The next BriefingsDirect panel discussion explores how March 25's International Data Center Day provides an opportunity to both look at where things have been in the evolution of the modern data center and more importantly -- where they are going.
Those trends involve a lot
more than just technology. Data center challenges and advancements alike will
hinge around the next generation of talent operating those data centers and
how diversity and equal opportunity best support that.
Our gathered experts also forecast that
sustainability improvements -- rather than just optimizing the speeds and feeds
-- will help determine the true long-term efficiency of IT facilities and
systems.
To observe International Data Center Day with a look at ways to make the data centers of the future the best-operated and the greenest ever, we are joined by Jaime Leverton, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at eStruxture Data Centers in Montreal; Angie McMillin, Vice President and General Manager of IT Systems at VertivTM, and Erin Dowd, Vice President of Global Human Resources at Vertiv. The International Data Center Day observance panel is moderated by Dana Gardner, Principal Analyst at Interarbor Solutions.
Here are some excerpts:
Obviously, it's about our values. It's critical that we do the right thing for the environment, for the community, for our staff, and for our customers. But, as I say, over the long-term, we believe the total cost is less. So far and above, sustainability is the right thing to do.
We need more people with all the skill sets capable of supporting these advancements on the horizon like 5G, the industrial internet of things (IIoT), and AI.
Gardner: Erin, why
-- based on where we have come from -- is there now a need to think differently
about the next generation of data center talent?
 |
| Dowd |
Dowd:
What's important to us is that we have a diverse population of employees. We
think about diversity from the perspective traditionally around ethnicity and
gender. But when we consider diversity, we think about diversity of thought,
diversity of behavior, and diverse backgrounds.
That all makes us a much
stronger company; a much stronger industry. It's representative of our customer
base, frankly, and it's representative of the globe. We are ensuring that we
have people working within our company from around the world and contributing
all of those diverse thoughts and perspectives that make us a much stronger
company and much stronger industry.
Gardner: We
have often seen that creative and innovative thought comes when you have a
group of individuals that come from a variety of backgrounds, and so it's often
a big benefit. Why has it been slow-going? What's been holding back the
diversity of the support talent for data centers?
Diversity for future data centers
Dowd: It's
a competitive environment, so it's a struggle to find diverse candidates. It
goes beyond our tech type of roles and into sales and marketing. We look at our
talent early in their careers, and we are working on growing talent, in terms of
nurturing them, helping them to develop, and helping them to grow into
leadership roles. It takes a proactive approach, and it’s more than just letting
the talent pool evolve naturally. It is about taking proactive and definitive actions
around attracting people and growing people.
Gardner: I
don’t think I am going out on a limb by observing that over the past 30 years,
it's been a fairly male-dominated category of worker. Tell us why women in
science, technology, engineering, and math, or the so-called STEM
occupations, are going to be a big part of making that diversity a strength.
Dowd: That
is a huge pipeline for us as we benefit from all the initiatives to increase
STEM education for women and men. The results help expand the pool, frankly,
and it allows candidates across the board, that are interested at an early age,
to best prepare for this type of industry. We know historically that girls have
been less likely to pursue STEM types of interest at early ages.
So ensuring that we have
people across the continuum, that we have women in these roles, to model and
mentor -- that's really important in expanding the pool. There are a lot of
things that we can be doing around STEM, and we are looking at all those
opportunities.
Gardner: Statistically
there are more women in universities than men, so that should translate into a larger
share in the IT business. We will be talking about that more.
But we would also like to
focus on International Data Center Day issues around sustainability. Jaime, why
is sustainability the gift that keeps giving when it comes to improving our
modern data centers?
 |
| Leverton |
Leverton: International
Data Center Day is about the next generation of data center professionals. And
we know that for the next generation, they are committed to preserving the
environment, which is good news for all of us as citizens. And as one of the
world's biggest consumers of energy, I believe the data center industry has a
fundamental duty to elevate its environmental stewardship with energy efficient
infrastructure and renewable power resources. I think the conversation really
does go well together with diversity.
Gardner:
Alright, let's dive in a little bit more to the issues around talent and
finding the best future pool. First, Erin please tell us about your role at
Vertiv.
