Colocation and connectivity deliver the breaking news

The history

MediaNews Group is the second largest newspaper publisher in the U.S. Offering nearly 100 print titles, including the Denver Post, Boston Herald and Orange County Register, and 100+ websites, the company’s award-winning content keeps its readers informed of local and national events.

The challenge

Reasonable colocation pricing required 

Although MediaNews Group relies on cloud deployments for a growing portion of its IT environment, the company still requires a data center presence to support its legacy systems and applications that support the print publishing side of its business. This includes its printing, circulation, advertising and billing capabilities.

When MediaNews’ long-time data center provider was unable to offer an appropriate pricing strategy, the publishing company began vetting new colocation providers in the Denver area. In addition to a cost-effective colocation solution, MediaNews also wanted a data center that could provide access to its existing four main carriers as well as the secure, reliable environment it needed to guarantee its operational integrity.

The solution

Colocation with fully managed, blended connectivity offers unrelenting uptime and the right access 

MediaNews’ third-party partner recommended Flexential. The publishing company toured Flexential’s Denver – Englewood data center and was impressed by the facility, its features and the service and expertise Flexential offered. When Flexential’s pricing fell in line with MediaNews’ needs, the company opted to partner with the colocation, cloud and managed services provider to deploy a small cabinet in the Denver data center.

To support MediaNews with the move and meet its compressed timeframe, Flexential recommended its third-party migration partner. Upfront planning and collaboration between Flexential, MediaNews and this subcontractor ensured the move was successfully completed within the contracted window to allow MediaNews to print its newspapers and meet its delivery deadlines for the day. Throughout the planning and execution of the move, the Flexential team was available to support MediaNews’ needs and ensure the success of the migration.

“We found a very good fit with Flexential,” said Bob Kinney, vice president of information technology at MediaNews Group. “We don’t have a huge presence, but it’s the right size for us.”

Flexential colocation offers an upgrade in terms of the data center and its features. The facility’s N+1 power and N+2 cooling redundancies offer resiliency in the face of critical system outages, and its diverse connections further ensure no single points of failure. To safeguard MediaNews’ environment from unauthorized visitors, Flexential utilizes robust, leading-edge security measures and protocols, including 24x7x365 security and technical staff, dual-factor authentication access, a PIN verification system, 4-zone security access, and monitored security cameras and intercom system.

MediaNews also leverages Flexential Interconnection, a reliable, proven connectivity fabric that combines Flexential’s private 100Gbps network backbone, 13,000+ cross connects, 80 on-net carriers and cloud connectivity to AWS, Azure, Google and Oracle. Flexential’s blended, multi-carrier internet connectivity also offers carrier-neutral, proactively managed and monitored IP bandwidth. Flexential Interconnection provides a 100% network uptime and bandwidth commitment.

“Flexential’s fully managed internet connectivity really stood out to us,” said Kinney. “It’s cost effective and frees us up from having to manage the carriers ourselves. That’s great for our business.”

The results

Reliable colocation ensures readers receive their publications on time 

Flexential plays a crucial role in supporting MediaNews’ business—from both functional and financial perspectives. The colocation solution has helped the company establish a hybrid IT strategy that can flex with the rapidly changing publishing industry and its growth-by-acquisition strategy.

With SLA-backed 100% uptime, MediaNews achieves the mission critical availability the print side of the business relies on to guarantee its publications are printed and distributed on time. This uptime commitment also allows the company to quickly address customers' concerns, delivery issues and advertisers’ needs. Without this reliability, half of the company would be in jeopardy.

Flexential’s connectivity platform and network ecosystem further enrich this solution. Flexential’s diverse and always growing network ecosystem allows MediaNews to continue to use its existing carriers. Flexential Interconnection also helps MediaNews reduce costs and eliminate complex network deployments. Without the need to manage carrier relationships and connections, MediaNews can redirect its internal IT resources to other more business-driving IT initiatives, making more effective use of its lean staff’s time.

While MediaNews does not currently utilize Flexential for cloud access, the ability to directly connect to the cloud through Flexential is compelling as MediaNews continues to expand its cloud presence to support its online media outlets and acquisitions.

Flexential’s seasoned data center team also supports MediaNews every step of the way. “It’s important to partner with good people. The reality is, when you talk through your needs with a vendor, you can tell whether they are listening or not,” said Kinney. “Flexential listens. Our sales executive asked some insightful questions about our needs and challenges and offered some good suggestions. Flexential has proven itself to be a partner as opposed to just a vendor.”

As the publishing industry continues to adapt to the needs of its readers, its IT requirements will continue to shift and demand new IT solutions. Flexential is prepared to continually evaluate and adapt MediaNews’ IT strategy to align with these evolving expectations.

“Flexential won’t let us fail,” said Kinney. “I know they’ll continue to monitor our environment and deliver the services we need to succeed.”