Construction Global magazine - July 2017

Jul y 2017

www.constructionglobal.com

A DATA CENTER

INDUSTRY

FIRST FOR THE NETHERLANDS EVOSWITCH PRE S E N T S T H E F I RS T CARBON AND CARRI E R- N E UT RAL DATA CENTER IN TH E N E T H E RL AN DS

RACKSPACE Fanatical about the cloud

JLL: Inspiring the next generation of women in tech

DELTALIS SA Securing mountains of data

FOREWORD WITH RECENT NEWS surrounding global employment shortages in the construction sector, we look at how modern slavery remains a key challenge within the supply chain sector. Whilst it is a topic that is rarely discussed, modern slavery is something which is gaining ground in terms of its importance to tackle within the construction industry, with recent developments supporting the eradication of this practice.

Sustainability also remains a hot topic. Our exclusive interview with EvoSwitch highlights how innovative technologies and a focus to remain green has led to the first carbon and carrier neutral data center in the Netherlands. Our exclusive interview with cloud provider Rackspace also highlights how cloud companies are also gaining ground within this space.

Throughout the world, buildings are getting taller and wider to accommodate for rising populations within cities. Consequently, companies are going to have to soon look at building underground.

Our interview with AECOM’s Associate of Infrastructure and Sustainability Suzanne Scobie looks at this topic, with new tools and technologies implemented throughout these operations.

Also included is our top 10 tallest buildings in the world.

As always, please tweet your feedback to @ConstructionGL

Enjoy the issue!

www.constructionglobal.com www.bizclikmedia.com

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Symposium 2017 Bright Lights, Big Ideas and You. Uptime Institute Certifies the World’s Digital Foundation for Business.

Join Us!

September 18 The Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada

F E AT U R E S

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PROFILE

What are construction companies doing to counteract modern slavery?

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LIST

TOP 10 TALLEST BUILDINGS

TECHNOLOGY

Engaging stakeholders THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

Uptime Institute

EVENT REPORT

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C O M PA N Y PROFILES

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Colliers International ASIA

72

Deltalis SA EUROPE

Trimble Solutions

MIDDLE EAST

50

EvoSwitch EUROPE

SSH Design

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Dataplex Ireland EUROPE

July 2017

MIDDLE EAST

98

86

154

116

Corbins Electric

Rackspace USA

142

USA

166

Crescent Communities USA

Global Broadband Solution AFRICA

Grand Forks Water Treatment Plant Project USA

130

Bond Brothers USA & CANADA

174

200 188

Women in STEM USA & CANADA

Miller Electric USA & CANADA

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What are construction companies doing to counteract modern slavery?

BRE is continually working to raise awareness of modern slavery and responsible sourcing with supply chain operations W r i t t e n b y : C AT H E R I N E R O W E L L

PROFILE WITH THE RISE of influential technologies, innovative projects and sophisticated operating procedures, the construction industry is going through a number of transformations which are providing a multitude of advantages for a traditional industry.

However, despite all these developments, the issue of modern slavery in construction is one in which is in urgent need of being addressed by construction companies worldwide. With approximately 35.8 million people subjected to modern slavery, 27 percent are trafficked into labour exploitation. Numbers regarding modern slavery in various industries, from beauty bars and car washes, to construction sites, are rising significantly, alongside low wages, human rights abuses and poor working conditions.

The implementation of the Modern Slavery Act (2015) in the UK has helped bring this challenging subject to the forefront of supply chain management and responsible sourcing, where construction companies are now looking at their operations more closely. However, such companies frequently adopt a fragmented, multitiered approach, where many are

dependent on outsourcing parts of their operations, subcontracting and subletting packages and making this process increasingly complex.

In projects over £10 million, it is not uncommon for main contractors to hire over 40 subcontractors. To this effect, many organisations remain uncertain around responsible sourcing and have struggled to address the full breadth of issues regarding such areas.

Responsible sourcing has been defined as “an organisation’s procurement policy, via its purchasing decisions and practices, and addresses a range of environmental, economic and social considerations.

It can be perceived as taking an ethical approach throughout the supply chain, but does not pertain only to social issues.” It is therefore vital for companies to know where materials have come from, and to operate with the knowledge that their materials are made in situations and conditions which are acceptable.

Raising awareness “This affects millions of people around the world, there are supply chains which are fraught with risk and is very real,” adds Building Research 9

PROFILE Establishment (BRE) Director Dr Shamir Ghumra. “When we start to question where have these things come from, who has touched these things, and what conditions were these people working in, we are trying to raise the awareness of these issues. This is paramount, and I think the modern slavery act has really opened up that conversation.”

The Chartered Institute of Builders (CIOB) and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) have become two of the most renowned institutions to raise awareness of modern slavery, in addition to a large number of organisations which actively advocate and educate individuals on how modern slavery can manifest within construction and building.

Whilst it is not the expectation for companies to solve the issues overnight, Dr Ghumra adds: “We have got to reconcile and understand what the challenges are for us to try and move forward, and a lot of it comes down to how do we build trust.”

Back in 2011, BRE launched the BS 6001 standard

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regarding Responsible Sourcing of Construction Products, encompassing organisational management, supply chain management and environmental and social requirements, linking with sustainable initiatives.

Working in collaboration with BRE, Loughborough University was granted confidential access to analyse which companies were participating with the standard in 2016.

Whilst large companies were compliant, many SME’s were not.

Whilst the standard provided a

MODERN SLAVERY IN CONSTRUCTION

When we start to question where have these things come from who has touched these things and what conditions were these people working in we are trying to raise the awareness of these issues DR SHAMIR GHUMRA Director at Building Research Establishment (BRE)

useful framework, clients were not requesting this as a requirement, nor was business impacted without this certification, and many companies let their qualification expire. The team found it essential for businesses to buy into a scheme or idea and gain an incentive, in addition to listening to clients and becoming part of informal networks to ensure collaboration and development within the industry.

Developing standards By working in collaboration with Loughborough University to develop standards and services, BRE aims to build meaning, currency and value within supply chain operations and find ways to tackle modern slavery. Whilst certifications can be implemented within developing new projects, such as in areas around sustainability, it would be unreasonable to adopt a ‘one 11

PROFILE

size fits all approach.’ Dr Ghumra adds: “You can’t have a standard to say that you are very good at modern slavery as it doesn’t feel quite right! The aim is not to become prescriptive, but adopt a long-term view that continually evolves.

“We’ve got to look at the risk based approach to supply chain insurance, human rights and due diligence aspect of our supply chains and reconcile that.” Expanding solely through word of mouth, BRE is currently working with an established group of over 200 individuals within a number of sectors to tackle the difficult subject of modern slavery within the supply 12

July 2017

chain, alongside responsible sourcing.

“A broad spectrum of NGOs are helping us develop and understand how we can build a mechanism and a standard which allows verification of continuous improvement,” comments Dr Ghumra. To this effect, BRE is continually working to distinguish between organisations which can provide demonstrable evidence that they recognise these challenges and galvanise influential stakeholders to support the development of standards and services.

“These developments will help give the group a platform to understand

MODERN SLAVERY IN CONSTRUCTION

how companies can improve their operations over time and adapt their supply chain processes within the next 5-10 years.” This collaboration has also enabled BRE to build a verification process, allowing organisations to be confidentially profiled and routinely provide evidence highlighting continual work to address these areas. “The business itself may focus on other areas and grow other markets, so the risk profile of that organisation will be forever changing and become increasingly dynamic.” With such increased focus, new ISO standards will also be established in the next

few years surrounding traceability of products and the chain of custody.

Remaining agile in order to evolve and tackle challenges within supply chain, responsible sourcing and modern slavery remains key.

Companies such as Wilmott Dixon have expressed an interest in adopting BRE’s standards forward, but Dr Ghumra is only too aware that such developments could create conflict between companies, but states: “We’re not trying to make one company look bad, what we’re trying to do is form a coalition and group of organisations that want to 13

PROFILE

We,re not trying to make one company look bad, what we,re trying to do is form a coalition and group of organisations that want to demonstrably show commitment to ethical labour sourcing DR SHAMIR GHUMRA

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HEADLINE

demonstrably show commitment to ethical labour sourcing.”

Enhanced collaboration By working in partnership with the Construction, Industry, Research and Information Association (CIRIA) BRE has launched a new handbook aimed at procurement professionals in supply chain management and has been funded by 27 stakeholders. In addition, the development of the Action Programme for Responsible Sourcing (APRES) Eight Pathways Model, established in collaboration with Loughborough University, has become an effective network, with over 350 active organisations across the supply chain division. Originally a publicfunded network grant, APRES has become fully self-sustaining and is a community where industry led figures, such as Lend Lease, work alongside the academic community to provide best practice, research and sharing of knowledge within eight key areas: 1. Organisation strategy and policy 2. Management systems 3. Assurance: compliance, auditing and reporting

4. Procurement and SCM 5. Financial management 6. HR, recruitment, training and development 7. Comms and PR 8. Innovation and continuous improvement The group highlights a commitment within construction to effectively tackle modern slavery via supply chain management. “We want more businesses and organisations to be engaged with responsible sourcing,” explained Professor Jacquie Glass. The duo has also built e-learning services, which companies can complete in 15 minutes and is freely accessible to all.

Increasing awareness of modern slavery within supply chain operations is not a subject which will be solved overnight, yet it is one in which is garnering increased support and collaboration worldwide within the construction and building industry.

With increased data, information that makes sense, and increased knowledge about the supply chain, “it is not a quick fix – but a good start!” concludes Dr Ghumra.

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Engaging stakeholders THROUGH TECHNOLOGY W r i t t e n b y : C AT H E R I N E R O W E L L

We speak with AECOM Associate of Infrastructure and Sustainability Suzanne Scobie regarding the challenges of developing existing spaces, and how new tools and technologies support client engagement

TECHNOLOGY

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TECHNOLOGY

RANKED AS ONE of the World’s Most Admired Companies since 2015, AECOM is behind a number of landmark projects, such as Marlin’s Park in Miami and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Maryland. With a highly diverse portfolio, Associate of Infrastructure and Sustainability Suzanne Scobie speaks with Construction Global about the use of technology throughout the industry.

“I enjoy the variety and diversity of the projects we get to work on and the people I meet,” she says.

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However, the role of designers and architects are becoming increasingly complex, where companies are having to take into account not only building upwards, but encapsulate the effects of providing strengthened infrastructures through the development of new roads, drainage systems and access to utilities with new residential and commercial builds. With various challenges, such as access, water and drainage, AECOM is utilising a number of technologies throughout

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The architetcural rendering of the North-West Cambridge project / AECOM

the construction and design process, alongside the creation of new and developing infrastructures.

One notable project under AECOM is the North-West Cambridge project at the University of Cambridge, UK. The largest development the university had seen in 800 years, the project required over a thousand new homes for staff and students, alongside new infrastructure works to connect with communal facilities, such as a new school, research facilities and hotel.

All developments had to be linked

to new and existing infrastructures and vital transport networks within the UNESCO listed city.

“We developed a network of drainage infrastructure and looked at site levels, designed corridors for water and landscaping and provided integrated solutions,” explains Scobie.

“We looked at a series of solutions to create land forms in various corridors to look at floodwater, maintaining where water would go, how the material will be stored, what we would do with the water and created 19

TECHNOLOGY

“People can get much more of a sense of what the scheme is going to look like than the traditional engineering drawings of 20 years ago” SUZANNE SCOBIE Associate of Infrastructure and Sustainability

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platforms at the side of the hill.” By looking at different modelling tools and techniques to develop solutions in consultation with landscape ecologists and river modellers, AECOM was able to provide key resolutions.

Client engagement Through utilising new technologies, collaboration and client engagement has increased, enabling a reduction in amendments and client change down the line.

Technologies such as VR has enabled clients to look at road and building schemes visually and ultimately be in those spaces. “You really get that sense of engagement with the public, stakeholders or at consultation events,” adds Scobie. “People can get much more of a sense of what the scheme is going to look like than the traditional engineering drawings of 20 years ago.”

Building upwards, not outwards With increased pressure for space in cities, land prices have skyrocketed, with developers wanting to obtain the best value from their investments. However, building in a developed space is fraught with challenges, where any potential issue could see costs steadily inflate.

Existing buildings are also expensive to redevelop predominately as a result of location, besides new builds, where the ability to access construction and infrastructure works remains a key factor.

“Historically, for example, you wouldn’t have built over a station, which is now happening more,” explains Scobie. “Stations are being redeveloped above ground, as well as below ground. It’s trying to create spaces and create infrastructure to enable you to do things 21

TECHNOLOGY

Infrustructure rendering / AECOM

later.� The need for developed spaces to remain flexible and accommodate different types of usage is becoming increasingly vital, in order to enable the construction of future developments. Therefore, finding roots which will fit within existing infrastructures is a recurring problem.

In some projects, minimal information available within previously developed works can become complex. Scobie explains that where a site has previous piles, new ones 22

July 2017

may need to be installed and without relevant information on the existing piles, there is a potential need to remove the existing infrastructure, therefore inflating costs through the removal of hazards on site.

Sustainable focus The subject of sustainability has gained significant momentum over the last couple of years with how new and existing builds will become integrated within ecosystems. Green

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energy, for example, will help reduce emissions and prove advantageous within dense spaces, enabling builds to be reused and redeveloped in years to come. One such example, Scobie explains, is recycling surface water within construction works. She states that designers aim to “provide spaces for trees and landscaping, looking at water sensitive urban design and ensure that water is something that can be appreciated.”

Through the North-West Cambridge

project, roof water is now stored in lagoons and recycled back into the system and redistributed to homes to flush toilets. Such efforts can also reduce the volume of water which traditionally may have been fed into sewers, which are at risk of becoming overloaded. “Using this on a wider scale in cities, there may be other benefits which can come from dense developments,” she adds.

However, one key challenge within the North-West Cambridge 23

TECHNOLOGY

“There is no one prescribed solution that fits all. It’s all about listening to different stakeholders, putting their various constraints together and looking for opportunities” SUZANNE SCOBIE Associate of Infrastructure and Sustainability

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project was the management of refuse that will be generated by the future development. With a series of underground bins in chambers, refuse has to be lifted out and onto vehicles. Therefore, AECOM adopted a network of utilities and drainage which all had to be coordinated.

However, AECOM on behalf of the University needed to secure the approval of the local highway authority for the street corridors, where details were requested so that all parties knew all landscaping and engineering concepts and solutions were deliverable. As a result, 3D models were utilised to provide key client engagement and ensure key results. “There is no one prescribed solution that fits all.