Dowd: I am
the Global Business HR Partner at Vertiv. So my focus is to help us design,
build, and deliver the right people
strategy for our teams that have a global presence. We focus on having
super-engaged and productive people in the right places with the right skills,
and in developing career opportunities across the continuum -- from early level
to senior level of contributors.
Gardner: We
have heard a lot about the skills
shortage in IT in general terms, but in your experience at Vertiv, what are
your observations about the skills shortage? What challenges do you face?
Dowd: We
have challenges in terms of a shortage of diverse candidates across the board. This
is present in all positions. Increasing the diversity of candidates that we can
attract and grow will help us address the shortage first-hand.
Gardner: And
in addition to doing this on a purely pragmatic basis, there are other larger
benefits. Tell us why diversity is so important to Vertiv over the long term?
We
have challenges in terms of a shortage of diverse candidates across the
board. This is present in all positions. The diversity of candidates
that we can attract will help us.
Dowd:
Diversity is the right thing to do. Just hands down, it has business benefits, and
it has cultural benefits. As I mentioned earlier, it reflects not only on our
global presence but also on our customer base. And research shows that
companies that have more diverse workforces outperform and out-innovate those that
don’t.
For example, companies in the
top quartile of the workforce on diversity are 33 percent more likely to
financially outperform their less diverse counterparts, according to a 2018
study from McKinsey. We have been embracing diversity, which aligns with
our core values. It’s the right competitive strategy. It's going to allow us to
compete in the marketplace and relate to our customers best.
Gardner: Is
Vertiv an outlier in this? Or is this the way the whole industry is going?
Dive into competitive talent pool
Dowd: This
is the way whole industry is going. I come from a line of IT companies prior to
my tenure with Vertiv. Even the biggest, the most established companies are still
wrestling with the competitiveness affiliated with the tracking of candidates
that have diversity of thought, diverse backgrounds, diverse behaviors, and diversity
on ethnicity and gender as well.
The trend is toward
engineering and services, and everywhere we are experiencing turnover because
it's so competitive. It’s a very competitive environment. We are competing with
brother and sister companies for the same types of talent.
As I mentioned previously, if
we attract people who are diverse in terms of thought, ethnicity, and gender we
can expand our candidate pool and enhance our competitiveness. When our talent
acquisition team looks at talent, they are expanding and enhancing diversity in
our university relations and in our recruiting efforts. They are targeting
diverse candidates as we hire interns and then folks that are later in their
careers as well.
Gardner: We
have been looking at this through the demand side, but on the supply-side, what
are the incentives? Why should people from a variety of backgrounds consider
and pursue these IT careers? What are the benefits to them?
Dowd: The
career opportunities are amazing. This is a field that’s growing and that is
not going to go away. We depend on IT infrastructure and data centers across
our world, and we're doing that more and more over time. There's opportunity in
the workplace and there are a lot of things that we are specifically doing at Vertiv
to keep people engaged and excited. We think a lot about attracting talent.
But there is another piece, which
is about retaining talent. Some of the things we are doing at Vertiv are
specifically launching programs aligned with diversity.
So recently, and Angie has
been involved in this, we have a women at Vertiv resource group called Women
at Vertiv Excel (WAVE). And that group is nurturing women, encouraging more
women to pursue leadership positions within Vertiv. Really it looks at
diversity in leadership positions, but it also provides important training that
women can apply in their current positions.
Together we are building one
Vertiv culture, which is a really important framework for our company. We are
creating solutions and resources that make us more competitive and reflect the
global market. We find that diversity breeds new and different ideas, more
innovation, and a deeper understanding of our customers, partners, employees, and
our stakeholders all around the globe. We are a global company, so this is very
important to us. It's going to make us more successful as we grow into the
future.
Another thing that we are
doing is creating end-to-end management of Vertiv programs. This is new. We
continue to improve this. It integrates behavioral skills and training designed
to look at the work that we do through the eyes of others. We utilize
experiences and talent effectively to grow stronger and stronger teams. Part of
this is about recruiting and hiring. It has an emphasis on finding potential
employees who possess a diverse experience of thought and perspectives. And
diversity of thought comes from field experiences, from different backgrounds, and
all of this contributes to our values as an employee in our organization.
