Midco Deals for Dataware

Signaling its launch of commercial data center and managed IT services, Midco said it has struck a deal to acquire Dataware LLC.

Financial terms were not announced, but the deal includes two data centers located in Sioux Falls and Yankton, S.D., Midco said, noting that it gives the operator the infrastructure required to deliver business-class data center and managed services across the Upper Midwest.

Midco said it will continue to serve Dataware customers as it expands its service line to include additional managed business IT services. Midco noted that it’s assessing opportunities to expand the data center strategy into other cities.

“The combination of the data center environments on top of our Northern Plains Network is an advantage for Midco Business, but even more so for our customers,” Scott Smidt, who leads the data center strategy and team at Midco and serves as its VP of business engineering and operations, said in a statement. “Businesses already benefit from the reliability, redundancy and capacity of our wholly owned and operated fiber-optic network. Soon, they can use that network to access their secure data housed in a Midco facility,” adds Smidt.

“As we look to the future, we may examine opportunities in additional Midco markets presently underserved by large data centers, such as Fargo and Grand Forks, and then move our focus to other key Midco markets,” Steve Grosser, EVP for Midco, added.

Midco Business, the commercial services arm of the operator, delivers service via an 8,400-mile fiber-optic network that connects to more than 40 regional and national fiber networks. Midco said its network is certified for MEF 2.0 and is scalable to 8 terabits per second.