It’s all about listening to different stakeholders, putting their various constraints together and looking for opportunities,” Scobie adds.

With this in mind, AECOM is utilising Civil3D, Infraworks, Navisworks and Virtual Reality across a number of new projects which is enabling clients and stakeholders to view how a finished build would look within a real-world environment through the incorporation of aerial photography.

Attracting new talent Trying to appeal to new and upcoming talent within construction and engineering is an uphill challenge within a somewhat traditional industry.

However, Scobie explains that she “enjoys promoting civil engineering” in her role as a Supervising Civil Engineer, in addition to becoming Chartered with the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). To provide supportive and engaging information, Scobie utilises 3D models to explain how civil engineering plays into building and design, “but also what happens below ground and how drainage networks, street lighting, traffic signal ducts and other utilities fit together” within new developments.

Through exploiting new technologies and bringing design solutions forward, AECOM continues to produce works which make a difference, giving real understanding to clients and stakeholders within ongoing and future projects. “It is really important to communicate clearly with our clients, to end users and stakeholders and the tools at our disposal make it easier to do this faster than we ever have before,” concludes Scobie.

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TOP 10

Top 10 TALLEST BUILDINGS ASIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST ARE HOME TO MOST OF THE WORLD’S HIGHEST CONSTRUCTIONS W r i t t e n b y: C AT H E R I N E R O W E L L

TOP 10

09 10 SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE CENTRE HONG KONG, CHINA

The International Commerce Centre is the tallest building in Hong Kong, spanning 118 floors and reaching heights of ***ft. The mixed-use building completed in 2010 and is now home to offices, restaurants, and over 300 hotel rooms at the Ritz Carlton Hotel Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, Arup and Wong & Ouyang, the International Commerce Centre has been listed in the Guinness Book of Records for providing the largest light and sound show on a single building, covering over 50,000 square metres.

The building attracts both tourists and locals, with the shopping mall based in the basement floors, and has one of the highest swimming pools in the world. The building even houses an observation deck, named Sky100, providing stunning views of Hong Kong.

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WORLD FINANCIAL CENTER SHANGHAI, CHINA

Built to survive earthquakes measuring up to eight on the Richter scale, the Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC) took over 10 years to complete, costing 1.2 billion USD. The SWFC has become a hotspot for financial, cultural and information services. The building spans over 1,500ft and has 101 floors, encompassing restaurants, retail facilities, over 60 office floors and a hotel with over 150 rooms.

Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and Irie Miyake Architects and Engineers, alongside contractors China State Construction Engineering Corporation, Shanghai Construction Group and developers Mori Building, SWFC is also home to several observation decks, situated on floors 94, 97 and 100, with a sky walk situated on the 100th floor.

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08 TAIPEI 101 TAIPEI, TAIWAN

Leased by Google, Bayer Group, Winterthur Insurance Group and many more, Taipei 101 is one of the most prestigious buildings in Taiwan. With 101 stories, it is one of the largest construction projects completed in Taiwan, and continues to provide economic growth and attract new talent.

Reaching 508 metres and designed by C. Y. Architects, the building embeds world-class technologies to attract international and local businesses, alongside retail facilities, restaurants, in addition to indoor and outdoor observatories. Constructed to LEED Platinum standard, the building is also one of the most sustainable.

07 CHOW TAI

FINANCE CENTRE GUANGZHOU, CHINA

Officially completing last year, the Chow Tai Finance Centre (CTFC) in Guangzhou encompasses an observation deck, hotel, apartments, conferences facilities and retail spaces, with an underground mall and metro station attached. Reaching heights of 1,740 feet and 111 floors, the building houses 95 elevators reaching speeds of over 44 mph.

Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, the build encompasses a concrete core, with eight columns acting as reinforcements. Terra cotta has been utilised to provide sufficient shading, besides a number of energy efficient features, such as high-efficiency chillers to reduce its environmental footprint. A glass roof and glass faรงade has also been incorporated within its structure.

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06 ONE WORLD

TRADE CENTER

NEW YORK CITY, UNITED STATES Reaching 1,776ft, the One World Trade Center has become the tallest building in the US. Designed by architect Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, the building has 104 stories, with entrances on all four sides and three million rentable square feet for local businesses.

The building has a reinforced concrete base and three-foot-thick reinforced concrete walls within all stairwells and elevator shafts. From the 20th floor, the tower’s edges are chamfered to produce eight isosceles triangles, creating a central octagon. The build encompasses a spire at the top and an observation deck, which is located on the 100th floor. Visitors can also visit cafes, restaurants and event spaces within floors 101-102.

Achieving LEED Gold, the building houses a number of sustainable features, such rainwater harvesting, hydroelectric and wind power.

The majority of the building’s interior is even constructed from recyclables and waste products.

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05 LOTTE WORLD TOWER

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA Only recently completed this year, the Lotte World Tower has now cemented its place as the fifth tallest building in the world, reaching heights of 555 metres.

Constructed to LEED Gold, the building was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and BAUM Architects, encompassing a world-class hotel, retail facilities, sophisticated officetels and entertainment facilities. Locals and tourists can also visit the rooftop café, glass bottomed observation deck and outdoor plaza.

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03 ABRAJ AL-BAIT CLOCK TOWER MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA

04 PING AN

FINANCE CENTRE SHENZHEN, CHINA

Located in Shenzhen’s growing central business district, the Ping An Finance Centre has over 100 floors, spanning 1,965ft. Completed this year and named after Ping An Insurance, who own the building, the building has been designed in the shape of a prism as it rises, and has been constructed with steel, stone and glass.

Achieving LEED Gold, the building is also home to the largest stainless steel façade worldwide.

Part of the Abraj Al Bait Complex, the Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower spans 1,906ft. With over 70 floors, the building has over a thousand hotel rooms and residential spaces, named Fairmont Residences, in addition to dining, conference, corporate and leisure facilities.

Owned by the government, the building is home to the largest elevated clocks worldwide, and constructed by the Saudi Binladin Group, who are also responsible for the Jeddah Tower (under construction) and the Doha Metro.

One of the most expensive buildings in the world, a mall is situated on the lower levels, in addition to a prayer room, sophisticated transportation networks and viewing deck on the top floor, providing stunning views of the city.

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02 SHANGHAI TOWER

SHANGHAI, CHINA Owned by Shanghai Tower Construction & Development and reaching 2,073ft, Shanghai Tower is one of the most sustainable buildings in China, with 128 storeys.

Awarded LEED Platinum, the building is also home to the world’s

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tallest turbines, creating 10 percent of the building’s electricity.

With two glass facades encompassing over 20,000 panels, the unique building gently twists 120 degrees to counteract strong winds. Designed by Gensler, the mixed-use building is split into nine vertical sections, comprising of retail spaces, office facilities, hotel and cultural spaces, health and leisure facilities, restaurants and green spaces. The tower also houses a number of observation decks.

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01 BURJ KHALIFA DUBAI, UAE

Retaining its position as the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa reaches 2,716.5ft and encompasses 160 storeys. The building has the highest outdoor observation deck, restaurant and nightclub worldwide. The building is also home to the Armani Hotel Dubai and apartments with swimming pools, in addition to various shops.

Winning a multitude of awards, the Burj Khalifa adopts a modular, Y-shaped design from Islamic architecture. Each wing ensures a

reduction in mass and reduction of high winds. Supported through reinforced concrete, over 100,000 tonnes were used within its foundations, along with steel, aluminum and glass.

Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with contractor Samsung C&T, the building has high quality materials within its interior, such as silver travertine flooring and Venetian stucco walls. A sophisticated cladding system has also been used to ensure the building can withstand the summer climate.

The building’s spire is constructed with over 4,000 tonnes of steel, and is used within communication and broadcasting facilities.

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THE PATH OF

RESILIENCE The seventh annual Uptime Institute Data Center Industry Survey shows that businesses are as wedded as ever to their data centers, cloud or no cloud Written by John O’Hanlon

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UPTIME INSTITUTE

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he cost of not having a robust plan for managing your company’s data properly can be very high – a major outage at a data center is an existential threat to any business that has relies on it to store and manage its operational and transactional processes.

Even if recovery is possible, the consequences can set the business back severely through loss of productivity and the consequent dip in revenue. Down the line, customer relations may sour as a result of system unreliability.

The list goes on and any senior executive should be concerned about it – after all, top jobs may be on the line as the dominoes fall.

If they want to sleep better at night they should be moving towards IT-based resiliency, says Matt Stansberry, Uptime Institute’s Senior Director of Content & Publications. Uptime Institute is best known for its Tier Certification, accepted as the design, build and operational standard for data centers round the globe.

Furthermore one of its key roles is to

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help business assess and improve their strategies in respect of data management. Any colossus of the digital world, Google or Amazon, for example, could lose an entire data center and nobody would notice because the affected traffic would be re-routed elsewhere in the world.

This is the paradigm of multi-site application resiliency, and the world of enterprise is moving towards it though it may take some time before that tanker turns to its new heading.

This year’s Data Center Industry Survey, drawn from the perspectives of more than 1,000 international data center professionals and IT practitioners, reveals that IT resilience is growing and that 68 percent of businesses rely on it. The extent varies from sector to sector – for example 85 percent of logistics companies have a multi-site resiliency strategy that incorporates multiple data centers and relies on live IT application failover. Surprisingly, retail can only muster 58 percent and is one of the sectors with the lowest adoption rate. What really surprises Matt

EVENTS

Stansberry though is that only a third of companies say that they will meet the demand for increased data center capacity by shifting workloads to the cloud. “Many people don’t seem to be willing to throw out their legacy systems but are still investing in diesel generators and backup power.”

One statistic thrown up by the survey has changed very little over the last four years. 65 percent of organizations deploy their IT assets in an enterpriseowned data center; 22 percent use a colocation or multi-tenant data center provider and only 13 percent have moved their assets to the cloud. “It

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UPTIME INSTITUTE

Matt Stansberry is the Uptime Institute Senior Director of Content & Publications and Program Director for Uptime Institute Symposium. He has researched the convergence of technology, facility management, and energy issues in the data center since 2003. Mr. Stansberry operates the Uptime Institute social media outlets (Blog, Twitter, and YouTube channel), conducts the annual data center survey, and develops the agenda for Uptime Institute industry events including Symposium and Charrette.

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“Many people don’t seem to be willing to throw out their legacy systems but are still investing in diesel generators and backup power” – MATT STANSBERRY, Senior Director of Content & Publications

EVENTS

is moving slower than I’d have thought,” he says. “It is probably because it’s not easy to re-architect their legacy applications for a cloud environment.” Digital transformation is a seismic and traumatic operation for a large organization, and it can be costly too, but it does clear the way to future growth.

So don’t expect an exodus of enterprise data centers’ workloads to co-location or the cloud.

Inertia is an enemy to change.

Stansberry predicts that investment in traditional data centers will continue for some years to come. Though Uptime Institute still earns its bread by monitoring the design, build, commissioning and operation of data centers, it has a big role in promoting effective management policies to its clients and across its network. More than 70 percent of respondents to the 2017 survey admit that their organizational processes for evaluating colocation and cloud providers left room for improvement and at worst were incoherent. “Managers may

VIDEO: Uptime

Institute’s 2017 Data Center Industry Survey Results

not have the breadth of vision to make effective decisions. We are really going to work on helping people look across silos.”

The survey does show that there’s a much more realistic awareness of the business critical nature of data to a business and the consequences of outages.

However, though 90 percent of organizations say they conduct root cause analysis of any IT outage, only 60 percent report that they measure the cost of downtime as a business metric. There still seems to be something of a gap between perception and action.

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Real estate in one of Asia’s fastest growing economies

Written by Leila Hawkins Produced by James Pepper 41

Colliers International is a real estate organization with franchises in pretty much every continent on the globe. Since 1996 it’s been firmly established in Vietnam, where thanks to the recent easing up of property legislation, it’s become a more attractive time than ever to invest

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ut of Vietnam’s population of 95 million, 65 percent are under 30, most of whom are well educated and have a high level of computer literacy. Thanks to this Vietnam boasts one of the fastest growing economies in south east Asia.

In 2015 three substantial revisions were made to property laws, which dramatically opened up the market to investors from other countries.

Before this it wasn’t possible for foreign-owned enterprises to own 100 percent of a company without a joint venture partner, whereas now they can purchase assets and have total control of the equity. This new legislation has also made it possible for foreigners to purchase residential properties without having to do it via power of attorney or setting up a company first.

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ASIA

w w w. c o l l i e r s . c o m / e n - g b / v i e t n a m

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C O L L I E R S I N T E R N AT I O N A L V I E T N A M

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ASIA

Another big change is that foreignowned entities are now able to buy and then sublease their spaces out.

David Jackson, General Director and owner of the Colliers International’s Vietnamese branch explains: “At lower levels, serviced offices can sublease space to other people, and at more advanced investment levels it means they can look at sales and leasing the buildings.

“The government is clear that they want foreign investment,” he continues. “Transactions are quicker.

Before if you were looking to transact on an office building you’d have to go to the Ministry of Investment, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Construction. Now you can just purchase and own 100 percent of the shares of the company that owns that building, and the transaction can take a day. There’s confidence and help to grow business here.

It’s a good place to come.”

Investor profiles The majority of the foreign nationalities investing in corporate

real estate here are Korean and Japanese. Typically they’ll also buy land where they know there will be development in years to come. “ They’re investing here heavily and have been for some time,” Jackson explains. “They’re confident, they know the market as it’s close to them, and they’re also involved in the construction projects.”

In terms of residential real estate, there is currently a boom.

Around 75 percent of the buyers are speculators and investors, who are buying properties and then flipping them to other parties before having to make the final payments on the exchange. “The best way to describe it, as somebody said to me the other day, is rather than buy a bottle of shampoo you buy a small sachet,” Jackson says. “It’s a quick, easy money, flip mentality.”

Insider tips For a first time property buyer, Jackson says the most important thing is to have a clear set of criteria, whether the purchase

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is for somewhere to live, or for a financial investment. “There are lots of different ways for the investment to happen, but I would look at whether I am purchasing it just because I like the development and I’d like to have the credibility of living there, at the yield, and how much the rent and value would be.

“Also how much investment needs doing, whether the project is sound or managed properly.

A lot of people here buy newer projects, but I’m not necessarily convinced about paying a higher price because it’s new on the market.

There are probably better deals to be looked at where you can understand how they’re structured when they’re a bit more mature.”

It’s also key to bear capital appreciation in mind - whether a property will gain or lose value in the future, something that he says Vietnamese buyers have a good understanding of.

