LINDON — Novell founder Ray Noorda was back in the limelight Monday, launching Center7 Inc. here with Gov. Mike Leavitt.
"I'm pleased to be part of . . . the generation that's taking us into the future," Leavitt said, "part of the generation that can say we met every challenge and did not waver."
The governor said businesses like Center7 help make Utah the No. 3 hot spot in the computer/Internet industry, an industry prosperous because of people like Noorda.
Noorda "retired" from NetWare giant Novell in 1994 and promptly started investing in a number of companies under the umbrella of the Canopy Group, including Center7 — which is devoted to helping businesses conduct e-business by providing the technologies and expertise they need for an effective Internet presence.
Ralph Yarro, general manager of the Canopy Group, said Noorda's willingness to take risks and invest in new ventures is helping foster growth in over 50 companies with 2,000 employees in Utah.
"We've been willing companies into existence ever since he retired," Yarro said.
Kelly Phillipps, president and CEO of Center7, said on day one there was nothing but a field and one man. Now, Center7's new multimillion-dollar building is a state-of-the-art facility with a power system and supply that has multiple backups to ensure an uninterrupted stream of power and ultra-tight security.
The building has an earthquake-protection system and a raised computer floor that allows for a rapid configuration of development teams.
Three gigabytes of bandwidth connect directly to the Internet backbone, providing what the company creators call unparalleled speed and reliability.
"There is no other facility like this in the world," Yarro said. "Center7 has spent months in the trenches to understand and create customizable solutions for the problems that businesses face on the Internet. The result is a set of comprehensive solutions provided as services to let companies achieve fast results with less cost and complexity, empowering them to focus on their core business drivers and differentiators."
Center7 is partnered with Sun Microsystems, Oracle, IBM, Iplanet, Computer Associates and Vignette and is located in Lindon's new business park at 333 S. 620 West.
E-mail: haddoc@desnews.com