Intelligent Data Centres Issue 36 | Page 66

DEEP DIVE

WE ‘ DEEP DIVE ’ WITH CANDIDA VALOIS , FIELD CTO AMERICAS , SCALITY , WHO TELLS US ABOUT LIFE INSIDE

AND OUTSIDE THE OFFICE .

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What would you describe as your most memorable achievement in the data centre industry ?
My biggest achievements would be helping customers modernise their data centres with technologies that support not only current use cases but , also and more importantly , their future use cases .
For example , customers in the healthcare or finance spaces tend to struggle with silos in their data centres . We help them find the optimal solutions for their current requirements and ensure that their infrastructures will grow with them as their use cases and requirements evolve .
By modernising data centres and eliminating these silos , management is simplified and IT teams can refocus their energies on other priorities .
What first made you think of a career in technology / data centres ?
When I was little , I was fascinated by electronics . I would try and fix anything that was broken – a TV , telephone , anything . Then in my computer class at school , we got to use the first Apple Macintosh computer and I fell in love .
So when it came to going to university , computer engineering was an obvious choice for me . After university , I started at IBM in its Extreme Blue internship program and moved to Silicon Valley in the early 2000s where I was working on voice recognition technology and I fell even further in love with technology .
What style of management philosophy do you employ with your current position ?
I treat our customer install base like a diamond to make sure that they are happy and that their deployments are meeting their needs and are working as expected . I therefore regularly check in with them and with our team of customer support engineers . It is important to me that my customers and our team at Scality feel fully supported and know my virtual door is always open . For me , communication is the most important aspect of management .
What do you think is the current hot talking point within the data centre space ?
Security – 100 % security . With the number of cyberattacks growing at a dramatic rate over recent years , data protection and the ability to detect , protect and recover from attacks earlier and more effectively is a critical priority for all types of organisations .
As a result IT infrastructure vendors have been integrating more sophisticated security mechanisms into their product portfolios .
Another hot topic at the moment is accessibility . As a result of the pandemic , organisations are focusing on ensuring their data is accessible to those who need it anywhere and everywhere .
How do you deal with stress and unwind outside the office ?
I am a big foodie ! I live in New York City , which is the one of the best places in the world for someone like me . I also work out to unwind ; I box a lot and love running .
In fact , I recently did La Course de la Coeur 800km relay race with my colleagues in France .
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