The real estate of Vietnam Given the country’s population, Colliers’ workforce is mostly young, which influences its approach to recruitment. “We do a lot in terms of social media, our office looks young and funky, and people can see that it’s part of an international organization,” he says.

“Additionally, a lot of staff work here by referral.”

In this region, the commercial real estate

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“Every year for the last three years we’ve doubled in size and revenue.

The company is growing all the time, it’s very positive”

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market is extremely competitive, but Jackson explains Colliers has good, longstanding partnerships with customers which is what sets it apart. “What’s good for us is our accountability. We’re very quick in terms of our structure, we reorganize and assist our clients because it’s very much a personal business. We have long term relationships with clients and they know we’ll go 120 percent to make them happy.”

Jackson is already envisaging changes like the residential burgeon slowing down while other

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65%

Proportion of Vietnam’s population aged under 30, helping to drive economic growth

market sectors grow, along with factors like the elections every five years. “We have to be quick to adapt,” he says. “There are lots of investments happening, a lot of real estate and construction. We have to be sensitive to the market and to what our clients require.

If I see that the industrial sector might be growing we’ll train and bring people up to speed so we can take advantage of that.”

He cites areas like IT and communications, in particular social media apps which will need

addressing more and more in the coming years. But for now Colliers is thriving. “Every year for the last three years we’ve doubled in size and revenue,” Jackson says. “The company is growing all the time, it’s very positive.”

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A DATA CENTER INDUSTRY FIRST FOR THE NETHERLANDS Written by Catherine Rowell Produced by Lewis Vaughan

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EVOSWITCH IS THE FIRST CARBON AND CARRIER-NEUTRAL DATA CENTER IN THE NETHERLANDS. CEO ERIC BOONSTRA DISCUSSES HOW THE COMPANY’S SERVICES MAKE THEM AN APPEALING PROVIDER, IN ADDITION TO THE COMPANY’S ONGOING EXPANSION

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stablished in 2007, privately owned internet services company EvoSwitch has grown significantly. Situated in Amsterdam, Europe and the US, with a colocation facility situated in Northern Virginia near Washington, the company provides a multitude of colocation and data center services for national and international clients.

With a number of solutions on offer, ranging from shared colocation, private cages and suites, the company has adopted a sustainable focus, and has become home to the largest data center campus in the Netherlands.

Aiming to expand its footprint within the growing European market,

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the Amsterdam area has become a hotbed for data center entrants.

With the need for businesses to securely house large quantities of data, EvoSwitch has situated itself within a competitive market against a rising client demand. Customers are wanting increased interconnected and hybrid cloud services, catering for a customer base that is both national and international. Amsterdam in particular has become home to a large number of new entrants, in addition to international players who seek to grow their services worldwide.

Nonetheless, EvoSwitch has become a force to be reckoned with, with their 15 MW datacenter campus. Such

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ERIC BOONSTRA CEO With Eric Boonstra as CEO EvoSwitch has grown fast. His main drivers are customer satisfaction, operational excellence, and industry leadership.

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growth has consequently enabled the company to become the largest privately-owned internet-services and data center service provider in Europe.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY With an increased number of data center builds emitting large quantities of heat, energy efficiency has become a core focus for EvoSwitch. “From day one, we started being green,” explains Chief Executive Officer Eric Boonstra. “If you look into the world and environment, it is becoming increasingly important. From day one we started becoming energy efficient.”

With 12,000 square metres of premium space, there is scope for expansion opportunities to house the company’s colocation and data center services. Additionally, the current energy capacity of 15MW could be upped to 60MW, but with less power than traditional builds thanks to the building’s innovative design.

The Amsterdam facility is carbon neutral and features extremely low Power Usage Efficiency (PUE) scores.

With indirect adiabatic free cooling, air freely flows into the cooling system,

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“The role of the data center provider will change more into a center of opportunities, offering hybrid clouds that are not necessarily in companies own facilities” where warm air from the building becomes mixed and cooled with external air through heat transfer. This cooled air then re-enters the building, providing an optimum cooling solution.

Utilising 100 percent renewable energy sources, such as hydropower and wind power, the building also adopts a modular design, enabling additional modules to be added in and provides future scalability for businesses to grow and utilise EvoSwitch’s services.

DESIGN INNOVATION The EvoSwitch private suites

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are containerised and therefore genuinely modular. In fact, they are almost stand-alone data centers, with their own multiple UPS backup, distribution boards, cooler units and fire suppression systems. Boonstra explains that ‘’customers enjoy total autonomy – their own module, their own access and security control dedicated to the individual suite.’’ ‘’The latest generation modular containers offer 88 racks with 340 KvA; and these are extendable, like a harmonica, thanks to eight rack conjunction modules, which makes

the EvoSwitch modular system even more modular’’ Eric adds.

The containerised technology deployed by EvoSwitch delivers such high levels operational efficiency and customer value that it has been made proprietary with registered patents and IP.

A CHANGING LANDSCAPE The demand for data centers, cloud and colocation services will revolutionise the way businesses will operate in the future. “Most of the business will be in the cloud,”

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reflects Boonstra.

With 70 percent of EvoSwitch’s clientele becoming hosting and cloud providers, the company also houses direct connections with public clouds, such as Google, Azure and Amazon through EvoSwitch’s own cloud platform, OpenCloud. This cloud-neutral, partner-rich cloud interconnection platform beholds dozens of active members and keeps growing. OpenCloud creates a dynamic marketplace for the sale, development and consumption of next generation cloud architecture.

It brings together enterprises, networks, cloud infrastructure providers, specialist partners, and leading Internet Exchanges, offering a huge variety of low latency cloud connection options.

This enables businesses to choose whether they want part of their business on their own servers, or as part of a cloud service. “The role of the data center provider will change more into an ecosystem, offering hybrid clouds. All these possibilities combined give the customer the opportunity to develop strategic

advantages in an optimal environment in terms of security, compliance, performance and costs” Boonstra adds.

SERVICE WITH A UNIQUE TOUCH Nonetheless, with larger chain corporations building an increased number of data centers worldwide, there is a danger of compromising the level and quality of customer service. With this in mind, listening to customer requirements is an area of particular focus at EvoSwitch, which is clear through the company’s tailored services to meet specific customer requirements. “Customers will never become a number with us,” adds Boonstra. “They will have 24-7 support with a human

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touch. We know our customers and we act accordingly.”

This strategy has extended throughout the company’s operations, both with clients and highly experienced staff. Working as one team, with one result in mind, Boonstra explains: “Just because you are a director, it doesn’t make you more important than any other employee.

We all need each other.” With close contact between internal staff and suppliers, such as Priva, General Electric (GE) and Schneider, the company places as much emphasis on active communication and contact as possible to ensure customers receive world-class services and support. “It’s what we hear from our customers when we undertake our yearly customer survey,” comments Boonstra. “They all tell us that

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especially our support and commitment is key and very good in comparison to other places in the market.”

With an increased number of large corporations building data centers, Boonstra concludes that EvoSwitch is THE alternative, which can provide a bespoke level of service, flexibility and custom solutions, with quality results and quick turnaround. With a 24-7 support service, incorporating dedicated technical and engineering support 365 days a year, he adds, “that’s how we work and how we set up our support team, who do more than the average data center provider.” With an OpenCloud marketplace and a variety of cloud solutions, partnering with customers further enables increased connectivity and collaboration, leading to future business growth.

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DATAPLEX IRELAND THE DIGITAL LANDLORD Written by Nell Walker Produced by Lewis Vaughan

> Dataplex Ireland’s CEO, Eddie Kilbane, describes the ways in which the business overcame adversity to become a recognised choice for global giants, with simplified IT and strong partnerships

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ataplex Ireland is a newcomer to the data centre world and is already making itself known, having acquired worldleading businesses as clients and becoming the greenest data centre company in Ireland.

Eddie Kilbane is the CEO and co-founder of the company, and has watched Dataplex flourish since 2009; the business signed its first client in 2012, in the B10 Data Centre in North west Dublin. Among other things, this signing allowed it to showcase its Green Energy cooling solution, a deployment that was years in advance of any other data centre in Europe.

A turning point for the visibility of the business came when Dataplex won a contract in 2015 with a large global operator. “Having somebody on board with an internationally recognisable brand name gave it the validation through the global operator’s due diligence which we were struggling to get elsewhere,” says Kilbane. “The global operator’s data centre team was extremely tough and thorough in terms of their processes, so by winning that contract, we had an

example to show other customers.”

Kilbane has a long history in the construction industry, as part of a management team on large projects at Chelsea Harbour, Canary Wharf, and the Channel Tunnel, among others.

Whilst developing vast amounts of construction and communication network experience and gaining contacts, Kilbane saw the deregulation of the telecommunications market in Ireland as an opportunity to establish a company that would provide a turnkey solution of design, wayleave, construction and commission for the new telecomunications carriers.

More companies would be moving to the country to build a new cable and telecoms industry, and in 1998, he moved his family there from the UK to become a part of it.

While the inclusion of a global operator as a client did provide Dataplex with much-needed weight in the industry, it is elements of the company from within that have created the rising star it is today. For example, thanks to the temperate climate in Ireland, Dataplex maintains and operates the greenest data

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“We’ve rolled back what our technology does, switching to a simpler method.

We’ve got to make sure our clients can’t get touched, and that they know there’s no chance of someone hacking in and shutting us down” centre business in the country.

“We’re using a system to bring the cold air into the server room to cool it,” Kilbane explains. “In the middle of June it’s still 14 to 19 degrees outside, and these are not temperatures you’re going to see in many other parts of Europe. We’re lucky to have this weather for our business.”

Sustainability is an ever-present issue and a factor that can make or break a choice for a customer, and Dataplex’s green status certainly allows it a competitive edge, “but ultimately it’s a combination,” Kilbane says. “Certainly, green capabilities are important to hyperscale companies who are looking at Ireland because the power availability and climate mean they don’t have to run very large cooling solutions. So it’s

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definitely a factor, but it’s no one thing that brings companies to Ireland.

They make a huge difference to our economy by providing resources, and they become a catalyst for other companies to move closer to the source of these data centres.”

“We’ve seen a rise in technology companies coming in and clustering around data centres. In this business park, we have PayPal, Xerox and Vertis, amongst others: all very good, strong breeds of companies who then feed off having this data centre local to them.”

Simplified technology Another huge aspect of what makes Dataplex an attractive choice is its stripped-back approach to technology. In Kilbane’s words, “we’ve made our systems dumb,”

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meaning that the business offers a solid and reliable ‘vanilla’ service.

“My business is purely to support the real technology, which is the client’s business,” he continues. “We are a technical landlord – as data centre operators, we don’t operate any data.”

Dataplex simply offers the infrastructure which allows the data to flow. Its data centres sit in a silo; no information can be broadcast, ensuring a safe haven for customers.

In the event of a malware attack, Dataplex doesn’t have to worry

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about vulnerability because its building systems and servers are not connected to the internet.

“If we don’t connect to the internet, the internet can’t talk to us,” says Kilbane. “We’ve got to make sure our clients can’t get touched, and that they know there’s no chance of someone hacking in and shutting us down. We’ve rolled back what our technology does, switching to a simpler method. This is one aspect of the business clients don’t have to worry about, so they can

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concentrate on their own data.”

To allay any concerns regarding this process, Dataplex even allowed its larger customers to send their security teams to validate the security process put in place by Dataplex.

As an extra level of support, Dataplex offers resilient N+1 specification, meaning that for every single plug a client requires, a second plug that matches it is independently cabled and wired back the main power. Everything becomes dual-powered, and that service is enabled at all times, even during a service, meaning no downtime.

Dataplex’s youth as a company is among the reasons it has thrived so well even after a slow beginning.

With the lack of the ball-andchain of legacy systems behind it, Dataplex can be especially flexible.

“We’re not carrying any baggage, so we’re able to be a bit more daring,” says Kilbane. “We have to be different and push small buttons – enough that attractive companies come to us.”

In some ways, Dataplex has already proven itself to have industrychanging potential. In terms of the

Dublin The location of Dataplex Ireland HQ

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cool air technology the company uses to save energy, “there was nobody doing that in 2012 when we started off, so we were quite ‘out there’, and we’ve continued to stay out there in terms of innovation with our suppliers. As a small company, that’s one of the differentiators we have in the market that attracted clients like the global operators to our front door, as opposed to our competition which may be more traditionalist.”

Concrete partnerships None of this would have been possible without Dataplex’s trusted internal partners. Dornan Engineering enables the business to build what it needs to precise, well-negotiated specifications, allowing the best possible flexibility and speed to market.

“Dornan even represented us at meetings early on, pitching business and working with our customers,”

Kilbane says. “They’re very much a partner rather than a contractor, and clients can be assured that they don’t have to wait 3-6 months for us to find a contractor – we already have one on board. It creates a very strong partnership.”

Anord is Dataplex’s panel manufacturer and has also been working with the business since the start, ensuring deliveries are simple and smooth. EDPAC is the cooling partner creating bespoke solutions to a consistent quality, Schneider provides UPS’s and goes the extra mile for Dataplex regardless of its size as a company, and Ethos Engineering is a solid, trusted partner for design, pre and post-contract.

This combination of reliable partnerships, high levels of innovation, and stable, simplified service will undoubtedly serve Dataplex well to create a bright future for Kilbane and his team.

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SECURING MOUNTAINS OF DATA WRITTEN BY NELL WALKER PRODUCED BY LEWIS VAUGHAN

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FRANK HARZHEIM, CEO OF DELTALIS, EXPLAINS HOW A VERY YOUNG COMPANY ENTERED THE DATA CENTRE INDUSTRY AS AN UNKNOWN AND MADE AN INCREDIBLE IMPACT, WITH UNIQUE FEATURES THAT MAKE IT A POWERFUL CONTENDER

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wiss data centre company, Deltalis, holds a competitive edge that so many businesses can only dream of. Part of why it is such an engaging and attractive prospect for clients is its unique location; the Uri data centre is nestled within an exmilitary bunker in a mountain range, only an hour away from Zurich. The bunker was bought in 2007 by private investors, and it was originally intended to be a secure location for storing high-value goods. After speaking with data centre professionals, the bunker’s owners realised the potential of what they had, and more importantly, discovered that data was the most valuable commodity they could store.

“Data and information grows in value,” says Frank Harzheim, CEO and General Manager of Deltalis. “The

facility itself had some key features that were just perfect to turn into a data centre. The bunker provides its own cooling water – 730,000 litres of it, which has a constant temperature of 14 degrees. Plus, the mountain where the data centre is located lies right on one of Europe’s main internet backbone routes between Zurich and Milan; connectivity is vital for any data centre of course.”

