Acquired by BlackRock
Power usage effectiveness (PUE) metrics will degrade as cooling system maintenance is deferred, leading to higher operating temperatures and increased risk of thermal throttling for customer servers
Physical security protocols will be standardized downward—fewer on-site security personnel, delayed badge access renewals, and slower incident response times for unauthorized access attempts
Redundant power infrastructure (UPS, generators) will see extended maintenance intervals, increasing risk of outages during grid instability
Cross-connect and interconnection pricing will increase 15-30% through 'fee optimization' restructuring of port and circuit fees
Remote hands and smart hands service levels will be downgraded from 24/7 dedicated staff to shared regional teams with longer response SLAs (4 hours becoming standard vs. current 1-hour targets)
Announcements about 'optimizing our platform' and 'leveraging BlackRock's scale'; initial staff reductions in non-technical roles (marketing, facilities planning); first cross-connect fee increases
Remote hands SLA changes announced as 'industry-standard alignment'; cooling maintenance windows extended; departure of key engineering talent who resist operational changes
Noticeable increase in unplanned maintenance notifications; customer complaints about temperature excursions and delayed access requests; first major contract renegotiations pushing 3-5 year commitments with exit penalties
Other companies that followed a similar path after PE acquisition
Audit your current SLA terms and document baseline performance metrics (PUE, outage frequency, remote hands response times) before any transition
Negotiate contract terms that lock in current service levels with financial penalties for degradation, not just credits for outages
Distribute critical workloads across multiple data center providers to reduce dependency on Aligned's infrastructure reliability
Request detailed maintenance schedules for power and cooling infrastructure and compare against industry standards (ASHRAE, Uptime Institute)
Establish direct relationships with on-site technical staff before organizational changes disrupt continuity
Look for family-owned or employee-owned businesses