IO News

IO, the leading provider of next-generation modular data center technology and services, today announced the company has been awarded a contract by Choice Hotels International, Inc., one of the largest lodging companies in the world with 6,200 hotels in more than 30 countries and territories.

IO will provide Choice Hotels with Data Center as a Service (DCaaS™) delivered out of the IO.Phoenix data center. This approach allows Choice Hotels to house all of their mission-critical systems, such as the total global distribution platform and reservations at IO without having to invest resources in maintaining its own data center.

“We have a longstanding commitment to invest in forward-thinking technology and high-caliber facilities that support our business as it continues to expand,” said Patti Goodrich, VP of Enterprise Infrastructure for Choice Hotels. “With IO’s Data Center 2.0 technology platform and their exceptional experience in delivering modular data center innovation, we are able to maximize our capabilities, decrease the risk of downtime in the future, and quickly deploy new capacity as needed for growth.”

IO.Phoenix is the largest commercially available data center in the United States to achieve Tier III Design Certification from the Uptime Institute, a key selection factor for Choice Hotels. The organization now has access to a highly secure, 24×7, enterprise class data center at a fraction of the price of a traditional data center. Choice Hotels can use IO DCaaS to support cloud computing, high-availability applications, business continuity/disaster recovery, data center consolidation and other strategic technology initiatives within their organization.

“We considered expanding our own data center and found it wouldn’t be nearly as cost-effective or reliable,” added Goodrich. “With IO, we benefit from the economic, material and operational benefits that we could not otherwise realize. After we consolidate all of our systems with IO, we can put our primary data center building up for sale.”

“IO DCaaS provides the completely resilient solution, always-on access that Choice Hotel requires to support their busy operation,” said Rick Crutchley, Senior Vice President, DCaaS Sales for IO. “Our Data Center 2.0 technology also meets the ever increasing needs of Choice Hotels by supporting the ability to add data center capacity where and when it’s needed to meet the growing demands of their business.”

About Choice Hotels

Choice Hotels International, Inc. franchises more than 6,100 hotels, representing more than 495,000 rooms, in the United States and more than 30 other countries and territories. As of March 31, 2012, more than 350 hotels were under construction, awaiting conversion or approved for development in the United States, representing more than 30,000 rooms, and approximately 80 hotels, representing approximately 7,000 rooms, were under construction, awaiting conversion or approved for development in approximately 20 other countries and territories. The company’s Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn brands serve guests worldwide. In addition, via its Ascend Hotel Collection membership program, travelers in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean have upscale lodging options at member hotels.

Additional corporate information may be found on the Choice Hotels International, Inc. web site, which may be accessed at www.choicehotels.com.

About IO

IO is a global leader in software-defined data centers and has pioneered the next generation of data center infrastructure technology. IO's integrated hardware and software data center technology platform offers enterprises, governments, and service providers an innovative way to deploy, provision, and optimize data center capacity anywhere in the world. IO technology lowers the total cost of data center ownership compared to traditional data centers, enabling dynamic deployment and intelligent control based on the needs of IT equipment and applications in the data center.

IO and the IO logo are trademarks of IO. © 2013.