He adds: “We are also in the fortunate position where our local region – Uri – produces more energy than it can consume. Switzerland is a country that has more energy stability than most, and all our energy is hydroelectric, meaning it’s also carbon-neutral.”

On top of this, Switzerland is an attractive location for international customers; the Deltalis team alone

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speaks six languages between them. In a time of instability, where data centre decisions are long-term developments requiring a stable environment, it provides strong value being one of the most secure countries in the world.

After four years of construction Deltalis opened its 15,000 square metre facility in 2011, and in 2014, Harzheim was approached to lead the business. He didn’t hesitate to accept.

The market Harzheim admits that once the Uri data centre was opened, approaching the market was a whole new challenge.

A strategic marketing campaign was arranged with the view to penetrate the international market in a serious way, and the introduction of Harzheim to the team was part of that plan.

In 2015 the marketing strategy and corporate identity were defined, but the priority for Harzheim was the acquisition of the necessary certifications that would prove Deltalis’s worth, despite the company’s youth.

“During that year, we got the mandatory certifications that are needed, like ISO27001,” he explains. “So we got

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“ONLY A FEW DATA CENTRES IN THE WORLD CAN CLAIM THEY ARE MILITARYGRADE EMP PROTECTED AND CERTIFIED”

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certified, we built an operational team and a sales team, and we were prepared to take Deltalis to the market as a strong business.�

To bolster this move even further, Deltalis chose to go above and beyond and acquired another certification.

In an expensive and thorough

examination, the data centre was tested for electromagnetic pulses and found to be completely EMP-protected.

IT infrastructure demands protection from EMP, as extended blackouts have the potential to be devastating. EMP attacks can be man-made or natural, and neither can truly be prepared

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for. Deltalis’s testing and certification was performed by EMShield GmbH, which is a leading expert in the field of planning and project implementation of electromagnetically shielded rooms.

“Of course ISO27001 is a tough one, and it’s important, but it doesn’t differentiate you in the market,” Harzheim explains. “Only a few data centres in the world can claim they are military-grade EMP protected and certified. Since then, we’ve been working on the commercial side of the business, and are experiencing excellent momentum and growth.”

Challenges While Deltalis has immersed itself in the market at incredible speed, there are of course pros and cons to being such a young business. Those that have been around for longer have structure, resources, and visibility already – the latter being vital to success.

“Being a young company, we had to build momentum quickly,” Harzheim says. “That’s difficult. We took an existing facility and turned it into a data centre, which wasn’t its original function, so it took a lot of important

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due diligence to make sure the facility was perfect. This is something that was not necessarily an advantage compared to other companies.

“When you make a decision like this, you have to look at all the parts, and know what is going to be an advantage and what will be a disadvantage.”

Of course, the advantages Deltalis enjoys far outweigh any challenges it has faced. Another aspect of the business which – like the EMP protection – acts as a true differentiator, is that it’s officially hyper secure.

Most data centres are secure places, but others are simply far more so.

“We were approached by a group of auditors on behalf of a bank, and they were ticking boxes about our security,” Harzheim explains. “They had specific data centre questionnaires, like ‘how much weight of snow does your roof support?’, and ‘do you have any obstacles to avoid vehicles attacking the building?’ The questions sound silly, but because our data centre is 300 metres inside a mountain, we are able to offer things you wouldn’t normally think about. The facility isn’t even reachable except for staff

‘HYPER SECURITY IN TIMES OF INSTABILITY’

“If you look at an ordinary data centre compared to ours, you’ll see there’s a huge gap between secure and hyper secure”

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“IT’S ALL ABOUT TRUST“ A FILM BY DELTALIS

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and customers. If you look at an ordinary data centre compared to ours, you’ll see there’s a huge gap between secure and hyper secure.”

Continuous improvement While Deltalis achieves top marks for efficiency, green credentials, and security, it does not waver from its quest to keep improving. The main challenge for co-location projects is intelligent capacity planning, and this is something Harzheim prioritises. He aims to propel technology according to growth, and the growth Deltalis has experienced already has meant that it is currently building a new co-location room and two private suites.

“In this sense, we are of course adapting our technology. It’s standard in the data centre business that even if you have a large or a new building for a data centre, one part is completely equipped and the rest is ready to be completed, considering projects that are expected to come.”

Of course, a vital key to successful penetration of the market is having a team of people who believe in the vision.

For a young and growing company,

sourcing the best talent is more difficult than for a more established business, but Deltalis holds an edge of attractiveness that a lot of newcomers do not.

“You need people who believe in the potential of the business,” Harzheim explains. “What is important is that everyone has an area of responsibility and everyone is a team player.

Leadership isn’t about telling others what to do, it’s about letting them know what they could do and giving them the responsibility of doing what’s best for the business. This is one thing we’ve implemented in our leadership culture. I’m proud of the team – they are great people with passion and excellent knowledge.”

Deltalis has also created strong processes that are integrated company-wide and followed by everybody. Staff are required to support the hyper secure nature of the business, and in return, they are cared for every step of the way – from prior employment, to during employment, to after employment.

This care for people extends beyond employees and to the customers: “What further differentiates us is

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KEEPING DATA SAFE IN A MOUNTAIN

our customer focus,” Harzheim states. “We are adding new services, such as Remote Management as a Service (Deltalis Virtual Reach), and DCIM as a service (Deltalis Virtual View). With this we offer our clients to connect to IT equipment remotely, anywhere and anytime.”

Milestones Deltalis has proven its industry impact already, with two key events that occurred in London earlier this year.

After Harzheim spoke at Data Centre

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World about the very complex realm in which he works and how Deltalis can simplify it, Deltalis then brought together lawyers, politicians, and other interested top-level UK parties to talk about data protection and its ongoing projects. This in particular was a milestone for the company – one even a lot of established organisations have not yet enjoyed. Government officials, other businesses, and customers alike are discovering the power of the rare and incredible advantages Deltalis boasts, and it is

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“Location is so important at the moment, and we have the right answer for it” something that will continue to propel the company forward at speed.

“The most important aspect of this business is security, both digital and physical,” Harzheim concludes.

“People want a place they can store their data knowing it’s there and only there. Then they start to say ‘I love this application, but I only want it if I know it’s physically secure in the right place, and in the right country’.

That’s an issue we see. Location is so important at the moment, and we have the right answer for it.”

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Trimble: providing worldclass software solutions Written by Catherine Rowell Produced by Jon Bennett

TRIMBLE SOLUTIONS MIDDLE EAST

We speak with Regional Director Paul Wallett, who discusses how new technologies are supporting the delivery of leading projects

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rimble is one of the most renowned construction solution providers in the world. Combining a mix of hardware, software and mobility technologies to enable construction companies to hit the ground at the earliest stages, Trimble has cemented its growth across a number of markets.

Acquiring Tekla back in 2011, the company has furthered its expansion into the construction sector, bridging the gap between physical hardware positioning and measuring tools, to the virtual building information construction modelling (or BIM as it is widely known today).

Providing innovative technologies and ensuring strong partnerships with stakeholders and clients, the company supports the delivery of international projects through a number of software and hardware solutions worldwide.

With a diverse portfolio, Middle East & India Trimble Buildings Regional Director Paul Wallett explains that such an investment in providing key software and hardware solutions has ensured that Trimble remains a key player in areas such as

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MIDDLE EAST

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BIM, mechanical electrical design and robotic total station layout, contracts management, amongst a number of different segments.

“Through our general contracting, construction management division, we offer Vico Office which works directly with BIM models to perform constructability analysis and a unique 4D location based scheduling and 5D flowline cost estimation.

This is coupled with project cost control and document management platform Prolog, enabling all project participants to capture and retrieve information from anywhere at any-time,” explains Wallett.

“Our newest collaboration platforms are Trimble Connect and ProjectSight as a field and project

management mobile application tool, unifying the field and office together on a single source platform.”

With cloud based collaboration growing in prominence, Wallett explains that this has become an integral part in developing successful partnerships and the delivery of international projects.

“With a combination of contract documents and vast 3D repository of objects which are being placed on our Tekla or 3D Warehouse clouds from customers, partners and suppliers, these downloadable objects can easily be placed into BIM models,” he says.

HoloLens The company is utilising Microsoft HoloLens

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technology, which works to support the its cloud based collaboration platform, Trimble Connect. Here, 3D models can be successfully hosted onto the web, alongside embedding Microsoft’s SketchUp Viewer, which further supports the visualisation of 3D models. “These were the two first available commercialised products on HoloLens which were launched last year,” adds Wallett.

Entering the market at the end of last year, Microsoft’s SketchUp Viewer became the first commercial HoloLens application to support professionals undertaking 3D modelling within a multitude of industries, with construction becoming a main area. Lorraine Bardeen, General Manager of Microsoft HoloLens and Windows Experiences explains that the application “allows people to create improved collaboration and a better understanding of designs in real scale, empowering companies to be more innovative and efficient.”

With a number of quality software solutions, the company’s software, Tekla Structures, enables designers

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“WITH A COMBINATION OF CONTRACT DOCUMENTS AND VAST 3D REPOSITORY OF OBJECTS WHICH ARE BEING PLACED ON OUR TEKLA OR 3D WAREHOUSE CLOUDS FROM CUSTOMERS, PARTNERS AND SUPPLIERS, THESE DOWNLOADABLE OBJECTS CAN EASILY BE PLACED INTO BIM MODELS” and architects to provide a detailed 3D model of any building by providing a model based workflow.

Building Information Modelling software has also enabled increased collaboration with clients and improved coordination in projects through providing a visual with the HoloLens technology, resulting in increased engagement, reduced risk and further efficiencies. The company’s software has also provided room for personalisation within construction and design.

Tekla Structures further enables designers to automate or programme certain processes,

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“Whilst many contractors still use traditional tools for construction in this sector, one key area we are focusing on heavily is introducing construction specialised solutions to key areas of the construction verticals�

Pleasnigtn

SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS

D

e Softwar

Interoperability between CADMATIC and Tekla Structures enables better projects.

Communication, planning and coordination with a visual, 3D model-based design tool brings advantages; more precise scheduling, fluent information share, cost efficiency, improved construction safety and better overall workflow.

The virtual model even enables you to monitor and do risk analysis when operating the offshore and onshore plants.

Feel Empowered

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www.cadmatic.com

eliminating unnecessary manual regional tasks. This has therefore reduced arm for the time taken and delivered cost distributing efficiencies, creating a seamless Trimble’s approach to construction and state of the design, and improved coordination. art survey The company has stated “from and scanning preconstruction to site management, applications. A Tekla offers a complete solution for direct partnership concrete contractors. With Tekla’s with CAT has ability to handle pours also proven and manage pouradvantageous, related information alongside a effectively, the partnership with software is also an Hilti throughout essential tool for the company’s TRIMBLE improving concrete operations.

SOLUTIONS MIDDLE pour planning Trimble also has a EAST IS BASED and management number of suppliers, IN THE UAE on site.” such as Aerial Data, who supply applications which Partner power enable sensoring, client design and To drive the business forward, modelling solutions. Furthermore, Trimble has a number of partnership a partnership with Materalise agreements. One is with Sitech enables 3D models to be hosted and Gulf, which Wallett describes as “a converted into 3D printable objects. regional distributing channel which “3D printing is something that’s deal with heavy highway positioning beginning to become geospatial solutions and machine more commonplace controls,” and is the company’s now,”

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Paul Wallett

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Regional Director

Paul Wallett is a 30 year veteran to the construction Industry, a civil & structural graduate, having worked directly in construction for eight years and 22 years with construction solution providers. With international experience in Europe, United States, the far east and for the last seven years in the middle east. As a strong BIM advocate for changing processes in the construction Industry Paul has consulted with many leading construction companies across the globe.

Wallett says. “From an industry perspective, Trimble is also a member of BuildingSMART alliance helping to develop industry standards in support of Building Information Modelling.”

Growth potential Although Trimble is now established within a number of segments, and whilst Building Information Modelling solutions are becoming increasingly commonplace within a number of projects, the company aims to further utilise technologies whilst growing its customer base in the general contractor arena. “Whilst many

contractors still use traditional tools for construction in this sector, one key area we are focusing on heavily is introducing construction specialised solutions to key areas of the construction verticals,” adds Wallett.

Additionally, the company’s venture into data within handheld devices, including tablets or smart devices, such as mobile smart phones, these mobile technologies enable workers to have the information to hand wherever they are. Wallet concludes: “Individuals can review, record or return information back from the field to the office in seconds.”

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Driving technological innovation within building and design Written by Catherine Rowell Produced by Craig Daniels

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We speak with Change and IT Director Sean Dewhurst about SSH’s rapid business growth, achieved whilst collaborating with key leaders in the technology sphere

F

rom a small, local company, to one which has grown to five times its original size within five years is no easy feat for any business. With significant revenue growth and an aggressive transformation strategy, SSH has implemented cloud services and embedded innovative technologies, with an aim to continually expand its presence within the Middle East.

“You need to build efficiency into everything,” explains Change and IT Director Sean Dewhurst.

Upon joining the company in 2015, SSH was in need of a complete overhaul of its IT operations and processes. The company is keeping up with upcoming trends and keeping an eye on what will prove advantageous within construction and design.

Through utilising cloud services, SSH has built effective strategies to cater to clients and operations, and continues to evaluate more and more options, such as Microsoft’s Azure Rendering for 3D modelling. SSH continually looks at how virtual, augmented and mixed reality will provide

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DIGITIZING THE CONSTRUCTION SITE

Shaping the future of building the Middle East with SSH International Consultants

Autodesk makes software for people who make things.

If you’ve ever driven a high-performance car, admired a towering skyscraper, used a smartphone, or watched a great film, chances are you’ve experienced what millions of Autodesk customers are doing with our software.

Autodesk gives you the power to make anything.

“As one of the early adopters of collaboration technologies like Collaboration for Revit and BIM360 Team, SSH is seamlessly connecting our various offices in the region.

As a proud supplier of technology to forward-thinking and progressive organizations like SSH, Autodesk is able to empower them as a leader in shaping the built environment and infrastructure of the modern Middle East, a region that demands exceptionally high standards of both quality and value. Through the conceptualization, design, construction and delivery phases, Autodesk software plays a vital role in helping SSH to raise their international and regional profile through innovation and proficient delivery of landmark projects.

We continue to work with Autodesk to explore even more ways to make SSH competitive in the markets we are operating in by researching disruptive technologies like augmented and virtual reality, computational design...among others.”

