Evocative Updates Brand, Buys 9 Former INAP Data Centers

It’s been a busy week for Evocative. On Tuesday, the company consolidated its multiple hosting operations under the Evocative brand. On Wednesday, Evocative said it plans to acquire 9 data centers from INAP, including colocation and related network services.

The acquisition is expected to close in coming weeks, giving the new Evocative a network of 20 carrier-neutral data centers, spanning 1.08 million square feet and 108 megawatts of power. Perhaps most importantly, Evocative will have more than 2,000 clients, and the ability expand its footprint by another 25 percent.

“We are excited to share the strength of Evocative’s digital infrastructure capabilities with our clients,” states Arman Khalili, Founder and CEO of Evocative. “We know the importance of enterprise digital enablement. We built a company that offers a comprehensive suite of solutions from the physical foundation up the stack to enable the delivery of highly secure, hosted data services.”

Seeing Opportunity in Local Markets

Khalili is a veteran executive and entrepreneur who has launched or led a series of infrastructure companies. He previously was the founder and CEO of data center provider CentralColo (which formed the initial nucleus for Element Critical), and also founded UnitedLayer, a leading colocation provider in San Francisco.

In a hyperscale world, Khalili has focused his efforts on creating nimble players targeting local markets. He built the current version of Evocative through a series of acquisitions, including assets from Carrier-1 Data Centers, ZR Systems, Cyberverse, Krypt, VPLS Inc., Wave Broadband and others.

The Evocative brand got its start in a former Colo.com data center in Emeryville, which later became part of 365 Data Centers. Khalili acquired Evocative in 2017, and

“We see massive benefit in consolidating our affiliate brands into a single brand – Evocative,” said Khalili. “Unifying all Evocative affiliate brands as one allows us to seamlessly share our full suite of services and capabilities, while driving differentiated value for our customers.”

Larger Footprint for Evocative

The acquisition of the INAP portfolio adds new facilities in Boston, New Jersey, Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles (2), Silicon Valley (2), and Seattle. Evocative also plans to welcome several INAP employees associated with the INAP data center business to the Evocative team.

INAP is the successor to Internap, which was founded in 1996 with a focus on route optimization to improve the performance of applications and web sites. It expanded into colcoation and hybrid IT services through acquisitions, buying Vitalstream, Voxel and iWeb before rebranding as INAP.

INAP filed for filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 2020 after failing to find a buyer or strategic partner, a move taken in the changed investment landscape as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. INAP negotiated a “prepackaged” bankruptcy with its lenders, allowing it to complete its reorganization in just seven weeks.

In May, INAP sold its network business assets to Unitas Global.