David Dunn, COO of H5 Data Centers, shares how they think about evaluating smaller markets and developing the next generation of talent for the data center industry.

H5 Data Centers has a unique focus on edge data centers and bringing data to people rather than focusing so strongly on where the largest supply and demand is happening in the data center industry.

COO, David Dunn sits down with datacenterHawk to discuss this strategy and the future of the industry.

Below are some of our takeaways from the discussion.

H5’s big focus on smaller markets

A lot of data center providers follow the strategy of finding land to buy in a major market and building a big brand new data center campus from the ground up. H5 takes somewhat of a different approach in their strategy.

H5 has increased their focus on smaller data center markets such as Albuquerque, San Antonio, and Cleveland. While still having a presence in some of the larger markets, H5 takes pride in trying to find the markets that have untapped potential and growing in those areas.

H5’s approach to evaluating new markets

While knowing the supply and demand of the data center markets is important and can be a main way to make decisions in the industry, H5 also looks at the population sizes of markets and the distance between two major cities to determine whether they want to be in a market.

For example, Albuquerque is a city with a decent population size, but it’s also hundreds of miles away from the next city that’s comparable in size. This tells H5 that there are people in that area who will need and want to use data, and likely don’t want to store it hundreds of miles away.

Developing the next generation of data center professionals

H5 takes a lot of pride in doing their part to move the industry forward. One way they do this is by helping educate the next generation about IT needs and the data center industry.

They have made it a point to be involved in the STEM programs of local schools. They want to help create the future jobs in the industry and give kids who might not have had an opportunity to learn about the data center industry a chance and mentor them.

datacenterHawk will continue to follow H5 Data Centers as they continue to on their paths of growth and we look forward to seeing the next steps that they take in the industry.