Data Centers

Data Centers

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Our territory is home to 263 data centers which employ 4,408 people with average salaries over $100,000 per year.  Our superior infrastructure, central location, and low natural disaster risk contribute to us enjoying this large cluster.

Here is a small sample of the World Recognized Companies/Organizations: with Data Centers in Our Area:

Click here for a listing of all the Data Centers in our Region

Our Infrastructure to Support Data Centers

Reliable Electric Power

Our region offers the very important advantage of protection against black-outs, which is influenced its central location and proximity to primary and back-up energy sources. Because of our operational reliability, proximity to primary and back-up energy sources, and a commitment to investing in constant improvements of our systems, more companies are choosing our region for their data intensive operations.  Transmission systems are designed and built on “first contingency” basis, so the loss of any particular generator or transmission line has no effect on supplies across the region.  In general, systems here are less interconnected and less densely populated than those on the East and West Coasts. And, future reliability is being shaped by shared participation in the Southwest Power Pool.

Diverse Power Generation Portfolio

We have a balanced portfolio of energy generation via coal, natural gas, fuel oil, wind, solar, nuclear, biogas and hydro which help data center operations meet their desire to be as carbon-neutral as possible.

Electric Power Rates

Our rates for data centers are comparatively affordable and benefit from that industry’s typical high load factor which reduces the cost per kWh. In addition, data center operations benefit from cost-saving tariffs.

Telecommunications/Fiber

Our region is a focal point both for long-haul fiber and transcontinental fiber networks.  We are home to Sprint Corporation’s world headquarters, major AT&T facilities, and the Kansas City metro-area was the first city in the world to receive Google Fiber.

Low Risk of Natural Disasters

Our region scores at the lowest rate possible for earthquake risk and scores lower on tornado risk than any of our surrounding states.

Sampling of our Data Center Industry

• 1&1 IONOS, a German internet company has a large data center in Lenexa, KS in the Kansas City region. The company is one of the world’s largest web hosting companies, employing over 7,000 people worldwide.

• AT&T recognizes its’ data centers as the “nerve centers” for its’ reliable services and network. The company’s Kansas City data center provides a reliable and fault tolerant power infrastructure. A total of 5 MW of power is delivered to the data center through dual utility feeds by Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L). The entire critical infrastructure is protected by redundant UPS system with battery backup that provides uninterrupted and conditioned power to critical infrastructure.

• Cerner Corporation is an American supplier of health technology solutions, services, devices and hardware. More than 27,000 healthcare providers in over 35 countries use Cerner products. The company’s world headquarters data center is in Kansas City, MO covering an area of 132,000 SF. The facility is designed to withstand F4 tornado.

• Rackspace's Kansas City, Missouri data center supports Rackspace's comprehensive managed hybrid solutions. The data center features fully-redundant power and is carrier-neutral with multiple Tier 1 providers.

• With over 20 years in business, LightEdge offers a full stack of best-in-class IT services delivering flexibility, security, and control. The company- a premier cloud hosting and colocation provider, recently announced plans to expand their Kansas City data center by 20,000 sq. ft. Of this latest expansion, 13,000 sq. ft will be dedicated to white floor space with the additional power to support it.

• Mastercard International has a data center near Kansas City International Airport that it built investing $50 million.

Skilled Workforce

When it comes to information and communications technology operations, availability to skilled workforce is a crucial factor. Evergy’s territory boasts a highly talented workforce for data center operations as evidenced by the following workforce data for the year 2018:

• 16,625 Software Developers and Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers
• 9,022 Computer User Support Specialists
• 8,023 Computer Systems Analysts
• 6,390 Network and Computer Systems Administrators
• 5,481 Computer and Information Systems Managers
• 4,269 Other Computer Occupations
• 2,577 Computer Programmers
• 2,263 Data Entry Keyers
• 2,147 Computer Network Support Specialists
• 2,145 Computer Network Architects
• 1,618 Database Administrators

And, Our Data Centers Relevant Jobs Are Growing, Growth in the Past 5 Years:

• 17% growth in Software Developers and Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers
• 14% growth in Computer and Information Systems Managers
• 13% growth in Computer Occupations, All Other
• 10% growth in Computer User Support Specialists
• 9% growth in Computer Network Architects
• 6% growth in Computer Systems Analysts
• 4% growth in Computer Hardware Engineers
• 3% growth in Computer and Information Research Scientists

Underground Facilities

The SubTropolis Technology Center is a 200,000-square foot data center with raised floors and a Tier IV rated structure at no additional cost. The data center receives redundant power from Kansas City Power & Light at electrical costs dramatically lower than other parts of the United States.

SubTropolis is a 55,000,000-square-foot, 1,100-acre artificial cave in the bluffs above the Missouri River in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, that is claimed to be the World's Largest Underground Business Complex.

Dug into the Bethany Falls limestone mine, SubTropolis is, in places, 160 feet beneath the surface. It has a grid of 16 ft high, 40 ft wide tunnels separated by 25 ft square limestone pillars created by the room and pillar method of hard rock mining. The complex contains almost 7 miles of illuminated, paved roads and several miles of railroad track. Currently, more than 6,000,000 square feet is occupied and 8,000,000 square feet are available for future expansion.

The mine naturally maintains temperatures between 65 and 70 °F year-round.

Data Center Relevant Workforce Training & Development:

Our region has a rich supply of higher education institutions that have a wide range of tailored programs for jobs typically found at data centers.

• Centriq Training offers Cisco, pache Hadoop 2.0, Microsoft system and Big Data training in Kansas City.

• Wichita State University’s Electrical Engineering & Computer Science Department has both undergraduate and graduate level programs with specializations in Networking, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Information Assurance and Cybersecurity, etc. WSU Tech offers associate and certificate programs in Electronic Technology, Information Technology Systems, etc.

• Kansas State University offers Computer Systems Technology program that focuses on the areas of programming, networking, computer hardware and commercial software. Kansas State Polytechnic's curriculum develops the students’ program design and problem-solving abilities to use in multiple computer programming languages.

• The University of Kansas offers undergraduate and graduate level programs in the areas of Information Technology, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering.

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