Sean Dewhurst, Change and IT Director, SSH

Kuwait Children’s Hospital The SSH design team on this project called on specialized teams from across the globe, using Autodesk REVIT and A360 applications to empower international team collaboration and manage the vast amount of information and modelling required to deliver the world’s largest children’s hospital.

Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Centre Complex geometric forms inspired by Islamic architecture were used to create the textured outer skin of each building. Autodesk 3D Studio Max and REVIT were used to map out the eventual geometric forms, the Islamic-inspired patterning that covers them, as well as to compute the calculations needed to make such a structure work in the real world.

Al Salam Palace, Kuwait

Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre

Explore more: www.autodesk.com/BIM

Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre

AutodeskMiddleEast

Autodesk and the Autodesk logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries.

All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

SSH DESIGN

“We try to pick up the innovations that are out there and bring them together to bring advantages to what we do. That’s where we have to be, especially in the technology space” SEAN DEWHURST Change and IT Director

a multitude of benefits, enabling the company to collaborate with prospective clients to develop built models and concepts. “We haven’t found the sweet spot yet for us, so we’re still exploring all of them. It’s a very interesting space at the moment,” adds Dewhurst.

Increased Collaboration With Microsoft providing SSH’s main platform, SSH also work

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with local partner Diyar, who have become instrumental to the company’s delivery and development of the company’s Microsoft Azure capabilities. This has been augmented with cloud-managed solutions like Cisco Meraki which has provided greater visibility and simpler, consistent configuration across offices in all geographies. SSH’s main ERP platform (Deltek Vision) and HR platforms are being moved, so

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that they will be based on Software as a Service (SaaS), rather than maintained as applications in SSH’s own technical domain. “We’re moving all the things that don’t really provide competitive advantage but can take up a lot of time, energy and money to manage and maintain, and then buy them back as services,” explains Dewhurst. “The economies of scale of the service provider outweigh the benefit of retaining them in house.”

In order to stay abreast of technological innovations, SSH has created a number of internal strategic groups to discuss new ideas to increasingly drive the business.

Externally, the company uses any channel available to stay abreast of new products and services that might be of interest. “A lot of technologies emerge in in the consumer market, there aren’t many apart from augmented reality or mixed reality

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Bentley is Advancing Infrastructure

Bentley is Advancing Infrastruc Advancing infrastructure is now a world priority. We need high performance infrastructure that can meet the demands of a global population while preserving a vital and healthy environment for generations to come.

Bentley’s mission is to provide innovative software and services for the enterprises and professionals who design, build and operate the world’s infrastructure — advancing the global economy and environment, for improved quality of life.

Advancing infrastructure is now a world priority. We need high performance infrastructure that can meet the demands of a global population while preserving a vital and healthy environment for generations to come.

Find out more at: www.bentley.com

Bentley’s mission is to provide innovative software and services for the enterprises and professionals who design, build and operate the world’s infrastructure — advancing the global economy and environment, for improved quality of life.

Find out more at: www.bentley.com © 2017 Bentley Systems, Incorporated. Bentley and the “B” Bentley logo are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries. Other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

Going Digital for Infrastructure Bentley Systems has helped firms accelerate project delivery and improve asset performance by supporting projects with innovative software and services for over 30 years. As engineering firms seek a digital strategy, the term “going digital” is being realized as infrastructure professionals take advantage of digital engineering models that contain inherent data about how an asset was designed, which can then be shared, consumed, and analysed by other software and processes. Leveraging a cloud computing platform enables a connected data environment that digitally connects and converges people, processes, data, and technology to yield significant results.

cture

Another exciting aspect of going digital is the technology and the proliferation of reality modeling, which fills the gap of not having a digital engineering model in the first place. Capturing existing site conditions with the use of digital photographs or point-cloud data – across infrastructure project delivery and asset performance is now widely adopted by infrastructure professionals. Reality modeling describes the potentially continuous capture of infrastructure assets’ as-operated conditions for processing into engineering-ready reality meshes, and their “enlivening” for immersive interaction. These models can now be referenced throughout the full lifecycle of an infrastructure asset, improving performance, safety, and sustainability.

For many years, through reality modeling digital photos have been processed into 3D models, but its capabilities have evolved to offer available point clouds from laser scanning that can be combined with available photos, as “hybrid inputs,” for reconstruction into a reality mesh.

This enables the capture of assets in a digital format, further converging the virtual with the physical and offering new potential. A reality mesh can also be seamlessly used within engineering CAD environments, enhancing BIM methodology as digital engineering models can improve the context of reality capture with greater understanding of 3D collaborative software as the necessity for engineering design gains value.

Going Digital for CAPEX For capital projects, a digital workflow can take advantage of better decision making with immersive design and collaboration in construction. For engineers, going digital can mean some new activities, such as conceptioneering – the process of creating various iterations of a design discipline with engineering content, at the beginning of a project, to constructioneering - the process of bringing engineering data directly to the field to drive construction workflows and construction equipment, during construction while leveraged in operations.

It can also mean inspectioneering – the process of bringing as-operated and continuously surveyed, engineering reality meshes into digital engineering environments, enabling engineers to inspect and evaluate infrastructure assets from any location.

And, lastly, to optioneering, which is the process of creating multiple iterations of a detailed infrastructure model and/or its subsystems in such a way to enable “what-if” scenarios and evaluate design trade-offs with the aim of producing an optimal engineering strategy. In these cases, we use the digital model to make better operations and maintenance decisions.

These are all examples of going digital, and Bentley is providing the solutions for our users to get there.

PROVEN, CONNECTED, AGILE, FUTURE-PROOF Deltek is the trusted Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) partner of SSH and over 12,000 other leading engineering services firms.

Streamline your key business processes including business development, project and resource planning, financial management and reconciliation. Deltek’s integrated project-based ERP software seamlessly connects people, processes, and information.

Discover more > www.deltek.com

Deltek is SSH’s ERP of choice

MIDDLE EAST

1,500 The total number of SSH employees

that aren’t really in the consumer market yet, and are only in the enterprise space,” comments Dewhurst. “We try to pick up the innovations that are out there and bring them together to bring advantages to what we do. That’s where we have to be, especially in the technology space.”

To further increase collaboration, SSH is specific about calling vendors partners, especially as the company increasingly works with them to innovate.

For example, the company works collaboratively on the technology design for all its offices with BIOSME who provide quality technology infrastructure management, to high standards and strong service levels agreed prior to an outsourcing agreement which both parties signed in December last year.

SSH has also developed its partnership with Autodesk, which was historically a transactional relationship, in order to increase collaboration and find potential uses of augmented, mixed and virtual reality technologies and other areas of innovation that Autodesk are bringing to the market.

Explaining that transactional relationships no longer hold any real value, Dewhurst adds that there are mutual benefits to explore different technologies and work together on practical applications. “We’re not one of the big players in the industry globally, but nonetheless we are trying to work with them at the leading edge. We try to work with all our vendors more strategically, who then become

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SSH DESIGN

partners. I think it’s very important and the industry understands that these value-add relationships are far superior for both parties.”

Continual Challenges Whilst SSH is perhaps less likely to be subject to a cyber-attack than some, it is always something the company keeps in mind. Upon joining SSH in 2015, Dewhurst immediately appointed an Information Security Manager, and has been behind the

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significant investment the company has undertaken in placing essential controls to mitigate potential risks.

Dewhurst explains: “We continually evaluate risks and controls to try and strike the right balance. You can spend millions of dollars on cyber security and still get it wrong – nothing is ever totally secure – but you have to invest, and invest wisely.” The intellectual property the company has also does not hold the same attraction to cyber criminals as

How SSH achieved IT as a Service In the olden days…..

It used to be that SSH bought its technology. They went through basically the same motions as every other company. They would go through the tried and tested motions for procurement that most companies follow in the Middle East. Check out the products and providers on offer, construct an RFP, vet the vendors, negotiate the contracts, implement the solution, train the staff and guess what?

“Sometimes SSH got all the value it wanted and sometimes it just got a taste of it”.

The majority of services ran from its HQ based in Kuwait. “Sometimes it had downtime sometimes it didn’t”.

A few years ago SSH’s business began to really take off. The company started winning engineering contracts not just in Kuwait but across the Middle East; it opened engineering offices in Africa and rapidly expanded from 200 to almost 1000 users. The business had basically become a high growth dynamic business that had outgrown ‘the old way of doing IT’.

For SSH, like for most businesses, the allure of a technology was the business outcome it produced, not the headaches and complexity that came along with that journey. SSH had two fundamental wishes from IT: • They wanted to get straight to the value • They wants that value to increase over time With this in mind SSH’s Technology leadership decided to embrace a new model of consuming IT, IT-a-a-Service, a stunningly simple model that

centers on the following value propositions: • Technology benefits with minimum IT involvement • Accelerated technology solution implementation • Variable, lower risk OpEx purchasing models • Supplier managed or optimized technology BIOS Middle East and CloudHPT, which has been building its business around providing ITa-a-Service for many years now, were able to provide SSH with an approach to consuming digital services using a hybrid cloud infrastructure allowing it to run every workload in its optimal place — at optimal cost and business performance.

The solution consisted of moving some services like email and active directory to Microsoft Azure. However, SSH needed to run some applications on a cloud that was low latency for the Middle East, so these were positioned on CloudHPT (a BIOS Middle East cloud company based out of the UAE). In addition some of SSH offices required huge engineering files to be local, so a modern managed storage solution from NetApp was positioned for the branch offices.

The above hybrid cloud solution, a cloud consisting of private cloud on premise, regional cloud from CloudHPT and Global Cloud from Azure needed to be managed. This was provided by BIOS Assured, a managed service provided by BIOS out of their NOC and SOC in Dubai. BIOS Assured provided daily operational support, infrastructures managed services and application services like SCCM. The entire IT-a-a-Service model was positioned with a fixed monthly cost against a set of SLA’s.

Office 1603, Boulevard Plaza Tower 1, Downtown Dubai, UAE T : +971 4 3789000 | F : +971 4 3789001 | info@biosme.com | Toll Free 800 BIOSME www.biosme.com

SSH DESIGN

“We try to work with all our vendors more strategically, who then become partners. I think it’s very important and the industry understands that these value-add relationships are far superior for both parties” SEAN DEWHURST Change and IT Director

PARTNERS IN TECHNOLOGY Diyar is a leading regional System Integrator and Gold Microsoft Partner who Provides high-businessvalue solutions, Managed and Security services by embracing selected people, processes and partners.

www.diyarme.com Sales@diyarme.com

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other corporations, such as banks, but the company remains aware that it would have significant issues with delivering on its commitments to clients if an attack occurred.

Transforming into a regionalised company has not been without its challenges. US products, such as Autodesk’s and Microsoft’s have been built with a western environment in mind, which have quick, easy and scalable access to the internet, incorporating big pipes and low latency. “Simple things like

latency, and the fact these products aren’t designed for low latency, alongside increasing bandwidth requirements means that they are not optimised for us in the Middle East,” explains Dewhurst. “One of the things that’s going to hold us back in this part of the world is the internet connectivity. It’s just not as good and it’s more expensive in comparison to the US and Europe and it introduces an extra challenge.”

Disruptive technologies have also become an increased focus.

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SSH DESIGN

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Dewhurst discusses the creeping rise of 3D printing and modulisation, where these technologies will ultimately transform the entire industry. However, he notes that “on the creative side with concepts and design, this still requires human creativity to drive, although computing technology can enhance it. The computer is doing the heavy lifting on generating options on the parameters given, but it’s not driving the creativity yet.”

Moving Forward The move to cloud has enabled SSH to undergo a cost-effective transformation, outsourcing operations to increase value and provide high quality services to clients. Aligned with the company’s cloud strategy, operations will become simpler and easier and collaborative partner relationships will enable SSH to become a leader in the Middle East. This will allow the company to further explore new and innovative technologies which will shape the future of construction and design.

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v

FANATICAL about the cloud

Managed cloud provider Rackspace prides itself on its customer service, known as “Fanatical Support”, available 24-7, 365 days a year. The company’s commitment to providing expertise and support to customers is so strong that team members are called “Rackspace fanatics” Written by Leila Hawkins Produced by Tom Venturo

R A C K S PA C E

R

ackspace is a leading managed cloud company that helps businesses tap the power of hosting and cloud computing without the pain, complexity and cost of doing it themselves. The company provides results-obsessed customer services, known as “Fanatical Support” to customers of all sizes in over 150 countries, from city guide websites to large finance and healthcare companies, including more than half of the world’s Fortune 100 companies.

Across all these locations and sectors, Rackspace’s work is standardized to very fine detail thanks to the company’s extensive bench of technology experts. Each team meets every two weeks to review processes and policies, taking into account feedback from impacted customers, stakeholders and fellow Rackers.

This feedback could be a request for a RAM upgrade, or replacing a top of rack (ToR) switch. The details of these tasks are then worked through and the technical experts determine the most effective method to solve the problem. This method is then rolled out across the entire company so that, regardless of the location, customers will receive the same experience and level of service.

LONDON CRAWLEY DATA CENTER (LON 5) Since it was founded in Texas in 1998, Rackspace has established itself as a global leader in the data center industry. It has over 5,500 employees in 16 offices globally and operates 11 data centers serving regions across the globe including Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago, Northern Virginia, London, Sydney and Hong Kong.

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USA

Jim Hawkins Vice President, Global Data Center Operations & Engineering

Jim Hawkins is the vice president of global data center operations and engineering at Rackspace, where he oversees the company’s worldwide network of data centers and other critical infrastructure and operations.

Jim joined Rackspace in 2008, initially serving as director of operational excellence. Since then, he has held several positions, including director of U.S. data centers and senior director of global data center operations.

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Packing more power into the same flexible design.

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Starline’s newest addition to our line of track busway options delivers even more power, without losing any of the flexibility that you’ve come to rely on from our T5 Series. The 1200 amp busway still has our unique, modular, buildas-you-need design, and is equipped for high-density electrical distribution under the most demanding conditions in data center and mission critical environments. Best of all, the same plug-in units can be used for all systems in the T5 series—from our 250 amp to the new 1200 amp. To learn more about our newest and largest busway choice, visit StarlinePower.com.

250 amp

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USA

Rackspace’s 12th data center is set to open in Frankfurt in July.

In mid 2015, Rackspace opened a new, purpose-built data center facility in London, called LON 5.

LON 5 was built from scratch, giving Rackspace the opportunity to shape it from start to finish. Located in Crawley, West Sussex, an area of west London within handy reach of Heathrow airport that’s long been a hub for engineering and industry, the impressive 130,000 square foot data center dominates the surrounding landscape.

