Intelligent Data Centres Issue 01 | Page 63

DEEP DIVE How do you deal with stress and unwind outside the office? Stress management for me is about maintaining a sense of perspective and trying to plan ahead to avoid things piling up. As for relaxing, as a stereotypical Yorkshireman I enjoy taking my whippet, Ted, for walks (if there is a pub involved) and I’m constantly DIY-ing in a couple of old properties I have. What do you currently identify as the major areas of investment in your industry? Security services are probably the area where a lot of companies are playing catch up. GDPR has raised the financial stakes and focused businesses on finding ways to protect their customer data. Data centre physical security is just one small part of this. www.intelligentdatacentres.com What are the region-specific challenges you encounter in your role? Node4 is primarily UK-focused. We do deal with several global businesses though and challenges tend to arise when they expect us to be compliant with American or other regional standards. We try to keep everything as international as we can by adopting ISO standards where possible. WE TRY TO KEEP EVERYTHING AS INTERNATIONAL AS WE CAN BY ADOPTING ISO STANDARDS WHERE POSSIBLE. What changes to your job role have you seen in the last year and how do you see these developing in the next 12 months? We’re currently in the final stages of adding a lot of infrastructure capacity to our data centre sites, so once this project work is finished, we’ll probably settle into more of a routine ‘maintain and replace’ mode. Unless we decide to build something new. What advice would you offer somebody aspiring to obtain a senior position in the industry? As in any industry, treat people well and build good relationships at all levels. It should go without saying, but you need to have good, experience- based knowledge of the field you are managing in. You don’t need to be the best technically, but you need to understand what is achievable and how to pick talented individuals to work with you. ◊ Issue 01 63