DEEP DIVE
WE ‘ DEEP DIVE ’ WITH SIMON FORD , AVP EMEA , CYRUSONE , WHO TELLS US ABOUT LIFE INSIDE AND
OUTSIDE THE OFFICE .
CyrusOne is one of the largest data centre providers in the US , providing enterprise colocation solutions . Simon Ford , AVP EMEA , CyrusOne tells Intelligent Data Centres about the most memorable achievement in his career and discusses his style of management .
What would you describe as your most memorable achievement in the data centre industry ?
I ’ ve spent my career working in a variety of different companies focused in the tech sector , including Nokia , CBRE and Level ( 3 ) spanning a number of services from fibre , to real estate and data centres . I have lived and worked through the peaks and troughs of three financial crises , so to pick out one memorable achievement is a real challenge as it has been an exciting ride .
However , one of the most game-changing moments for me – and one that provided a significant springboard in my career – was in 2001 when I was working for a telecommunications firm as the European Head of Real Estate , responsible for its offices and data centre facilities where critical infrastructure information is held . After the Dot . com bubble burst , the real estate markets in the UK and Europe were massively impacted . During this pressured time , many global telecom businesses were turning to Chapter 11 protection . My team was under enormous pressure to provide cost savings fast and we needed to start thinking creatively about how we safeguard the business . At first , we focused on the obvious OPEX budget and tried to extricate ourselves from our portfolio on newly signed leases . However , I had to think on my feet and wondered if we could do things differently . It was clear at the time that IT budgets in most corporations were being cut , and real estate departments were being asked to be more involved in the acquisition of data space . So , we created a real estate peer sales channel , leading to several successful data centre deals that created significant revenue for the company and ultimately kept the team together .
What first made you think of a career in technology / data centres ?
When I graduated in 1992 , at the height of another financial crisis , it was clear that I , and my peers , had to diversify to make a living . While I was using my land surveying skills to position inshore drilling rigs conducting geo-techinical investigations , a couple of friends were working at a start-up telco business in London and involved in building access and negotiating fibre into office buildings . This company was MFS and was one of the first wave of telcos building out across Europe in a newly de-regularised industry . This was the first push of privatised telecoms in the UK , and the industry looked to be dynamic and growing . I really wanted to be part of it and so applied for a job in building access , negotiating the fibre into multi-tenanted buildings in London . It was exhilarating when I landed my role with the company at such an exciting time .
What style of management philosophy do you employ with your current position ?
The data centre sector is very diverse and requires a wide range of skills and draws on a series of expertise , such as engineers , architects , real estate and legal professionals , to be successful . As a result , we are truly dependent on each staff member to
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