The Rackspace Crawley data center was designed to be benchmarksetting in terms of energy efficiency.

During the design process it was ensured the building would meet the

highest standards in the industry - its Power Usage Efficiency (PUE) is designed to be 1.15 leveraging indirect air cooling to take advantage of the cool British climate and hot aisle containment. The cement floors were smoothed to tight tolerances to eliminate the use of raised floor tiles. The plan was to apply this design model to further expansions.

The visual appeal of the data center is intended to convey visually the world-class nature of our operations. The common areas and meeting rooms are impressive, with viewing galleries that have floorto-ceiling glass walls throughout allowing plenty of natural light in.

Jim Hawkins, Vice President, Global

“Our customers are giving us the crown jewels of their companies” – Jim Hawkins, Vice President, Global Data Center Operations & Engineering

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Jeff Cotten

Graham Weston CoFounder

President Interim CEO

Data Center Operations & Engineering at the company, explains why this aesthetic is essential: “Due to the high security of our data centers and the sensitive nature of customer data, our customers aren’t able to see many of the details that make the data center great so the visual design helps to convey that same World-Class approach throughout the data center.”

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John Engates CTO

The Magic Quadrant This year the company was positioned in the “Leaders” quadrant of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Public Cloud Infrastructure Managed Service Providers, Worldwide. This assessment evaluates providers based on the completeness of their vision and their ability to execute.

This recognition is hugely important

USA

Company Kickoff

for the industry as it provides an unbiased view of managed service providers in the space, outlining their strengths and weaknesses.

“Our customers are giving us the crown jewels of their companies,” Hawkins says. “They’re saying here’s my IT stuff, this is my business as it runs, I need to do what I do and I need you, Rackspace, to make sure that my data is always available so that my company and my employees can continue to drive our business success.”

Clients and partners In order to deliver end-to-end Fanatical Support on the technologies and services that it supports, Rackspace has strategic partnerships with organizations across the globe – from hardware providers, to connectivity providers, to other cloud providers to solution providers.

In late 2016 Rackspace partnered with United States company Megaport to establish the dedicated RackConnect Global circuits to data centers throughout the US, vastly expanding its capacity.

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THINK BEYOND No matter what business you’re in, your operations demand nothing short of optimal performance. And that’s why we start with your business objectives, and then we find ways to make your building an asset to achieving them. The result? Increased savings, improved performance, and a toolbox of solutions that address your unique challenges.

Enjoy building automation and controls solutions with around-the-clock control and optimization features that help you reduce costs and improve the reliability of your systems. And with Intelligent Services like 24/7 systems analytics, an expert-staffed solutions center, and remote diagnosis and connection, you can rest ass assured we’re the best solution for your building, anytime you need us.

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“EarthWise systems share four principles: high efficiency, low emissions, sustainable building performance and documentation.”

1617 Hutton Drive, Carrollton, TX 75006 Ph: 469-758-3000 | F: 469-758-3310

www.trane.com

USA

With the rise in enterprises’ “multicloud” strategies in recent years, Rackspace has taken the approach of partnering with the big public and private cloud providers to manage their platforms for customers who want to add support rather than compete with them. “Customers can deploy workloads on Amazon Web Services (AWS) or on Microsoft and soon on Google’s cloud,” Hawkins adds, “and Rackspace will support them on the technical capabilities that many companies are really lacking. As fast as these technologies

are changing, companies need experts and Rackspace is filled with those experts.”

Within the industry More and more companies that previously had their own data centers are finding that they’re too expensive or difficult to run. As Hawkins explains, this can happen to a company regardless of its size, as it’s down to the proliferation of software as a service. “When this happens the data center footprint from an IT perspective begins to shrink,” he

Number of employees at Rackspace

5,500

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“OUR VISION as a company is

to be recognized as one of the world’s greatest service companies”

– Jim Hawkins, Vice President, Global Data Center Operations & Engineering

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Year founded

1999 says, “aided by technology changes like the virtualization of servers, which allows them to compress their IT hardware even further. Pretty soon they have a data center that’s only 20 percent utilized. It becomes a big financial and technical burden.”

This takes away the reason to have their own data centers so they seek partners they can trust to put their business into. This is where Rackspace steps in.

“There are a number of operating mechanisms that Rackspace has implemented to provide a reliable

service for our customers. These operating mechanisms include global standardization programs, the rigor of our change management, the meticulous way we deploy and interact with our infrastructure and our response to issues.”

Hawkins continues: “There will always be things that go wrong in a data center hosting environment.

What makes Rackspace unique is how we respond to those issues. The combination of Fanatical Support and a very mature Root Cause Analysis (RCA) methodology certainly sets

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Building Tomorrows Datacenters, Today Complete solutions and global supply chain: Full complement of data center hardware and services True global capabilities: Sanmina owned and operated integration facilities in all regions of the world Mature technology practice: Over 30 years of relevant data center experience Simplified procurement: One ERP system deployed globally

Sanmina Corporation is a leading integrated manufacturing solutions provider. Recognized as a technology leader, Sanmina provides end-to-end design and manufacturing solutions for many vertical markets, including compute and storage and data centers. Sanmina has facilities strategically located in key regions throughout the world.

www.sanmina.com

USA

us apart from others and eliminates the recurrence of issues.”

Fanatical about service The customer service team members are called “Rackers”. Hawkins explains that this culture is one of the elements that sets Rackspace apart from other data center providers. “Our vision as a company is to be recognized as one of the world’s greatest service companies regardless of the industry.

We certainly saw early in our history how terrible support generally is in the IT industry. We saw an opportunity to not just provide better support, but to provide Fanatical Support that’s far and beyond what anybody else provides. That’s really been the catalyst for our growth over the years since 1999, and we’ve expanded that support to be on top of not only our infrastructure, but also on top of other leading cloud providers.”

Rackspace experts are available 24-7, every day of the year, and the company prides itself on the fact that customers will never hear a recorded message. “It’s about the level of ownership that we take when customers have issues,” he says.

“Our Rackers are there to solve their problems. They can chat with us any time of day, we’re always available.”

The cloud industry is growing extremely quickly, but Rackspace is tackling all the challenges this may present. One of those is the consolidation of clouds that are available. “There were once public and private clouds all over the place and that’s beginning to really consolidate down to companies like AWS, Microsoft and Google being the leading clouds in the space,” Hawkins concludes. Whatever the challenge, Rackspace will be there to provide the answer.

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The once in a lifetime project of North Dakota The residents of Grand Forks, the third largest city in the state of North Dakota, are used to big floods. However, the infamous Red River Flood of 1997 was very different

Written by Leila Hawkins Produced by Tom Venturo

Cra

nes

and

Pile

s

C I T Y O F G R A N D F O R K S - G R A N D F O R K S R E G I O N A L WAT E R T R E AT M E N T P R O J E C T

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urrounded by rich farmland, Grand Forks sits in the Red River Valley and is at the confluence of the Red and Red Lake Rivers. The Red River winds all the way up from Breckenridge, Minnesota to Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada and the Red Lake River winds its way from Minnesota and combines with the Red River at Grand Forks. While these rivers are popular with locals for canoeing and other recreational activities, they can be also devastating. The most tremendous effects were felt during the flood of ‘97, when most of the entire population of more than 50,000 people had to be evacuated.

There was a very significant snowfall that year and when the ice melted in April, this contributed to the rise in the water level which peaked at 54 feet. It would be over a month before the water receded and people could return to what was left of their homes.

This spurred the city’s governors to take action. Todd Feland, Grand Forks City Administrator, is currently overseeing the Grand Forks Water Treatment Project; a significant, brand new infrastructure that will provide clean water to its citizens.

The once in a lifetime project Feland explains that this project had already been in the planning before the flood happened, but it did change the paradigm of where the facility needed

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Grand Forks Regional Water Treatment Plant

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“We like to think

we’re a little bit of a poster child for flood recovery” – Todd Feland, Grand Forks City Administrator to be located. Rather than build it in the more constrained downtown area near the river, a decision was made to build it on the west side of the town, along with the reservoir and pump station, where there is also more space to expand. “[The flood] allowed the City of Grand Forks to reinvent its protection systems.” Feland says. “It was really out of a bad situation that, working with our federal and state partners we were able to come up with a better system that provided much more security in our community.

“Instead of having the river be your enemy we were able to move back and create recreational opportunities.

We like to think we’re a little bit of a poster child for flood recovery.”

Todd Feland Grand Forks City Administrator

The old facility will be converted into a mixed-use development, which Feland believes will be a great project.

“That will be exciting for the community to see how we can redevelop areas that have been more of an industrial setting,” he added.

“We’re not London, England, but even in Grand Forks people are focused on downtown redevelopment.

The water treatment plant site will be more of a mixed use setting as opposed to having a water treatment plant which is more of an industrial setting. It’s really a unique way we

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Softening Drain

can redevelop. The flood was the trigger to move this forward.”

Bringing new technology to Grand Forks The state of the art facility is expected to treat up to 20 million gallons of water each day once it’s completed.

Innovative technology is being developed to handle problems like pesticides and herbicides from the surrounding sugar beet, wheat and corn fields as well as

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discharges from the nearby Devil’s Lake and wastewater discharges from downstream municipal and industrial point sources. For this they’re using a GE membrane system to treat the source water.

Additionally, ozone treatment processes will ensure it’s sustainable.

“It can treat water at different times of the year, whether it’s in the summer when things are dryer, or in the winter when it’s colder water. We needed to create it in a challenging climactic

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condition and challenging river source water that could be really adaptable.

During different times of the year based on what’s occurring we can decide how to treat the water the most cost-effective way, and still assuring our citizens and industries that our source water is of the highest value.”

“We need the plant to be really adaptive,” Feland says.

“We looked at how we’re going to treat source water that’s challenging to begin with, and how we could build a plant that had to be a fiftyyear plant on a hundred-year site.”

The project will cost approximately $150m, which will partly be funded by the state of North Dakota who are paying 50 percent of it, along with rate increases and possible sales tax and the ‘Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund’, a long-term loan with a low interest rate with terms of 2 percent for 30 years.

Inspiration Before starting construction, Feland and his team carried out bench-testing with various types of technology and also took field trips to look at what

Dr. Michael R. Brown Mayor of Grand Forks, North Dakota

systems other facilities employed.

One was in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado, where they also use membrane technology; however, the source water there, coming from the mountains, is cleaner.

They also looked at the central Minneapolis area and Fargo, which is 80 miles south of Grand Forks, and where they also use a membrane facility.

“That plant is further into construction than we are,” Feland explains. “We can draw a lot of inference from

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them because they’re treating similar water as we are.�

Contracting challenges The greatest challenge is getting this ultra-modern project completed on time. To ensure a seamless transition, Feland cites Melanie Parvey, Director of Water, for bringing in the operations and design teams very early on in the process. This way when they move in to the new, more sophisticated plant the team will already have their fingerprints on all the operations.

Construction began in December

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2016 and it’s expected to be fully operational in the summer of 2020, which is a very short timeline for such a significant construction project.

This was not without its challenges.

Just as the final design and construction stages were about to begin, there was an oil boom in North Dakota, which meant most of the qualified contractors were engaged. This posed a problem in terms of getting reasonable bids.

Under state statutes companies are allowed to hire construction managers at risk, so they completed

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an RFP (Request for Proposal) and partnered with a local/national construction management team called Construction EngineerUlliman Schuette, a Joint Venture.

This company became involved with almost half of the final design to ensure it was effective as possible.

The benefits of this project for the

community’s wellbeing will be terrific.

Feland says: “It’s going to set the city up for the next 50 to 100 years in our distribution and treatment system. As the city grows it will be able to transmit this water in a reasonable way. What we’ve done here, for further generations it will become more and more valuable.”

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Building communities for a better quality of life Whether it’s envisioning communities with orchards and herb gardens, or with easy access to public transportation, Crescent Communities ensures the people who live in their neighbourhoods experience life on another level

Written by Leila Hawkins Produced by Tom Venturo

A

typical neighbourhood built by Crescent Communities might feature upscale grocery stores and shops on the ground floor, with apartment homes suitable for families above. They may be positioned intelligently next to multi-modal transportation hubs so cars are used as little as possible. Or they could be strongly themed around food, encouraging residents to grow their own produce and cook at home. Whatever the case, the element they all have in common is that they are designed to offer residents premium quality of life.

Eric Rothrock, the company’s Vice President of Preconstruction, manages all estimating, general contractor selection and agreements, and design processes and standards of Crescent’s entire

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nationwide portfolio. Projects can vary from garden apartments for families who enjoy a suburban lifestyle to homes in high-rise buildings leased to millennials, along with increased numbers of people hailing from Generation X. In construction Crescent Lucerne in Orlando is one of several ambitious projects Crescent is currently working on.

Formerly a hospital site, it is being transformed into a ground up luxury residential community stretching over 4.6 acres, integrating 373

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Project Portfolio

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multi-family apartments with food retailers and parking. When it opens in the summer of 2018, it will comprise two separate sites bifurcated by a thoroughfare but connected by two bridges.

In Charlotte, the largest city in the mostly rural, South-eastern state of North Carolina witnessing a huge boom in people moving in, Crescent is developing Crescent Providence Farm, which will be centred on food. Adding to the master planned restaurants, Crescent Providence Farm will have a garden for residents to plant their own herbs, communal dining areas featuring tables made from salvaged trees, and even an outdoor kitchen programmed for cooking demonstrations.

Rothrock explains that although Crescent Providence Farm is in the suburbs, it will have a distinct urban vibe one might typically find in an urban setting, with the garden component being strongly influenced by the surrounding farmland.

“It’s unique in the fact that

BRIAN J. NATWICK PRESIDENT, MULTIFAMILY

it’s not a traditional garden apartment,” he says. “It’s a fourstory elevator-served building with a food inspired theme that’s in a real hot spot with easy access to highways. We thought it made sense for people who wanted to live next to a boutique grocer, and wanted to make sure we delivered something harmonious.”

Also underway in Charlotte is Crescent Stonewall Station. This community will feature a 19-story high-rise building directly adjacent to the public LYNX light railway station; allowing residents the luxury of never having to drive.

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Started in 1976, Quality Stone Veneer, Inc. has expanded to 13 offices located up and down the east coast and Colorado. Quality Stone Veneer, Inc. has served homeowners, builders, suppliers and architects with a unique blend of exceptional manufactured stone and masterful installation.