Together
we are building one Vertiv culture, which is a really important
framework for our company. We are creating solutions and resources that
make us more competitive and reflect the global market. We find that
diversity breeds new and different ideas, more innovation, and a deeper
understanding of our customers, partners, and employees.
We also are launching the
Vertiv Operating System. Now this is being created, launched, and built with an
emphasis on better understanding of our differences, in bridging gaps where
there are differences, and in ways that bring out the best in everybody. It's
designed to encourage thought leadership, and to help all of us work through
change management together.
Finally, another program that
we've been implementing across the globe is called Intrinsic. And Intrinsic
supplies a foundational assessment designed to improve our understanding of
ourselves and also of our colleagues. It's a formal experiential program that's
going to help us all learn more about ourselves, what makes our individual
values and styles unique, but then also it allows us to think about the people
that we are working with. We can learn more about our colleagues, potentially
our customers, and it allows us to grow in terms of our team dynamics and the
techniques that we are using to manage conflict, stress, and change.
Collectively, as we look at
the full continuum of how we behave at Vertiv in the future we are building for
ourselves, all of these efforts work together toward changing the way we think
as individuals, how we behave in groups, and ultimately evolving our
organizational culture to be more diverse, more inclusive, and more innovative.
Gardner: Jaime
at eStruxture, when we look at sustainability, it aligns quite well with these
issues around talent and diversity because all the polling shows that the
younger generation is much more focused on energy efficiency and consciousness
around their impact on the natural world -- so sustainability. Tell us why the
need for sustainability is key and aligns so well with talent and retaining the
best people to work for your organization.
Sustainability inspires next generation
Leverton: What
we know to be true about the next generation is when they look to choose a
career path, or take on an assignment, they want to make sure that it aligns
with their values. They want to do work that they believe in. So, our industry
offers them that opportunity to be value-aligned and to make an impact where it
counts.
As you can see all around us,
people are working and learning remotely now more than ever, and data centers
are what make all of that possible. They are crucial to our society and to our
everyday lives. The data center industry is only going to continue to grow, and
with our dependence on energy we have to have a focus on sustainability.
It represents a substantial
opportunity to make a difference. It's a fast-paced environment where we truly
believe there is a career path for the next generation that will matter to
them.
Gardner: Jaime,
tell us about eStruxture Data Centers and your role there.
Leverton: eStruxture is relatively new data
center company. It was established just over three years ago and we have grown
rapidly from our original acquisition of our first data center in Montreal. We
now have three data centers in Montreal, two in Vancouver, and one in Calgary.
We are a Canadian pure-play -- Canadian-owned, -operated, and -financed. We
really believe in the Canadian landscape, the Canadian story, and we are going
to continue to focus on growth in this nation.
Gardner: When
it comes to efficiency and sustainability, we often look at power usage
effectiveness (PUE). Where are we in terms of getting to complete
sustainability? Is it that so farfetched?
Leverton: I
don’t think it is. Huge strides have been made in reducing PUE, especially by
us in our most recent construction, which has a PUE load of sub 1.2. Organizations
in our industry continue to innovate every day, trying to get as close to that
1.0 as humanly possible.
We are very lucky that we
partner with Vertiv. Vertiv solutions are key in driving our efficiency in our
data centers, and we know that progress can be made continually by addressing
the IP load deficiency and that is a savings that is incremental to PUE as
well. PUE is specifically about the ratio of IP power usage and the power usage
of the equipment that supports it. But we look at our data center and our
business holistically to drive sustainability even outside of what the PUE
covers.
Gardner: It
sounds like sustainability is essentially your middle name. Tell me more about
that. How did you focus the construction and placement of your data centers to
be focused so much on sustainability?
Leverton: All
of our facilities have been designed with a focus on sustainability. When we
have purchased facilities, we have immediately gone to upgrade them and make
them more efficient. We take advantage of free cooling wherever possible. As I
mentioned, three of our data centers are in Montreal, so we get to take
advantage of about eight months of the year of free cooling where the majority
of our data centers are using 99.5 percent hydro-power energy, which is the
cleanest possible energy that we can use.
