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CIS Advanced Technology Services -Tomorrows Data Centers. Today.
CIS Advanced Technology Services was founded in 2012. The concept was simple. Automation. Automation, but on an unprecedented scale. An implementation of automation that would change the world of Data centers in this technology driven world as we know it today.

=History=

2011. CIS Advanced Technology Services (CIS-ATS) business plan was formulated, sketched on the back of a napkin in a sports bar in fall 2011. Through the following months; the linking of the technology that already exists today, is played with to determine how it will fit together. By early 2012, the Omaha, NE based company is registered, and the entity is formed. CIS-ATS hires its first dozen employees by the end of the summer 2012. CIS-ATS purchases its first Data center building in late 2012. With a staff of 14 employees, CIS-ATS begins contracting with multiple vendors across the U.S. to begin the implementation of its Data center designs.

July 2013, CIS-ATS has over 50 contracted clients operating out of its newly formed Data center. August 2013, CIS-ATS begins construction on its second Data center building to allow for growth, and client data replication for redundancy. October 2014, the second building is complete, and plans for its third and forth Data centers are underway. Taking advantage of the advanced concepts that started out as an idea on a napkin. Within the last 18 months, CIS-ATS has increased its clientele to over 2,700 client's nationwide, and now operates 8 Data centers in North America by end of 2014.

=Today=

Today, CIS-ATS now operates 4 pairs of data centers in North America, with 2 additional pairs in preparations to be built. Each data center has multiple connections to the Disaster Recovery sites located in a different geographical locations. CIS-ATS, the $81 million dollar organization, is currently working to expand its data center offerings (IaaS by mid 2016) to South America, Australia, The U.K. and India, with additional services to follow in the following few years. CIS-ATS is currently at 65% of its operating capacity, and based on growth forecasts, the organization will be at capacity within the next three years.

=The Process=

CIS-ATS built its data centers off a simple concept. Take the existing technology, and merge it. Technology that not only already exists, but is a working part of our technology world, and simply used it for their organizations foundation. While these data centers are prototypes, the process has been created, and for CIS-ATS, it works. CIS-ATS and its team of engineers continue to work to improve, streamline and regulate the processes. Continuing to reinforce the sound business efficiency they instill in their clients.

After CIS-ATS has signed a client to the data center, and depending on the model chosen, CIS-ATS engages specific teams based on the contract details of services. CIS-ATS offers not only the traditional space for clients to supply their own infrastructure components, but also IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) Services as well. Once the services have been decided, and the agreements have been signed, the client is free to begin migration to the data center location. Clients opting to have hardware installed in the data center can begin ordering or shipping the hardware to the data center immediately.

CIS-ATS's process for on boarding a client's infrastructure is a very fast process once equipment has arrived at the data center location of the clients choice. The process outlined below explains each major step of the process the integration process takes. While this flow is for clients installing their own equipment, the process is the same for CIS-ATS's equipment that is housed in separate areas of the data center for hosted services.

* Automated Equipment Delivery - When equipment arrives at the data center loading docks, it is delivered and dropped to large conveyers that take the unloaded equipment through scanners. The conveyer takes the delivered packages and robotics scan and break down the delivered equipment. The scan of the packaging tells CIS-ATS who the client and contact is for the contents of the package. As the contents are unpacked and serial numbers scanned, CIS-ATS robotics are able to access the CIS-ATS client database and determine not only who the client is, but also verify against their CIS-ATS contract where the equipment is going. * Re-Purposed Equipment Delivery - CIS-ATS presumes that clients will be purchasing new hardware for install at their facility. However, this is not always the case. Re-purposed equipment is also accounted for, and prior to the equipment arriving, CIS-ATS requires its client to load serial numbers, and asset numbers specific to the client to the management portal prior to the equipment arriving, or it will be refused.

* Automated Equipment Routing - CIS-ATS robotics break down and separate the contents of packaging, and determine whether the equipment is property of CIS-ATS, or a client, it is routed to the appropriate conveyer to be taken to its destination data room within the data center. This process is again carefully tracked at the entrance to the data room. Robotics handling hardware and cage organizations for that data room again scan the equipment and ensure the serial numbers match the client information in CIS-ATS systems. Once confirmed, the robotics take the equipment, individually, and quickly route it to the cage location in accordance with the client agreement.

* Automated Equipment Connectivity - CIS-ATS has patented a custom data connectivity adapter that allows them to have all common and uncommon physical connections to any given server either physically or virtually. While the standard connections are physically connected, other connections can be integrated into the connection adapter and allow the appliance to register it as if it's physically connected. Network, fiber, and power are physically connected to every machine that enters CIS-ATS data centers. Connections from there are done through a proprietary method that CIS-ATS uses to add connections for everything from serial connections, to virtualized POTS line connections. These can be added on the fly to any physical machine through CIS-ATS's web management interface.

* Automated IaaS - In addition to housing client equipment, CIS-ATS also provides on-demand IaaS. Allowing clients of all sizes to have as much or as little infrastructure as their organization requires. From on-demand assignable hardware, to a wide variety of hosted applications and services, CIS-ATS has a configuration to support almost any organization regardless of size. Organizations can opt to have as much or as little control over what they manage based on their internal resources. Each client relationship CIS-ATS enters with is assigned a dedicated engineer and administrator to ensure positive and professional relationships, and a firm understanding of the clients infrastructure and how they want it created, and where they see it going. Additional resources are assigned as the client grows with CIS-ATS, and the workload warrants additional resources that cannot be done manually.

* Monitoring and alerting - CIS-ATS uses a mix of sophisticated monitoring tools to monitor all areas of the facility. With the facilities being mostly automated, and minimal human staff present at each facility, electronic monitoring is a major part of the daily operations. CIS-ATS invests heavily in security and engineering staff for its managed services division. Through its use of sophisticated monitoring, its facilities are capable of maintaining a 100% up time SLA. Further securing CIS-ATS's growing footprint in the managed service data center industry.

=The Future=

CIS-ATS has taken the data center MSP industry to unprecedented levels, and shows no signs of letting up. It is projected that by end of 2025, CIS-ATS will be the number one provider of advanced data center facilities in both technology, and services offered.

=References= CIS-628 - Wiki Article/Brad Jorgensen


 * http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2015/08/12/data-security-to-drive-more-and-more-data-center-strategy-decisions/
 * http://www.nexusis.com/news-events/news/nexus-achieves-advanced-data-center-architecture-specialization-from-cisco/
 * http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2013/12/18/role-robotics-data-center-automation/