It’s called megadata, the gigantic volume of information businesses and governments collect on customers and trends. Making good use of it is the key to success for companies worldwide. That’s where Iron Mountain comes in, leveraging its capacity to manage, store and analyze mountains of data using human and artificial intelligence.
A $5 billion company with a history that goes back 70 years, Iron Mountain is a data storage and information management company with 26,000 employees (called mountaineers) and 225,000 customers globally, including 95% of the Fortune 1000. Its real estate network of more than 85 million square feet includes 1,400 facilities in over 50 countries.
The company’s NH footprint consists of corporate offices at 85 New Hampshire Ave. in Portsmouth and a service center at 17 Hydro Plant Road in Milton. Iron Mountain ranks third on this year’s list of publicly traded companies that saw the greatest percentage increase in profits between 2020 and 2022, at 64%.
In the third quarter of 2023, the company achieved its highest-ever quarterly revenue of $1.4 billion and recorded operating profit of $500 million.
President and CEO William Meaney attributes much of Iron Mountain’s success to its ability to drive business outcomes for customers by “turning unstructured data into actionable insights.”
“For example, we have been awarded a contract by the TV and film production distribution division of a major technology company, with a story history dating back almost 100 years. We are leveraging our InSight platform to digitize, archive and preserve over 200,000 legal records containing the media rights for distribution and licensing of thousands of film titles and TV episodes,” he said in a recent conference call with financial analysts.
“With all this data available through one cloud-based digital platform, we can help our customers identify and develop new business opportunities by leveraging its rich intellectual property,” he said.
One of the initiatives frequently cited by company executives as key to its recent growth is Project Matterhorn, a new operating model that has enhanced the company’s ability to cross-sell products and services.
According to stock analysts at gurufocus.com, “The company’s ongoing investment in new product and service offerings, innovation, customer solutions, and market expansion, as part of its Project Matterhorn, is another strength. This strategic initiative is designed to accelerate the company’s growth and capture a greater share of the global markets in which it operates.”
Other notable achievements in the past include a nearly $2 million contract with a UK government agency. Government is a key sector for the company, which is supporting government agencies in Europe to digitize public services. Iron Mountain has also won contracts with the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services.
In a move that further enhances its already strong market position, Iron Mountain in November acquired Regency Technologies, a leading provider of IT asset disposition services, a process that large companies use to responsibly dispose of and recycle their outdated equipment.
Current Issue - May 2024