However, Salomon Smith Barney's assessments of demand for data center services relies on data gathered in major cities such as New York, Chicago and San Francisco. These cities are home to the headquarters of some of the world's largest companies, companies that are looking not only for web hosting and allied services, but for off-site, outsourced data warehousing and management. Portland, on the other hand, is a city of small business. About half of Portland's businesses have five or fewer employees. The question remains open whether a metropolitan region with this kind of profile really requires as much data center space as is currently on offer.
Some local players are sanguine.
EasyStreet Online Services, the Beaverton company that started as an ISP and now offers full-scale data center services, is expanding in phases to stay ahead of its customers' needs for increased internet management services. The two companies are both leading players in the Portland-area data center space. There are advantages to being a locally owned company, according to Rich Bader, CEO of EasyStreet Online Services. EasyStreet, which has in recent years made the transition from ISP to full-service data center, has phased all of its growth in stages, in anticipation of its customers' growing data needs. Despite having the kind of sophisticated setup demanded by large enterprises with complex web sites and heavy data storage needs, EasyStreet continues to guide and work with new clients in the early phases of their adoption of the internet and its business uses.