A common dilemma for data centers—and EasyStreet is no exception—is that the person you can help the most may view you as a threat. “We see this too often,” says Jeff Biggs, CIO for Peak 10 Data Center Solutions. “The visionary CIO is not threatened by us. The tactical IT director is.”
Biggs was speaking in an interview with TechRepublic about the experience of Peak 10, which has a chain of mostly “boutique” data centers in the South, in cities such as Atlanta, Louisville, Raleigh, Nashville and Richmond. As with EasyStreet, a good portion of Peak 10’s business is helping businesses of all sizes offload portions of their IT infrastructure.
He says, however, that too many businesses attempt a standardized approach that isn’t always the right fit. “Whenever I see the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, I run for cover,” says Biggs. “The four horsemen are: ‘We’re going to have big Sun servers, Oracle databases, tons of bandwidth and a bunch of consultants.’ You need to start small and see if you can make it work. That way, you’re a customer for 10 years and not just six months.”
Biggs explained that most of Peak 10’s business originates with CEOs and CFOs frustrated with their own IT managers. “I frequently hear them say, ‘We can’t understand what our IT guy is talking about,’” Biggs says.