PHOENIX, Nov. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- IO, the leading provider of next-generation modular data center technology and services, today announced it was the recipient of the Pioneering Award at the 2012 Governor's Celebration of Innovation, the highest honor given at the annual event. The award is presented to an outstanding company that has gone above and beyond the call of duty in contributing to Arizona's technology industry through sustained business presence, corporate citizenship, community involvement and business success.

"At a time when enterprises depend on their data center infrastructure more than ever, IO has truly brought innovation and reinvention to the data center market," said Steven G. Zylstra, President and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council. "Their Data Center 2.0 technology is a testament to the exceptional quality of innovation and top talent that exists in Arizona."

"We are honored to receive this award of recognition for our employees and customers," said Anthony Wanger, President of IO. "To be recognized for innovation speaks to the heart of IO's mission to continually challenge ourselves not to accept the status quo and to surpass our customers' expectations for excellence."

Data Center 2.0 is a new operating paradigm, developed by IO and endorsed by the data center industry, in which the data center becomes the foundation of business alignment and IT transformation creating a sustainable competitive advantage for conducting business. The platform consists of integrated data center infrastructure technology, IO.Anywhere™ hardware and IO.OS^® software, that provide "off the shelf" standardized modular data center capacity units and operating system controls that can be deployed on premise or consumed as Data Center as a Service (DCaaS™).

About the Arizona Technology Council
The Arizona Technology Council is Arizona's premier trade association for science and technology companies.  Recognized as having a diverse professional business community, Council members work towards furthering the advancement of technology in Arizona through leadership, education, legislation and social action. The Arizona Technology Council offers numerous events, educational forums and business conferences that bring together leaders, managers, employees and visionaries to make an impact on the technology industry.  These interactions contribute to the Council's culture of growing member businesses and transforming technology in Arizona. To become a member or to learn more about the Arizona Technology Council, please visit http://www.aztechcouncil.org.

About the Arizona Commerce Authority
The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) is the state's aggressive, premier economic development agency tasked with improving Arizona's overall economy through the creation of quality jobs.  The ACA focuses on the attraction of valuable business to Arizona, the expansion of existing business and the creation of new business. Target industries include aerospace and defense, semiconductors, bioscience, optics and renewable energy.  Visit azcommerce.com for more.

About IO
IO designs, engineers and delivers data center infrastructure for the world's largest enterprises, governments and service providers. IO owns and operates data centers for hundreds of customers, and has leveraged this experience to build a next-generation Data Center 2.0 cloud enabling technology platform. IO.Anywhere modular data centers provide enterprise-class infrastructure that can be delivered as Data Center as a Service and rapidly deployed as a product to customer sites anywhere in the world. IO developed the first data center infrastructure operating system, IO.OS, to provide the intelligent control needed to maximize utilization, resiliency and energy efficiency. IO is a privately held company headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. For more information on IO, please visit us on the web at io.com.

IO and the IO logo are trademarks of IO. © 2012.

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