I Love Data Centers

In this episode I spent some time with my new friend Sam Barhoumeh, Founder and CEO of ReadyNetworks, a full service technology solutions firm based in Chicagoland that provides cloud infrastructure, security, and IT consulting. In short, Sam and I talk all things cloud. Flavors of Cloud, Evolution of the Cloud, Migrating to/from the Cloud, Containers in the Cloud, Clouding Cloud Cloudification of the Cloud… you get the point. Appreciate Sam as both an owner of a scaling managed services company AND engineer who’s not afraid to dig into the weeds on product/solution with his clients! Rare breed of human indeed and among my favorite!

The “Edge” has become one of the new buzzwords that unfortunately means both everything and nothing at the same time, much like the term “Cloud.” Given Hugh’s experience operating micro data centers around the world, we try to provide some tangible case studies for actual edge data center deployments and discuss what the future holds for hybrid compute work loads. We also spend time speaking to how our faith affects the way we operate in the industry as professionals, business leaders, fathers and husbands.

This week on the I Love Data Centers podcast: CxO NExUS, I interview the Chief Executive Officer of CxO NExUS, Ken Male.

With more than 25 years of leadership positions in IT research, Ken Male possesses a deep understanding of how C-Suite executives leverage fact based data to improve decision-making. Male’s background includes experience working in senior and executive roles with Gartner, Giga (acquired by Forrester), Apptio, and Jupiter Research (also acquired by Forrester).

Through interactive and customized Heat Maps, CxO NExUS helps Global 5000 CIOs and CMOs, CFOs, CPOs, and VMOs leverage data to increase efficiency by providing automated, role-specific views that simplify and optimize category and vendor spend management tasks. Their suite of services are proven to save money and enable more informed, data-driven decision making.

Show Notes:

1:22 Interview starts

2:02 What does Ken Male do?

3:34 Ken Male’s upbringing and how he got into tech

5:50 What got Ken into 451 Research?

8:00 Ken’s experience working at Deck

12:23 Ken’s entrepreneurial upbringing

17:31 What did Ken learn from his father?

20:56 Ken’s experience working at Apptio

25:21 What is CxO NExUS?

29:28 Interactive and customized Heat Maps

35:18 What does Ken’s engagement cycle look like?

38:54 How Ken is seeing the market evolve

42:44 Has Ken seen any pushback from providers?

44:39 Has the process of growing and starting a business changed over the past 15 years?

46:51 What are the characteristics Ken is looking for in employees?

49:19 Lessons that Ken has learned that have helped shape his career

52:20 Bad examples Ken has seen over the years that he’s learned from

56:57 Advice Ken would have given his younger self

58:23 Misconceptions people have about Ken’s industry

1:08:08 Who is the ideal customer for a company like CxO NExUS?

1:10:21 How to get in contact with Ken

Links mentioned: https://cxonexus.com/

Ken’s email: [email protected]

Ken’s phone number: 917-861-0693

This week on the I Love Data Centers podcast: All Things Data and Data Center Security, I interview the Chief Information Security Officer of Databank, Mark Houpt.

Whereas security has typically been an afterthought for most companies in the past, it has quickly become the most talked about topic in the industry these days with high profile data breaches happening on a regular basis. I wanted to do an interview that addressed the most common conversations data center and hosting providers are having with their clients so you can hear and understand the roles both parties have in protecting and securing corporate and client data. This conversation does just that and proved to be extremely enlightening.

Truly, by listening to and digesting the content within this episode you will be well equipped to have this conversation, regardless of which side of the fence you sit on.

Show Notes:

1:12 Interview starts

2:34 Mark’s credentials and certifications

7:09 Mark’s upbringing

9:28 How Mark got involved in tech

11:46 Mark’s Navy experience

16:40 Mark’s transition into tech

23:34 How does hacking and coding play together?

