Bick Group CEO, Andy Parham, Gives Keynote Address at Data Center World 2009

The Voice of the Business: Connecting Data Center Decisions to Business Value
Andy Parham, Chief Executive Officer, Bick Group

Data center operators have never faced more complex and high‐stakes challenges than the ones they face today. More than 80 percent of data centers are at the tipping point of space, electrical, and mechanical constraints. And while these technical issues are real, the most daunting challenge data center operator’s face today is convincing internal stakeholders that investments must be made. The premium on balance sheet flexibility and operating expense reductions have drawn the executive leadership of most companies into the data center decision‐making process. In this new reality, data center operators must answer an entirely new set of questions, including: Why should we own and operate our own data centers? What is really a mission‐critical application? What is a reasonable disaster recovery strategy? How do we align our data center strategy with our sustainability policy? How can we move this balance sheet investment in data centers to an operating income issue? The key for data center operators is to get in front of these questions by engaging executive leadership in a collaborative, consensus‐driven, fact‐based, and creative process that drives alignment of the data center strategy with the strategic intent of the business. A core set of tools, processes and best‐practices will empower data center operators to succeed in this new reality.