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DOUG LAWRIMORE

ERIC ROTHROCK

VICE PRESIDENT OF CONSTRUCTION

VICE PRESIDENT, PRECONSTRUCTION

The light rail has been in use for more than 10 years, but it is still expanding and its usage makes the areas it serves highly attractive sites for developers.

“Obviously it’s great for us,” Rothrock explains, “because for anyone living in Uptown Charlotte for the last 10-15 years, the experience is different from what it used to be. This will be a great way for someone to never need to use their car. [They can] jump on the light rail, step right off the platform, get their groceries or whatever they need, jump back on the light rail, and head home

without ever getting into their car.”

“It’s unique in the growing sunbelt” he adds. “In Chicago, or larger cities, people don’t use their cars as much; that’s common place. But in Charlotte and many cities in the south, everyone loves their car and that’s something that’s changing.”

The first phase of this vast project is set to be completed in late 2017. Before construction began, Crescent reviewed seven different potential configurations.

During a meeting with the various stakeholders, developers construction managers, architects,

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and Crescent Pre-construction personnel, the latter used 3D modelling to illustrate the massing of the project as the group was collaborating in real time. The Massing Models were saved using Nextplans, a workflow tool that makes it possible for them to be accessed by all.

At the end of this six-hour meeting they arrived at Crescent Stonewall Station’s ultimate design.

“The concepts created that day are very similar to the building you see standing today.

It’s pretty amazing how that all came together,” he says.

Brand new tech This real-time methodology, using software such as NextPlans that allows all the partners to be involved from start to finish is typical of Crescent’s projects.

“It’s a collaborative platform.

We’re able to customize folders and have secure access to all our projects, granting access to partners. This software for internal construction serves as a facilitation software. It also

JARED FORD SENIOR VP OF CONSTRUCTION

has a tablet and phone app so you can walk around and pull up the drawings on an iPad.” Crescent has recently started using Bluebeam, a piece of software that allows them to edit and share documents online.

“We saw that most of our architects were using it” Rothrock says. “We prefer to control certain aspects of preconstruction and be the initiators of discussions, so we have all the stakeholders in the room and we can take notes in real time on the cloud.

Our architects like it because it’s all in one place. It’s been super

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beneficial for us, certainly from a time-saving standpoint.”

Another piece of software that has proven invaluable is a photographic indexing database called Multivista. This service allows users to zoom in and capture crystal clear images of different building components during each phase of construction.

One example could be a window, where constructors can very easily identify issues such as leaks or a lack of proper waterproofing without having to get up close or remove any of its components.

What sets them apart “Construction pricing is at an all-time high,” says Rothrock.

“Over the last four years it has consistently escalated and that makes it more difficult to get deals done.

“General Contractors

and certainly Developers, are feeling the pinch of the market pricing,” he says.

However, using novel technology to cut down on costs and time, Crescent is ensuring it continues to get the best value both for itself and its customers to maintain a competitive advantage.

“We’re doing everything we can to add value,” he says.

“Particularly behind the walls and looking at the soil and under the ground, in places where no one sees so we can spend more money on the things that make an impact for our residents.

“We’ve really taken a deep dive, and we look hard at how we can minimize unnecessary or inefficient costs. We’d rather spend our money on things that our residents want and value.”

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Transforming the industry Written by Nye Longman Produced by Tom Venturo

Corbins Electric is redefining standards inside and out. We speak to COO Justin Martin about how this is happening

CORBINS ELECTRIC

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orbins Electric is on a journey to change the electrical manufacturing industry forever. A company with more than 40 years’ experience, Corbins certainly knows its terrain well. Not content for the business to rest on its laurels, however, COO Justin Martin is determined to radically rethink assumptions around people and processes. We speak to him in-depth to understand more about how this is being achieved, as well as how the company’s commitment to technology is reinforcing these changes.

Operations “Corbins Electric started in 1975 as an electrical service contractor and grew into electrical construction,” Martin explains. “We are a company that offers four complimentary but distinct services: Electrical Construction, Electrical Service, Virtual Construction and Fabrication.”

Corbins Electric’s industry leading virtual construction, building information modelling (BIM), and 3D modelling capabilities, is one of that many advantages that sets

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them apart from the competition.

Although these are facets of electrical contracting that are already techheavy, Corbins is keen to continuously develop its technology capabilities.

Using eVolve™ workflow to leverage single-click automation for fabrication, material ordering, and detailed as-built drawings, Corbins is able to deliver efficient virtual construction services to contractors, engineers, and architects. We don’t just do modelling to support our own projects – we also do this to support others. This is a need that our industry has – not everybody can accelerate that functionality quickly enough. We have some unique tools that help contractors prefabricate - that’s something we are able to leverage worldwide.”

“It’s our virtual construction and prefabrication that makes us stand out in the marketplace,” Martin says.

“We’ve also implemented a lot of lean manufacturing practices including value stream mapping to continuously drive waste out of processes.”

Corbins also provides marketleading fabrication services. Its

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“I see that there’s a bunch of baby boomers who haven’t figured know how to manage millennials and are still whining about it” – Justin Martin, COO

Waiting ... A Waste

state-of-the-art 23,000 sq ft lean fabrication facility provides a number of technical functions including conduit bending, racking, as well as TIG, MIG, and ARC-certified welding, and custom labelling, among many other complimentary activities. The

company is also able to offer clients consulting services ranging from lean manufacturing, modelling, fabrication and even mobile app development to help drive efficiency in the field.

Corbins initially entered into the market with a variety of electrical

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Aaron Thompson VP of Design & Fabrication

construction services, an aspect of the business that continues to go from strength to strength. Having worked in the industry for so long has enabled it to gain crucial experience across a broad number of different sectors, including healthcare, manufacturing, commercial, and aviation. These segments and more benefit from elite electrical construction services

such as design/build, design/bid/ build, construction manager at risk (CMAR), subcontracting, and job order contracting (JOC). Corbins also offers electrical services tailored to the needs of facility owners and property managers,

Chad Shultz

Operations Manager

including troubleshooting and repair, lighting and energy management, and preventative maintenance.

Darin Johnson

Transformation As with many people that have spent their entire career in the industry, Martin has an intimate understanding of the problems it faces. But unlike

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JD Martin Business Solutions Manager

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so many others working in this space, he has a plan to not only survive but thrive by rethinking the fundamentals of the corporate culture.

“There’s been a huge focus on undoing the stigmatisms in the industry in regards to how people are treated and developed,” he explains.

“What’s glaringly obvious is a lack of leadership. I see on LinkedIn all the time how people post articles about millennials and how horrible they are. I even bought into it for the first few years and thought ‘this is going to be a real challenge.’

“But as we hire and intentionally developed them, their contributions to our business have continued to propel us forward,” he adds. “Now when I read these articles I see that a bunch of baby boomers who haven’t figured know how to manage millennials and are still whining about it.”

“We have some of our most innovative ideas and some of our best leaders coming from a generation that people are saying can’t work,” Martin adds. With the age of an electrical construction journeyman averaging out at around 55 and,

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with 40 percent of the electrical workforce slated to retire over the next 10 years, the industry is facing a demographic challenge. While attracting a younger, more tech-savvy workforce is part of his strategy to combat this, it is only part of the story.

“I don’t buy into the idea that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” he laughs. “Some people in the last years of their career are adopting and implementing the technology just as quickly. When you get down to what helps them to do their job and accelerate the experience they

already have they get on board – I have been impressed by how they have accelerate that so well.”

“I would call myself the ‘chief culture warrior’,” Martin adds. Passionate about both people and process (in that order) he has worked in the electrical construction industry since he was 19. Persistently bothered by what he saw as invisible walls between the various functions of the industry, he is keen on identifying where changes can be made.

“I didn’t think there needed to be lack of communication and

Mark Fleming President & CEO

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“I would call myself the ‘chief

culture warrior’” – Justin Martin, COO

unnecessary tension between field and office, preconstruction and operations, operations and accounting. A lot of times people defaulted to a people issue when there was a process issue - that was driving the disconnect.”

Having doubled down on making sure that Corbins has workface fit for a rapid, multi-faceted transformation, Martin then set about implementing new technological solutions. In a short period of time, Corbins was able to significantly reduce payroll administration costs, while improving

accuracy and speed – all because of mobile apps and automation.

“We have launched 80 independent functional mobile applications since October 2015,” he says. “Instead of buying canned software, we decided to develop those in house, and partnering with Catavolt, utilizing their platform to develop apps that meet our workflows.”

Corbins has without doubt set about a sea change in the electrical construction industry. By innovating its corporate culture and technological capabilities, Martin and his team

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have strengthened the business, ready to meet the evolving needs of clients across the US and the world.

Encouraging the next generation of workers to realise their full potential, while ensuring that more experienced workers benefit from the same fresh approach, Corbins’ status as a top employer in the industry has grown ever stronger.

Martin concludes: “We are

really committed to the success of each other and the functions and departments – there’s a lot of alignment in that. It’s hard to grow a company to more than 600 people and have all the leadership going in the same direction. That wouldn’t have even happened if we didn’t have a leadership team that was completely aligned and bought into each other with that level of trust.”

FIBER IS THE FUTURE for global telecommunications company GBS Written by Jackie Cosh Produced by Richard Deane

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Global telecommunications company GBS is seeing advances in technology that mean internet access in the Congo is now becoming more reliable

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n the modern world everyone needs the internet. Increasingly it is no longer the luxury for the few, and African businesses, rural and in the cities, are looking for faster and more reliable connections.

For Zubeir Mohamed, Director of Operations at Global Broadband Solution (GBS), this is good news, and has resulted in a steady growth in business over the past four to five years.

Operating out of local bases in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Kisangani, Matadi and Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo, the company specializes in the design and delivery of global communication solutions, particularly in IP solutions, allowing companies to connect anywhere in Africa via Satellite, WiMAX and Optical Fiber.

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The ability to interconnect a series of sites and create a local intranet means companies can create their own company’s private network, allowing different offices to exchange telephone calls, emails and data, as well as performing CCTV monitoring across the sites.

GBS’s engineers and technicians are permanently located on site to run the installations and to provide the necessary help and support after installation.

Staff in Brussels take care of the management, design, logistics and interaction between the various parts of the company;’ Zubeir was studying in Canada when, in 2004, he had the chance of a placement with GBS. Four years later and the opportunity arose for him to work fulltime with the company.

He says: “Bashir Mohamed, is

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one of the three partners who began the company. He has always been interested in the technology industry.

Before GBS started he was one of the first people to bring the internet to the Congo in the late 90s. In the 2002 they sold that company and then later started GBS as he wanted to get back into the internet business.”

With insufficient funds to start a company, Bashir looked to Daniel Vanderstraete and Hassan Yahfoufi for help. They provided the capital and so the GBS partnership began.

With Hassan as CEO, Daniel as Managing Partner from Brussels and Bashir on the ground in Kinshasa, they have built a company that has developed wireless and fiber Local Loops in most major cities as well as installed thousands of satellites for both residential and corporate clients, bringing the internet many parts of the Congo’s for the first time.

GBS works across a very large area, where up until now there has been very little technological development.

As Zubeir explains, the last couple of years has seen major changes in

150200 The number of Global Broadband Solution staff how internet service is provided. He says: “Today how we provide internet is either via satellite or via fiber, depending on where in the country the customer is. Up until two years ago it was all satellite, but increasingly fiber is becoming more essential.”

“In the major cities our business is 60 percent corporate, 40 percent residential. But we also do a lot of projects for the government, for private institutions and for banking institutions. We have put up a private network for the Central Bank of Congo as well as for private banks and oil companies. These companies are often located in remote areas where there is no infrastructure around, so we are able to provide a secure a reliable way to transfer data back to their HQ’s in the capital city Kinshasa.”

The introduction of fiber has brought its own challenges, as

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customers are obviously keen to have the latest development. Fiber is not reliable so the company has to purchase both satellite and fiber and absorb the costs.

The company has a number of satellite providers that they work with - Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) being their most strategic partner.

Fiber comes from the local national operator owned by the government - Société Congolaise des Postes et Télécommunications (SCPT). The state monopoly ensures that each ISP

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must purchase fiber capacity from the government owned operator.

Despite being one of the top three ISPs in Congo, the market can still at times be tough. “So far 2017 hasn’t been that great” recalls Zubeir. “The political situation in the country is tense due to the uncertainty around the elections which were supposed to happen last year but didn’t and there is still the question of whether they are going to happen this year.

This has prevented people from investing in the country which has

AFRICA

the economy suffering. Hopefully the rest of 2017 will be more positive.”

The future, however is bright and GBS has been selected as a preferred partner by Konnect Africa. We aim to become the leading player in providing state-of-the-art satellite broadband solutions to customers throughout the Congo’s. Konnect Africa uses the High-Throughput Satellites (HTS) technology, offering dozens of times more capacity than provided by conventional satellites. We will aim to start service at the end of 2017.

Looking back over the past 13 years, Zubeir is happy with the progress of the company, and the role it plays in Congo.

“I would say it has been a gradual growth but in the last four or five years we have really grown and especially when we started using the fiber. Prices have been going down and the population has increased.

Everyone needs the internet. Nobody can live without it nowadays. It is an essential service for everybody.”

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BOND:

Into a new century of relationships Bond Brothers, Inc. (BOND) is a full-service construction management and general contracting company. One of its recently added business units is the provision of district energy projects.

Written by John O’Hanlon Produced by Tom Venturo

Tim Peer, P.E. Vice President of District Energy (left) and Dennis Keough, P.E. Vice President of Power Generation (right)

BOND BROTHERS, INC. (BOND)

I

n 1907, the company’s founding, Thomas J. Bond borrowed $500 from his mother to set up a business building sidewalks in Everett, Massachusetts. The company is still headquartered there and today BOND is run by its fourth-generation CEO, Edward Bond, Jr.

A family culture is desired by large corporations, although it often eludes them. However, BOND has a commitment to its people that has attracted top construction professionals and engineers over the decades and has built a commanding presence throughout New England.

A strong dedication to partnership and longterm relationships with clients, alongside an established niche in academic and healthcare sectors, persuaded Tim Peer, P.E. to join the company as Vice President of District Energy in 2016. The company saw an opportunity to expand its power and energy related services work with this strategic hire. A licensed professional engineer with more than 25 years’ experience in the evolving power and energy industry, with a specialization in campus district heating and cooling, Peer’s background is a great fit for BOND. “This is highly technical work and it meshes well with the core quality of BOND,” says Tim Peer, P.E. “It requires the ability to work effectively in logistically challenging sites, such as tightly built urban environments that are hard to access.