32:01 Precautionary steps companies can take to protect their data from hackers

37:43 Balancing between the corporate world and the data center world

47:28 What makes manage services different?

55:54 Other security traps that companies can fall into

59:58 What should companies that don’t need or can’t afford someone in a chief security officer role do?

1:04:05 What is a penetration test?

1:11:25 What is the B.A.A?

1:16:28 What about data centers that don’t need to be compliant to the B.A.A?

1:20:24 How to deal with the federal government agencies

1:23:17 Where does Data Banks responsibility start and stop with their clients?

1:28:59 Do our countries regulations put us in any danger?

1:41:36 What is something you’ve learned recently that blew your mind?

1:44:42 How to contact Mark

Links mentioned:

www.databank.com

Contact Info:

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-houpt/

This week on the I Love Data Centers podcast: The Montreal Data Center Market is so Hot Right Now, I interview the President and CEO of Root Data Center, AJ Byers.

Although Episode 6 with Philbert Shih touched on the topic, I have heard numerous times about major deployments going down in and around Montreal, Canada over the past few months and wanted to explore the topic further. To get the full story on how the Canadian data center market has evolved over the past 20 years, there was no better person to interview than AJ Byers.

His bio tells the story of an engineering minded entrepreneur learning the business from the ground up, witnessing first hand the Canadian data center marketplace evolve over 20 years. I truly enjoyed our conversation and was able to geek out on a variety of topics related to cooling, finance and the demand side of the equation.

Show Notes:

1:12 Episode starts

2:02 What AJ does and his involvement in Root

4:27 AJ’s backstory and how he got involved in tech

6:57 AJ’s entrepreneurial background

8:27 What it was like to survive the bubble bursting

14:53 What AJ learned throughout the 2000s decade

16:53 How did the US market downturn in 2008 affect the Canadian market?

19:43 Why has Root stayed within the Montreal market?

21:47 Why did Root decide to take outside capital?

26:04 How have you seen the marketplace evolve?

27:56 What is the catalyst that’s begun to bring American business to the Canadian marketplace?

32:42 Why is power so much less expensive in Montreal than the rest of the world?

34:09 AJ’s experience with working with Lipid

36:45 What is Keanu Cooling?

44:07 What is it like to be the president of a data center with an engineering background?

47:16 Where do you see the industry continuing to evolve?

49:51 Has there been an uptick in demand for crypto mining companies?

51:12 How has Canada gone about addressing Cloud IX?

57:02 What are some misconceptions about your marketplace?

59:46 What are 3 things that US companies looking to deploy infrastructure in Canada should know?

1:03:20 What is something you learned recently that blew your mind?

1:05:04 Are you seeing some Canadian based hosting companies affected by the growth of companies like Google?

Contact info:

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajbyers/

I Love Data Centers Episode 006:

https://openspectruminc.com/evolution-of-data-center-and-cloud/

This week on the I Love Data Centers podcast: IT Components, SDN and The Irish Technology Boom, I interview the North America Sales Manager at EPS Global, Alan Fagan.

This interview is part of our partnership with Enterprise Ireland and in conjunction with an upcoming Irish Data Center Forum Sean will be participating in at the end of September. Alan Fagan is an IT industry expert with over 20 years selling the infrastructure that lives in the data center. He began his career in Dublin, Ireland and is now working out of Boston, MA for EPS Global as their North America Sales Manager. EPS Global is a leading, privately owned, franchised distributor for specialized IT components used in high-speed data and storage networks to accelerate, multiplex, store and manipulate the huge amounts of data generated by online and telecoms activity. Alan shares his history growing up in Ireland and watching the technology boom through the 90's. We also discuss the tremendous growth of the IT components industry.

Show Notes:

1:12 Episode begins

3:44 Alan’s upbringing and getting involved in technology

9:51 What is the Celtic Tiger?

15:44 Enterprise Ireland

18:40 2 distinct areas in data centers

26:39 How have the components that make up the physical infrastructure inside a data center evolved over the past 10-15 years?