We virtualize our environments
as much as possible. We carefully select eco-responsible technologies and
suppliers, and we are committed to continuing to increase our power usage
effectiveness without ever sacrificing the performance, scalability, or uptime
of our data centers, of course.
Gardner: And
more specifically, when you look at that holistic approach to sustainability,
how does working with a supplier like Vertiv augment and support that? How does
that become a tag-team when it comes to the power source and the underlying
infrastructure?
Leverton:
Vertiv has just been such a great partner. They were there with us from the
very beginning. We work together as a team, trying to make sure that we're
designing the best possible environment for our customers and for our community.
One of our favorite solutions from Vertiv is around their thermal management,
which is a water-free solution.
Our
commitment is to operate as sustainably as possible. Being able to
partner with Vertiv and build their solutions into our design right from
the beginning has had a huge impact.
That is absolutely ideal in
keeping with our commitment to operate as sustainably as possible. In addition
to being water-free, it's 75 percent more efficient because it has advanced
controls and economization. Being able to partner with Vertiv and build their
solutions into our design right from the beginning has made a huge, huge
impact.
Gardner: And,
like I mentioned, sustainability is the gift that keeps giving. This is not
just a nice to have. This is a bottom-line benefit. Tell us about the costs and
how that reinforces sustainability initiatives.
Leverton: Yes, while
there is an occasional higher cost in the short term, we firmly believe that
the long-term total cost of ownership is lower -- and the benefits far outweigh
any initial incremental costs.
Obviously, it's about our values. It's critical that we do the right thing for the environment, for the community, for our staff, and for our customers. But, as I say, over the long-term, we believe the total cost is less. So far and above, sustainability is the right thing to do.
Gardner: Jaime,
when it comes to that sustainability formula, what really works? It's not just
benefiting the organization that's supplying, it’s also benefiting the
consumer. Tell us how sustainability is also a big plus when it comes to those
people receiving the fruits of what the data centers produce.
Leverton: Sustainability
is huge for our customers, and it’s increasingly a key component of their
decision-making criteria. In fact, many hyperscale cloud providers and corporations
-- large corporate enterprises -- have declared very ambitious environmental
responsibility objectives and are shifting to green energy.
Microsoft, as an example, is
targeting over 70 percent renewable energy for its data centers by 2023. Amazon reached a 50 percent renewable
energy target in 2018 and is now aiming for 100 percent.
Women and STEM step IT up
Gardner: Let's
look at the sustainability issue again through the lens of talent and the
people who are going to be supporting these great initiatives. Angie, when it
comes to bringing more women into the STEM professions, how does the IT
industry present itself as an attractive career path, say for someone just
graduating from high school?
 |
| McMillin |
McMillin: When I
look at children today, they're growing up with IT as part of their lives. That's
a huge advantage for them. They see firsthand the value and impact it has on
everything they do. I look at my nieces and nephews, and even grandkids, and they
can flip through phones, tablets, they are using XBoxes, you name it, all
faster than adults.
They're the next generation of
IT. And now, with the COVID-19
situation, children are learning how to do schooling collaboratively -- but
also remotely. I believe we can engage children early with the devices they
already know and use. And with the tools that they're now learning for schoolwork,
those are a bridge to learning about what makes that work. It’s the data center
industry. All of our data centers can be a part of that as they complete their
schooling and go into higher education. They will remember this experience that
we're all living through right now forever -- and so why not build upon that?
Gardner: Jaime,
does that align with your personal experience in terms of technology being part
of the very fabric of life?
Leverton: Oh,
absolutely. I'm really proud of what I've seen happening in Canada. I have two
young daughters and they have been able to take part in STEM camps, coding
clubs, and technology is part of their regular curriculum in elementary school.
The best thing we can do for our children is to teach them about technology,
teach them how to be responsible with tech, and to keep them engaged with it so
that over time they can be comfortable looking toward STEM careers later on.
Gardner: Angie,
to get people focused on being part of the next generation of data centers, are
there certain degrees, paths, or educational strategies that they should be
pursuing?
