Benzinga | Jan 13, 2022 11:47AM EST

Data Storage Corporation Provides 2021 Year-End Business Update

Data Storage Corporation (NASDAQ:DTST) ("DSC" and the "Company"), a provider of diverse business continuity, disaster-recovery-as-a-service (DRaaS) protection, IBM Power infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), cyber-security and data analytics solutions, today provided a 2021 year-end business update.



2021 Achievements:

* Commenced trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market

* Completed merger with Flagship Solutions, LLC, a leading provider of IBM solutions, managed services and cloud solutions worldwide

* Opened the Canadian marketplace by placing IBM equipment in two Tier 2 data centers for IaaS and disaster recovery

* Entered a managed services model partnership with Precisely, a global leader in data integrity software

* Announced several significant appointments to senior management

* With Flagship acquisition and new hires, grew headcount from 29 to 60 increasing headcount by over 100%

* Grew subscription and recurring revenue by 57% for the first nine months of 2021

* Maintaining a 94% renewal rate on existing long term client contracts

* $17m total contract value sales proposals

* $16m+ in remaining contract value

* Tier 3 data centers in the USA and Canada

* Concluded 2021 with a multi-million dollar contract with one of the nation's most recognized professional sports teams

Chuck Piluso, CEO of Data Storage Corporation, commented, "2021 was a monumental year for Data Storage Corporation that has laid the foundation for meaningful growth for years to come, both operationally and financially. Notably, we completed the merger with Flagship Solutions that significantly expanded our services and quickly proved to be highly synergistic with our existing IBM operations, ultimately positioning us as a leading, one-stop provider for multi-cloud IT solutions.

We have already identified numerous cross-selling opportunities, allowing us to realize solid revenue growth since completion of the merger. Moreover, we anticipate continued growth and additional opportunities within this market as the IBM on-premise server market has only begun to transition to the cloud in the last few years. Specifically, of the one million plus virtual IBM Power servers, only 15% have begun the migration to the cloud. We believe this represents a multi-billion-dollar global addressable market and we are ideally positioned to capitalize on this trend."

"Additionally, we continue to execute on our business growth strategy by expanding our offerings, which have provided new and valuable opportunities--much like our partnership with Precisely, a global leader in data integrity and cyber security software solutions. The addition of Precisely's expanded solutions within a cloud environment has allowed us to offer an even more robust and full-featured offering that addresses the most common IT security exposure issues, including ransomware. These solutions have become increasingly important as more and more organizations are migrating to the cloud and are in need of critical security features that protect information, data privacy, and adhere to compliance standards."

"We also entered into a partnership with Able-One, filling a vital need for cloud services in Canada among businesses that run IBM Power systems on IBM i, AIX and Linux operating systems. This partnership begins to open up new markets in Canada and added two new Tier 3 enterprise-level data centers, while expanding the DSC's North American footprint. To date, we have completed meaningful acquisitions and entered into strategic partnerships that provide us more inclusive features and services for our clients, demonstrating our commitment to offering customers the most cutting-edge and comprehensive technologies."

"As a result of our strategic initiatives in 2021, DSC has a remaining contract value on subscription services alone of greater than $16 million with a 94% contract renewal rate and over $17 million in total outstanding contract proposals--a historic high for our company. We continue to see an uptick in interest in our solutions and a desire from the user community to find out how to migrate their IBM systems to the cloud, as well as layer additional cloud infrastructure solutions such as disaster recovery, cyber security and data analytics. We have a strong balance sheet with approximately $12.9 million of cash and cash equivalents as of September 30, 2021, enabling us to execute on our growth strategy, as well as explore opportunistic acquisitions that would further enhance our offering. Overall, we are proud to report that the activities we undertook throughout the year have proven successful, resulting in more than 400 customers, 16 new channel partners, and a growing employee base, including a number of key senior appointments in 2021. We believe with the meaningful progress achieved, we are well positioned for significant growth in 2022 and beyond given our established and scalable global business model that we believe will sustain Data Storage as a leader in the industry for years to come," concluded Chuck Piluso.