In response to growing financial demands of customers interested in hosting their business applications close to major derivatives markets, the Internet infrastructure services provider Savvis (www.savvis.net) is the extension of one of its two data centers Home Chicago, with the addition of approximately 10,000 square feet of raised floor space.

According to its announcement Wednesday, SAVVIS Cermak Road facility in downtown Chicago will provide 200 watts of power per square meter. Customers can also connect to the facility with world class SAVVIS Ethernet network service, Exchange Express.

“Chicago is a major financial center, and we are excited to meet existing demand and expand our proximity hosting and infrastructure services in East Cermak,” global financial services company Savvis head Varghese Thomas said in a statement. “The financial services industry is increasingly moving towards convergent solutions with high availability application hosting and the world access to networks for major global trading venues and liquidity funds in all asset classes.”

Installation of Chicago expanded SAVVIS will cover approximately 30,000 square feet of raised floor and provide access to key performance areas, such as CME Group (www.cmegroup.com). It will also serve as one of the global delivery points for the solution of Thomson Reuters, Hosting, which will initially be offered in six Savvis data centers.

Besides the host proximity, the extended service offering a comprehensive portfolio of technology agnostic managed hosting and network services such as placement, virtualized utility services and managed security services. Customers may also take advantage of SAVVIS ‘Application Transport Network, allowing for optimum network performance, scalability and delivery.

The expanded data center in Chicago adds to SAVVIS ‘current portfolio of infrastructure managed IT services to the financial industry. Currently operates 28 data centers worldwide, with over 1.4 million square feet of raised floor space designed to support the IT operations of businesses.