Education paths lead to STEM careers
McMillin: Yes.
It's a really interesting time in education. There are countless degrees
specifically geared toward the IT industry. So those are good bets, but
specifically in networking and computers, there's coding, there is cyber
security, which is becoming even more important, and the list goes on.
We currently see a very large
skill set gap specifically around the science and technology functions. So
these offer huge opportunities for a young person’s future. But I also want to
highlight that the industry still needs the skill sets, the traditional
engineering skills, such as power management, thermal management, services and
equally important are the trade skills in this industry. There's a current gap
in the workforce and the training for that may be different, but it still has a
really vital role to play.
And then finally, we'd be remiss
if we didn't recognize the fact that there are support functions, finance, HR, and
marketing. People often think that you must only be in the science or
engineering part of the business to work in a particular given market, and that
really isn't true. We need skill sets across a broad range to really help make
us successful.
Leverton: I am
an IT leader and have been in this business for 20 years, and my undergraduate
degrees are in political science and psychology. So I really think that it's
all about how you think, and the other skills that you can bring to bear. More
and more, we see emotional
intelligence (EQ) and communication skills as the difference-maker to
somebody's career success or career trajectory. We just need to make sure that
people aren't afraid of coming out of more generalized degrees.
Gardner: We
have heard a lot about the T
structure, where we need to have the vertical technology background but
also we want those with cultural leadership, liberal arts, and collaboration
skills.
Angie, you are involved with
mentoring young women specifically. What's your take on the potential? What do
you see now as the diversity is welling up and the available pool of talent is
shifting?
McMillin: I am,
and I absolutely love it. One of the things I do is support a women's
engineering summer camp probably much like Jaime's daughters attend, and other events
around my alma mater, with the University of
Dayton. I support mentoring interns and other early career individuals, be they
male or female. There is just so much potential in young people. They are
absolutely eager to learn and play their part. They want to have relevance in
the growing data center market, and the IT and sustainability that we talked
about earlier. It's really fun and enjoyable to help them along that journey.
There
are two key themes I repeat. One is that success doesn't happen
overnight. So enjoy those small steps on the journey, learn as much as
you can, and don't give up. The second is keep an open mind about your
career, try new things, and doors you never imagined will open up.
I get asked for advice, and there
are two key themes that I repeat. One is that success doesn’t happen overnight.
So enjoy those small steps on the journey that we take to much greater things,
and the important part of that, is really just keep taking the steps, learn as
much as you can, and don’t give up. The second thing is to keep an open mind in
your career, being willing to try new things and opportunities and sometimes
doors are going to open that you didn’t even imagine, which is absolutely okay.
As a prime example, I started
my education in the aerospace industry. When that industry was hurting, I
switched to mechanical. There is a broader range of that field of study, and I spent
a large part of my career in automotive. I then moved to consumer and now I am
in data center and IT. I am essentially a space geek and car junkie engineer
with experience in engineering, strategy, sales, portfolio transformation, and operations.
And now I am a general manager for an IT management portfolio.
If I hadn't been open to new
opportunities and doors along my career path, I wouldn’t be here today. So it's
an example for the younger generation. There are broad possibilities. You don’t
have to have it all figured out now, but keep taking those steps and keep
trying and keep learning -- and the world awaits you, essentially.
Gardner: Angie
what sort of challenges have you faced over the years in your career? And how
is that changing?
Women rise, challenges continue
McMillin: It’s
a great question. My experience at Vertiv has been wonderful with a support
structure of diversity for women and leadership. We talked about the new WAVE program
that Erin mentioned earlier. You can feel that across your organization. It
starts at the top. I also had the benefit, as many of us I think had on this
podcast, of having good sponsors along the way in our career journeys to help
us get to where we are.
But that doesn’t mean we haven’t
faced challenges throughout our careers. And there are challenges that still
arise for many in the industry. In all the industries I have worked, which have
all been male-dominated industries, there is this necessity to have to prove
yourself as a woman -- like 10 times over -- for your right to be at the table
with a voice regardless of the credentials you have coming in. It gets
exhausting, and it's not consistent with male counterparts. It’s a “show me
first” and then “I might believe,” it's also BS. That’s something that a lot of
women in this industry, as well as in other industries, continue to have to surpass.
