executive composition included leaders with experience at firms like IBM, Cisco Systems, and Sun Microsystems. Investment banks and institutional investors such as BlackRock and The Carlyle Group often appeared in the broader sector's financing ecosystem, influencing mergers and acquisitions strategies. The acquisition by CenturyLink consolidated Savvis into a multinational telecommunications company whose corporate governance aligned with filings at regulatory bodies including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and corporate law standards across jurisdictions like Delaware corporate statutes.

Major Customers and Partnerships

Savvis served a mix of technology, media, financial services, and retail customers, working with notable names in capital markets, advertising, and online services. Strategic partnerships and interconnection arrangements involved content delivery and network providers such as Akamai Technologies, Level 3 Communications, and peering exchanges like LINX and DE-CIX. Technology alliances included platform and software vendors such as VMware, Microsoft, Oracle Corporation, and Red Hat, while hardware and networking relationships featured firms like Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks. Financial institutions and trading platforms utilized Savvis infrastructure alongside ecosystem participants including Intercontinental Exchange, NYSE Euronext, and enterprise software providers such as SAP SE.

Data Centers and Infrastructure

Savvis operated data centers and network points of presence across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, designing facilities for redundancy, power density, and connectivity comparable to operators like Equinix and Digital Realty. Its colocation sites supported cross-connects to transit providers, internet exchange points, and cloud on-ramps used by customers moving workloads to hybrid architectures. Infrastructure investments addressed cooling systems and electrical resilience standards referenced in industry practice and by organizations such as Uptime Institute and TIA-942 specifications. Network architecture emphasized low-latency connectivity for customers in sectors including electronic trading and media streaming, leveraging fiber routes and intercity transport similar to networks operated by Zayo Group and CyrusOne.

Legal and Regulatory Issues

As a provider hosting regulated workloads, Savvis engaged with compliance and legal matters involving data protection, privacy, and service-level disputes. The company operated under laws and regulatory regimes such as statutes in the United States, directives in the European Union, and data localization considerations arising in jurisdictions like China and Russia. Litigation and contract disputes with customers or vendors reflected typical industry issues including service availability, breach allegations, and intellectual property brought before courts such as United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and arbitration panels convened under rules like those of the American Arbitration Association. Regulatory scrutiny over mergers and acquisitions involved agencies including the Federal Communications Commission and competition authorities within the European Commission.

Category:Companies established in 1995 Category:Data center companies Category:Telecommunications companies of the United States