ViaWest

About ViaWest

ViaWest, a data center and cloud services provider, was co-founded in 1999 by Roy Dimoff and Nancy Phillips. The two met while Phillips was Vice President of Sales at Teleconferencing Systems Canada and became long-term business partners. Before ViaWest, Phillips gained extensive management experience in the technology and telecommunications sectors, holding executive operational roles at companies like RMI.net, ITC Worldwide, and ConferTech International. Her journey includes work with major telecom firms such as France Telecom, MCI, and Qwest, providing a robust background in network and technical growth management that was foundational to ViaWest's development. Dimoff served as the company's CEO for nearly 14 years before transitioning the role to Phillips in 2012, at which point he became chairman of the board.

The company established itself as a significant privately-held provider of hybrid IT infrastructure solutions, focusing on colocation, managed hosting, and cloud computing. Its business model centered on offering these services to a wide range of clients, from small and medium-sized businesses to large enterprises, including internet content providers. Revenue was generated through contracts for data center space, connectivity, and managed services. Before its acquisition, ViaWest operated 27 data centers across eight major markets in North America.

A significant milestone in the company's history occurred in June 2017, when Peak 10, a Charlotte-based managed services provider, acquired ViaWest from Shaw Communications for approximately $1.67 billion. This merger was a strategic move to create a national provider by combining Peak 10's presence in the Southeast with ViaWest's network on the West Coast. The newly formed entity, initially called Peak 10 + ViaWest, boasted a substantial infrastructure portfolio, including 40 data centers, 2.7 million square feet of data center space, and over 10,000 cross-connects across 20 markets. In January 2018, the combined company rebranded to Flexential, aiming to build a unified national brand focused on hybrid IT solutions. The acquisition and subsequent rebranding marked the conclusion of ViaWest as an independent entity, integrating its assets and expertise into what is now Flexential.