Ann Arbor-based Online Technologies signed a long-term lease to open a 20,000-square-foot data center in Pittsfield Township, strengthening the the company's position in the burgeoning "cloud computing" market.

Online Tech negotiated a deal directly with FIS, a company formerly called Fidelity National Information Services Inc. , to lease a facility on Data Court in the Avis Farms office park. FIS had acquired the data center operation when it bought Metavante Corp. in 2009.

Online Tech CEO Yan Ness said his company had started to run low on data center capacity to support its growing client base.

"It's part of our growth," he said. "We're really bullish on the industry and on Michigan."

The 20,000-square-foot facility is the third data center for Online Tech, which is investing about $1 million on upgrades at the new space, which will officially open in October. The company declined to reveal details about the deal except to say that it was a very long-term lease.

Online Tech also operates a 10,000-square-foot data center in Avis Farms and a 33,000-square-foot data center in Genesee County. The company's corporate office is based at the Burlington Office Center on Eisenhower Parkway in Ann Arbor.

Online Tech has 25 employees, including four new workers hired within the last six months, Ness said.

"I know it sounds trite, but I really believe in Michigan," he said.

The company is reaping new business as corporate clients become more comfortable with renting off-site server space instead of investing in their own IT infrastructure — a trend generally referred to as "cloud computing."

Online Tech is targeting mid-size clients with between 50 and 1,000 employees — companies that are "too small to get the attention" of major data providers like IBM but "big enough" that they'd experience major problems if they lost their data in a disaster, Ness said.

The firm also recently reported that it had won certification from an independent auditor to provide data services to companies whose information is subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Ness said the company is also benefiting from increased concerns about information security.

"The complexities and the threats and the capital expenses — people are not wanting to deal with this," he said. "They just want somebody else to take care of it, take care of the operating expense and know that they're still" secure.

Contact AnnArbor.com's Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's newsletters.