DEEP DIVE
Another hot topic is the phenomenal growth of Artificial Intelligence and how data centres are going to manage and attain some of these power-heavy and large deployments . This leads into areas such as submersion cooling and how these deployments will change the landscape of data centres of the future .
I also think we are going to see more emphasis on security , not only around the actual data centre campus but around the cable landing stations , all sadly due to the precarious geopolitical situation we find ourselves in currently .
How do you deal with stress and unwind outside the office ?
I have a love affair with Brazil and continually try to improve my moderately bad Portuguese . I ’ m also an avid swimmer and really enjoy sea swimming – I ’ m lucky enough to live within an hour of the Kent coast and so regularly engage in my own form of submersion cooling . I also love travelling . From a stress and mental health standpoint , separating your work and life balance is key .
MORE AND MORE DEPLOYMENTS WILL MOVE OUT OF THE CENTRAL LONDON ZONE AND UTILISE THE ABUNDANCE OF SPACE AND POWER IN AREAS SUCH AS NEWCASTLE .
What do you currently identify as the major areas of investment in your industry ?
The ongoing skills shortage means we are constantly looking for more young talent to develop the industry . It ’ s really up to data centre providers and the ecosystem around our industry to take the lead and invest in training new talent . I also think we will see more investment from cloud and technology companies in protecting not only their compute assets but also their network assets .
What are the region-specific challenges you encounter in your role ?
As an out-of-town data centre , location is probably one of the most difficult barriers . This does not worry me , as being part of the team at NGD – which was based in South Wales – I saw first-hand that many organisations are moving away from London and utilising out-of-town DCs . Areas such as the North- East , much like South Wales were bastions of hard industry such as mining and steel . The power is there , the space is there and the labour pool is cheaper . I see it as a natural progression that more and more deployments will move out of the Central London zone and utilise the abundance of space and power in areas such as Newcastle .
What changes to your job role have you seen in the last year and how do you see these developing in the coming months ?
My job has involved much more activity around marketing and the creation of partnerships with organisations within the North- East that utilise Stellium as a home for their cloud services as well as their own customer deployments . Building relationships locally within the territory is a very important factor to me . On top of that , our sales team is growing and we are seeing lots more interest from larger customers who require the space and power they can grow into over the coming years without being restrained by said limitations . � www . intelligentdatacentres . com
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