The other common challenge is
that you need to over-prove yourself, so that people know that the position was
earned. I always want people to know I got my position because I earned it, and
I have something to offer not because of a diversity quota. And that’s a lot
better today than it's been in years passed. But I can tell you, I can still
hear those words, of accusations made of female colleagues that I knew
throughout my career. When one female gets elevated in a position and fails, it
makes it a lot harder for other females to get the chance of an opportunity or
promotion.
Now, again, it's getting
better. But to give you a real-world example, if you think about the number of
industries where there are women CEOs. If they don't succeed, boards get very
nervous about putting another woman in a CEO position. If a male CEO doesn't
succeed, he is often just not the right fit. So we still have a long way to go.
Gardner: Jaime
at eStruxture, what's been your experience as a woman in the technology field?
Leverton: Well,
eStruxture has been an incredible experience for me. We have diversity
throughout the organization. Actually we are almost at 50 percent of our
population identifying as non-white heterosexual male, which is quite different
from what I've experienced over the rest of my career in technology. From a
female perspective, our senior leadership team is 35 percent women; our
director population is almost 50 percent women.
So it's been a real breath of
fresh air for me. In fact, I would say it really speaks to the values of our
founder when he started this company three years ago and did it with the
intention of having a diverse organization. Not only does it better mirror our
customers but it absolutely reflects the values of our organization, the
culture we wanted to create, and ultimately to drive better returns.
Gardner:
Angie, why is the data center industry a particularly attractive career choice
right now? What will the future look like in say five years? Why should people
be thinking about this as a no-brainer when it comes to their futures?
Wanted: Skilled data center pros
McMillin: We
are in a fascinating time for data center trends. The future is very, very
strong. We know now -- and the kids of today certainly know -- that data isn't
going away. It's part of our everyday lives and it's only going to expand -- it's
going to get faster with more compute power and capability. Let’s face it,
nobody has patience for slow anymore. There are trends in artificial
intelligence (AI), 5G, and others that haven't even been thought of yet
that are going to offer enormous potential for careers for those looking to get
into the IT space.
We
are in a fascinating time for data center trends. The future is very
strong. Data isn't going away. And nobody has patience for slow anymore.
There are trends in AI, 5G, and others that haven't even been thought
of yet.
And when we think about that
new trend -- with the increase of working or schooling remotely as many of us
are doing currently -- that may permanently alter how people work and learn
going forward. There will be a need for different tools, capabilities, and data
management. And how this all remains secure and efficient is also very
important.
Likewise, more data centers
will need to operate independently and be managed remotely. They will need to
be more efficient. Sustainability is going to remain very prevalent, especially
edge-of-the-network data centers and enabling the connectivity and productivity
wherever they are.
Gardner: Now
that we are observing International Data Center Day 2020, where do you see this
state of the data center in just the next few years? Angie, what's going to be
changing that makes this even more important to almost every aspect of our
lives and businesses?
McMillin: We
know now the data center as an ecosystem that is changing dramatically. The
hybrid model is a product that's enabling a diversification of data workloads
where customers get the best of all options available: cloud, data center, and edge,
as our regional global survey of data center professionals are experiencing
phenomenal growth. And we also see a lot more remote management to operate and
maintain these disparate locations securely.
We need more people with all the skill sets capable of supporting these advancements on the horizon like 5G, the industrial internet of things (IIoT), and AI.
Gardner: Erin,
where do you see the trends of technology and human resources going that will together
shape the future of the data center?
Dowd: I
will piggyback on the technology trends that Angie just referenced and say the
future requires more skilled professionals. It will be more competitive in the
industry to hire those professionals, and so it's really a great situation for
candidates.
It makes it important for
companies like Vertiv to continue creating environments that favor diversity. Diversity
should manifest in many different ways and in an environment where we welcome
and nurture a broad variety of people. That's the direction of the future, and,
naturally, the secret for success.
Listen
to the podcast. Find it on iTunes. Read a full transcript or download a copy. Sponsor: Vertiv.
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