Tuesday Roundup: DataBank, Horizon, CenturyLink, GCX

Time to catch up on a bit of news from the start of the week: two new products, a financial investment, and a CEO transition:

DataBank’s ownership structure has shifted around a bit this week. Colony Capital has invested another $185M into the data center and managed services provider, buying all of Edgewater Funds’ shares and half of Allstate’s position. Last year Colony Capital bought out Digital Bridge, which already owned a majority stake in DataBank, and this transaction further consolidates that position.

Out in Ohio, Horizon has introduced a new Cloud Express product. The regional fiber operator is targeting businesses with a need for direct Ethernet connectivity to the cloud, bypassing the public internet. To do that they aren’t reinventing the wheel though, they are leveraging Megaport’s interconnection platform. Horizon says it will be making further additions to its product portfolio in 2020 as well.

CenturyLink is adding further capabilities to its cloud communications portfolio. Their new Engage product provides US businesses with streamlined mobile and remote worker collaboration capabilities, leveraging existing internet connections, a sofphone app for multiple devices, CRM integration, online directory listings, and other new features.

And Global Cloud Xchange has emerged from BK as an independent company but is going to need a new CEO. Bill Barney has stepped down from that role following the confirmation of the company’s plan of reorganization last month. CFO Rory Cole has taken the helm as interim CEO as the company begins to search for a replacement. It will be interesting to see who they tap in the permanent role, and perhaps equally interesting to see where Barney resurfaces next.

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Categories: Datacenter · Interconnection · Jobs · Unified Communications