30:15 Have these components seen price compression recently?

33:25 The evolution of buyers

35:54 How will the industry change over the next 5 years?

42:07 In what ways do you think Ireland will continue to innovate and what might be some hurdles to that innovation?

50:31 How big is EPS?

52:45 Who are some of Alan’s biggest buyers?

54:16 How to get in contact with Alan

Links mentioned

Des Bishop – comedian

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyouxDwyK9U

Contact info

Email - [email protected]

Phone number (978) 930-1492

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-fagan-2b39932

This week on the I Love Data Centers podcast, we interview Mark Del Bianco, an attorney who represents direct sales agents and services providers in the data center industry, with experience in how drones are used for data collection.

In this podcast, Del Bianco and I discuss the EU’s GDPR, its impact on EU and American citizens, and some laws being created in the U.S. that cover Personally Identifiable Information or PII. This is an excellent chance to gain some insight on drone technology as applicable to data collection/storage and what you need to know about new laws being created that deal with how you manage PII. I believe you are sure to enjoy this one!

Show Notes:

1:12 Mark Del Bianco

2:09 What Mark does

3:56 Drones

5:53 Mark’s upbringing

13:36 Advice Mark wish he had when he started his practice

14:46 Successful marketing techniques that Mark used

20:47 What is GDPR?

23:29 How will GDPR be enforced?

26:12 What purpose did the GDPR serve?

27:33 What sort of data are they concerned about protecting?

34:39 Companies affected by GDPR

37:07 Effect on EU/American citizens

38:59 Do US based data center providers have to worry about falling under GDPR regulations?

45:45 How is the EU able to pass laws that would affect EU citizens in America?

48:05 Are there any existing precedence to this?

50:45 California data privacy laws

54:09 What will happen to those who don’t comply?

59:05 The “Right To Be Forgotten”

1:01:26 Does GDPR mean that individual state government agencies must also be compliant?

1:06:57 Data base engineers in the process of becoming compliant

1:09:26 What steps does a company need to take in order to become compliant?

1:13:30 What is a piece of technology you’ve seen recently that’s blown your mind?

1:17:19 What is a common misconception about your industry?

1:21:14 The most influential piece of advice Mark received at the start of his career?

1:25:50 Mark’s first time in a data center

1:27:24 How to get in contact with Mark

Links mentioned

http://www.markdelbianco.com/

This week on the I Love Data Centers podcast: How I Got Here, Rich Miller Interviews Sean Patrick Tario, the voice and vision behind the I Love Data Centers Podcast.

Due to the volume of requests to turn the tables and have someone interview me for the podcast, we decided to do just that in this episode. I was honored to have Rich Miller, founder of datacenterknowledge.com and datacenterfrontier.com, take charge to this extent following the same format I use during my interviews.

In this episode you’ll learn a little more about how I got started working in the industry, what drove me to venture off on my own years ago, some harsh lessons I learned as a stubborn entrepreneur and the spark that manifested this podcast. Hope you enjoy!

Show Notes:

1:12 Episode starts

2:48 What inspired you to start the I Love Data Centers podcast?

5:37 Why did you decide to go with a long-form interview format for this podcast?

10:20 How did you get started in the data center industry?

13:32 Your past entrepreneurial endeavors?

18:21 Your experience working initially w/ UnitedLayer?

24:20 After working at UnitedLayer and QTS, how did you get Open Spectrum started?

31:00 The evolution of Open Spectrum and training other industry professionals

37:42 How the Data Center Colocation Playbook has affected your interaction with others in the industry

43:27 Discussions around why data center tours matter?

47:15 What Open Spectrum has been up to lately?

55:21 Where Sean feels the industry is heading?

1:05:12 Your take on recent PE and M&A activity in the industry?

1:23:10 What you wish you would have known when you started in the industry?

1:25:29 What was the most influential piece of advice you received while working in the industry?

Rob attended one of my data center bootcamps in Denver years ago and instantly became an advocate for the education I was providing the industry. It took all of a few minutes for me to become a huge advocate of his as well, as he is, truly, a master of his craft. He also knows how to throw truly epic parties, which is another shared passion of ours.

After nearly 2 decades working for various data center service providers, Rob made the jump to the client representation side exclusively last year and hasn't looked back. Our conversation covers the evolution of Open IX, an organization he currently serves on the Board of, lessons learned working in the industry, and a candid conversation about what the future of interconnection and carrier hotels might look like.

Show Notes:

1:12 Episode Starts

3:34 Rob’s upbringing and getting his start in the industry

8:57 Working at AT&T

11:13 Working at Telex

12:31 Why Rob left

15:52 Rob’s thoughts on the Equinix acquisition

20:42 How is the heavy amount of construction going on in the suburbs affecting Dallas?

26:35 Why Rob decided to start his own consulting firm

28:53 What is Open-IX?

33:07 How Open-IX has evolved and how Rob got started in it

36:55 Are major companies like Google and Netflix still involved in Open-IX?

40:23 Should these major companies get a different rate?

43:07 Why are companies like DXLink trying to enter the US marketplace?

47:22 How will affect the monopoly companies like Equinix have on the marketplace?

52:25 Rob’s advice for newcomers in this marketspace

1:00:13 How the prime equity money coming into the industry is affecting how businesses operate

1:08:33 What is something you have learned over the past few months that has blown your mind?

1:11:37 Is there anything new entering the field that will change the industry?

1:13:56 The best advice Rob received while working at AT&T

1:19:20 How to get in contact with Rob

Majeticks Website: http://mejeticks.com/

This week on the I Love Data Centers podcast: MicroCorp’s New Cloud Elements Division and the Anatomy of a Telecom Master Agency, I interview the President of MicroCorp, Phil Keenan.

When I first met Phil in Atlanta nearly 3 years ago, it was obvious he was different than every other executive I had met working in the telecom industry. He cut through the typical positioning BS right from the start, wanted to execute quickly, and viewed the industry through the same lenses I did. Truth be told, with the launch of the Cloud Elements Division of MicroCorp in April of this year, the vision of what we planned in our very first meeting has now become manifest.

Our conversation covers the specific function and role the “Master Agency” plays in our industry and how a service provider can be successful in the indirect channel. We also discuss the who, how, what and why of MicroCorp’s new Cloud Elements Division. Most importantly, however, we discuss how the lessons Phil learned selling vacuum cleaners door to door in the UK helped shape him into the executive he is today.

Show Notes:

1:12 Episode starts

2:15 Phil’s backstory

3:33 How Phil got into tech

10:19 What made Phil switch industries and move to the Channel?

13:02 The difference between the way Phil views the world versus how traditional telecommunication master agents view the world

17:23 What made Phil interested in Open Spectrum?

31:28 How does an indirect channel operate and what purpose does a master agent serve?

34:25 Why can’t carriers and service agents fill that role?

39:29 What’s the issue with letting the service provider do pre-qualification with the customer?

44:16 What is Cloud Elements and how will it empower agents to do more?

50:07 How does Cloud Elements affect the engagement between an agent and their client?

55:02 Phil’s ideas that have been valuable to his interaction with the community he works with

57:12 What will the next few years look like for MicroCorp?

1:00:22 The importance of trust

1:01:34 Phil’s first time walking into a data center

1:03:26 At what point did you realize that this was the industry you wanted to work in?

1:04:58 Common misconceptions service providers have about the channel

1:05:48 What it takes for a service provider to be successful in building relationships with master agencies

1:12:56 What do you think the main component to your success was?

1:14:18 What is some advice that you wish you had had five years ago?

1:18:35 What advice would you give an agent just starting out?