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology Central Utility Plant Expansion / Boiler & Deaerator

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Harvard University, Allston District Energy Facility & Energy Distribution Systems

Tim Peer, P.E. Vice President of District Energy Tim is responsible for leading BOND’s District Energy market sector, with a focus on developing new strategies and integrated solutions that exceed client expectations. A licensed professional engineer, Tim has over 25 years’ experience in the evolving power and energy industry, specializing in campus district heating, cooling and micro grids.

He has a unique and diverse skill set leading the construction of many complex projects. These include not only central utility plants and distribution systems, but also natural gas delivery systems and substations.

Tim comes to BOND from CHA Consulting, where he led the company’s district energy, power and thermal generation business unit. Prior to that, Tim spent 22 years at Cornell University, holding positions such as chilled water plant operator, utilities engineer, project manager and eventually energy plant manager. During his tenure, he led the operations and maintenance of several multi-million-dollar central plant projects. These included the Lake Source Cooling Facility and the Cornell Combined Heat and Power Project.

After an enlistment in the United States Marine Corps, Tim graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural and Biological Engineering. He has professional engineering licenses in the states of NY, NJ, MA and VA along with OSHA 10-hour certification. He is an active member of the International District Energy Association (IDEA) and the Cornell Society of Engineers (CSE). In 2010, he was presented the Keystone Award by Cornell University for his exemplary work in facilities management.

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New Medford, MA Office

Typically, we are working within an operating, mission-critical facility.

For instance, when renewing a central heating plant, one plant may be providing all the thermal requirements of the entire university.

If it is a research university, or they have a large medical facility on the campus, the reliability of that facility is critical to the operation of the entire institution.�

BOND has a strong track record in delivering energy projects with a team of experienced people.

Examples are the combined heat and power (CHP) plant developed for Lahey Health at its Burlington, Mass. campus and the upgrade of Brown University’s Central Utility Plant (CUP) and utility networks, both completed in 2015. “Over the last 15 years, BOND has completed more than $1 billion in energy-related

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Edward Bond, Jr.

Robert Murray

Francis X. Hayes

CEO

President

Chief Operating Officer

work. For some of this work, BOND served as construction manager but many of these projects were self-performed. BOND is one of the few New England construction managers with a self-performing workforce on its payroll.

The long-term relationships that have been cultivated over the history of the company with several major institutions directly led to the development of a dedicated District Energy Division. Leading the Division, Tim Peer has extended the company’s footprint along the East

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BOND BROTHERS, INC. (BOND)

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Lahey Hospital & Medical Center Combined Heat & Power Facility Plant

670+ Number of employees at Bond Brothers, Inc. Coast including New York City and throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region.

The team has been strengthened, he says, by recruiting professional and licensed engineers not only on the construction side, but also in the areas of operation and maintenance of district energy plants. “It gives us deeper insight into how these plants can be integrated into operating facilities. We know how

to operate and maintain these plants, train staff and commission them without disruption.�

The human element, understanding the challenge and the client, are key strengths of the company. Nothing is left to chance and staff have access to the best technology platforms to deliver consistent and top-quality results.

Peer explains, “For example, we perform 3D laser scanning services so we can go in and reality-capture the entire facility and create our own 3D models to facilitate planning and trades coordination. We have several platforms to manage site safety, quality and financials,

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This is highly technical work and it meshes

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and staff managing the job with handheld tablets.” This eliminates paperwork, while giving people the ability to access the latest drawings, information and the 3D coordination model without leaving the site.

The estimating stage is made transparent using the established Winest program. Project scheduling is managed through Oracle’s Primavera software. Modeling is achieved using Navisworks and Revit from Autodesk, and document exchange transmitted through Newforma. On site platforms

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Thomas Baillie, P.E.

David Shrestinian

Richard Small

Executive Vice President

Sr. Vice President, Building Division

Chief Financial Officer

include BIM 360 for safety and field management, and all of this is integrated with the company’s financials. Technology is a portfolio of tools, and Tim places long-term relationships at the center of the company’s thinking. “Over time we have been able to create a pool of knowledge in the company about how these clients want work done and how they operate. This allows us to be more cost effective for them.”

The business model of BOND’s District Energy Division is to engage at an early stage. “It’s important

to get involved before a project is out for bid. We have to engage with the client early and understand the processes established to do

$536 MILLION Bond Brothers, Inc. Annual revenue

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BOND BROTHERS, INC. (BOND)

Paul James Sr. Vice President, Risk Management

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the work successfully.� BOND has developed many new services for its clients, including consulting services. Project planning and constructability reviews are of value to a client when deciding how to meet future energy needs.

The company can provide the initial feasibility assessment before proceeding to a full investment grade feasibility study and an accompanying full cost proposal.

At this point, the client can decide

USA

as to whether to proceed. “We are a contractor and much more,” he says. “You can perhaps call us a project integrator based on our ability to design and execute systems into existing operations.”

Kathy Freitas Director of People Strategies

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Inspiring

the next generation

of women in tech

Four female executives tell us their stories, their experiences as professional women, and share wellearned life advice to inspire the next generation of technologically-minded girls in following their passions

Written by Nell Walker Produced by Tom Venturo

Michelle Forbes Gina Gardner Director of Enterprise Data Center Solutions: Wholesale, Custom & Cloud Services at QTS

Ali Greenwood Vice President – Data Center Solutions at JLL

Director of Enterprise Data Center Solutions: Wholesale, Custom & ManagedCloud Services at QTS

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he rise of women in higher management, in digital technology business roles, and in STEM is an ongoing discussion that is still only making baby steps towards an equal balance. However, successful female professionals are growing in number and using their positions to speak about their experiences, serving to prove that women are able to enter and thrive in all manner of jobs and should be encouraged to do so.

Ali Greenwood, Vice President – Data Center Solutions at JLL; Gina Gardner, Director of Enterprise Data Center Solutions: Wholesale, Custom & Cloud Services at QTS; Michelle Forbes, who is also a Director of Enterprise Data Center Solutions: Wholesale, Custom & Managed/ Cloud Services at QTS; and Sarah Keller, Senior Manager, Technical Sourcing and Supply Chain at Uber, are all women playing vital roles in the large businesses they represent. All of them were excited by the concept of data centers, and all of them had

to learn the industry from scratch to become the experts they are today.

Greenwood began her career at a small real estate investment and development organization, before the company she worked for was drafted in to assist in securing capital for a new data center.

She swiftly had to learn all about this new world including all costs involved, and was fascinated by it.

“I started working at Digital Realty a couple of months later,” she says.

“It was such a great way to learn the data center business. Truly focusing on the data center itself, the required investment, ongoing operating expenses, leasing, and how it all affects the ultimate return to stockholders is an incredibly valuable approach to understanding the data center business. I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.”

Greenwood felt, however, that she should be working more closely with people, using her skills as an articulate and engaging person to translate the potentially complicated world of

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“Technology is growing like crazy, and all the technologies we constantly utilize touch a server in a data center somewhere. There’s no reason women shouldn’t participate in that growth” – Ali Greenwood, Vice President – Data Center Solutions at JLL

data into something more palatable.

“I knew after sitting in the corner of sales pitches and tours to end-users that I could explain why our company, and this particular facility, was a great choice. Now at JLL, I’m instilling in clients the confidence that I can help them through a process that will result in a successful data center project.”

The data center industry is growing apace, and as it does so, more opportunities are opened up for a broader range of people. Greenwood sees this as an opportunity for more women to join the fray of STEM, and she is better served than most to watch the evolution of the industry.

“It’s certainly an underserved area,” she admits. “Technology isn’t going anywhere, it’s growing like crazy, and

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all the technologies we constantly utilize touch a server in a data center somewhere. There’s no reason women shouldn’t participate in that growth.”

Keller, Gardner, and Forbes – the latter two being childhood friends and now colleagues – are equally passionate about the inclusion of more female professionals in the data center world. “Women in leadership has been a hot topic for a while now and there are so many more organizations dedicated to the advancement of women in business, technology, and engineering,” says Gardner. “It is no longer uncommon to be in meetings or events and see quite a few women representing all sides of the business.

I have had the great opportunity to work with and meet some incredible

women in this sector who are rising and making notable contributions.”

“It’s refreshing how many more women are in the industry today than when I started,” adds Forbes. “Over the past 10 years it has been exciting to see more women selling wholesale space, working as brokers, and what I especially love to see is many more women in IT and engineering roles.

There are some incredible smart females that are changing the way

we are perceived, and I love that.”

“I find the lack of diversity – not just a lack of women – to be a real challenge,” Keller admits. “We are in an industry that is going to need to respond to ever-growing demands as IoT and Cloud infrastructure require that the underlying technology become more efficient, scalable and stable.

We need diverse experience and backgrounds tackling these issues.”

JLL Data Center Solutions: What’s all the buzz about “the cloud”?

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“Over the past 10 years it has been exciting to see more women selling wholesale space, working as brokers, and what I especially love to see is many more women in IT and engineering roles” – Michelle Forbes, SDirector of Enterprise Data Center Solutions: Wholesale, Custom & Managed/Cloud Services at QTS

Gardner, Forbes, and Keller, like Greenwood, were all excited enough by the concept of data centers to enter the industry at the soonest opportunity. Gardner was enticed by the looming presence of the World Wide Web in 1995, and entered into a job selling web hosting and colocation services.

The company she joined – Best Internet – launched one of the first ever ecommerce sites and sold eBay its first data center colocation cage.

Gardner introduced Forbes to the carrier-neutral colocation world in the late 90s, and she has been selling data center space ever since.

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“I knew it was an exciting time and the internet was here to stay,” Forbes says, “and with that, data centers were an essential part. Today it’s incredible to think about how almost everything we use is likely running out of a data center, and maybe even one I lease them space for.”

After the dot com crash in 2003, Gardner took a break to get married and have children, before she wanted to get back into the data center industry. Thanks to her enthusiasm for returning to the game and a swiftly-reviving industry, she found a comfortable role once again.

“As I look back over the past

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“We are in an industry that is going to need to respond to ever-growing demands.

We need diverse experience and backgrounds tackling these issues” – Sarah Keller, Senior Manager, Technical Sourcing and Supply Chain at Uber

two decades through all the data centers I’ve toured, the change and evolution, the real excitement has always been meeting with people at growing companies, discussing their visions and innovations, and coming together through solutions and partnerships. That continues to motivate and move me to work hard and continue this journey.”

In 2004, Forbes was introduced to the business that spawned the

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concept of wholesale data center space: “I took the leap as I could see the environment changing and customers were asking for more flexibility with their growing footprint,” she says. “I chose sales because I love working with people, building real relationships, finding the right solutions, and ultimately becoming a trusted partner. My advice to anyone would be to find your strength and stick with it, and

you will excel. Also, find a company culture that you fit in with – it changes everything. There’s nothing worse than the wrong work environment.”

Keller was drawn more to the underlying technology that made data centers more efficient: “Starting out in the International Standards bodies, I was able to participate in early industry efforts to standardize grid and datacenter technologies.

Those efforts really prepared me when for future roles I would take at Facebook, Workday, and Uber.”

She saw first-hand some groundbreaking technologies that have shaped the world today, and she is able to utilize her experience in her current role at Uber. “I never planned to end up in this career,” she admits, “but I’m grateful I found something that I’m genuinely happy to do every day. I think that some of the most awesome challenges are coming to the data center industry, and you need people that are willing to step up to those challenges.”

These four women have not only grasped the opportunities they worked to achieve, but have flourished

within them and managed to create a structure which encompasses family and career in the most comfortable way possible.

“The key is realizing that balance and perfection is not realistic,” says Gardner. “Being okay with the fact that life and work are always in flux is when it all comes together. I love my job, and I enjoy working hard, but I rejoice in spending time with my family and the people I love. I’m pretty sure this is why women are such strong multi-taskers; it’s our way of life.”

“As a mother of three children and working at one of the fastest-growing start-ups in the world, I’m always looking for ways to keep this balance in place,” Keller adds. “Every day is an exercise to ruthlessly prioritize, and you need to measure on a daily basis what is important to you, to your family, and to your work.”

“Today with technology and our ability to connect virtually in so many ways, it has made it even easier,” says Forbes. “Women are great at multitasking, and finding the right work-life balance provided for me the right way to work smarter and harder, while still

Ali Greenwood with her son

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“I have had the great opportunity to work with and meet some incredible women in this sector who are rising and making notable contributions” Gina Gardner, Director of Enterprise Data Center Solutions: Wholesale, Custom & Cloud Services at QTS

being able to have time for my family.”

“Happier chaos I think is the key,” Greenwood states. “I love my job, I love working hard; it’s a huge part of my life, and honestly, who I am.

Juggling it all is crazy, and single working moms – bless you. Something I always try to remind myself is at the end of the day it is not the years in my life, but the life in my years that will define me. It truly is all about spending time with those you love.”

Life is full of challenges and opportunities, and the working world has the capacity to be a minefield for women. Greenwood, Gardner, Keller, and Forbes are living proof of the brilliance and adaptability of female technical professionals, and they possess an enviable

aptitude for a balance that ensures the highest possible satisfaction.

Greenwood concludes: “Those of us in the industry could probably do a better job of speaking up and making women of all ages aware of a great and growing opportunity.

Endeavour to always find your niche, your passion, your stride, and find your value proposition as soon as possible. If you do not feel that you’re insanely invaluable, then you should promptly change paths.

“As the famous Zig Ziglar said: “You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.” If you can’t define how you can help people get what they want, push reset and figure it out. Then get back in the game.”

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Miller Electric Company:

FOUNDATION

O F C O R E VA L U E S Written by Dale Benton Produced by Tom Venturo

In the world of the contractor, establishing a trusting, rewarding and ultimately effective relationship with the end-user is the key to success. For Miller Electric Company, building those relationships and focusing on the end-user experience is forged into the very core philosophy of the business

M I L L E R E L E C T R I C C O M PA N Y

F

or over 80 years, Miller Electric has grown from its roots as a local electrical contractor to a market leading company with a diversified range of services. The company has evolved over time to offer services in addition to its core electrical contracting, including integrated systems such as maintenance solutions, monitoring and security systems.

“We work with clients on the entire lifecycle of their energy systems,” says Henry Brown, CEO of Miller Electric. “It’s about identifying issues and working with clients to provide turn-key energy solutions that allow them to unlock savings and potential in their facilities.”

But despite the growth and diversification of the company over the years, Miller Electric, through Brown’s stewardship, keeps one important philosophy at the heart of the business.

“The company takes a long-term approach to everything, both customers and employees. This allows us to develop trusting relationships where employees, customer and vendors can all work together toward collaborative solutions,” he says.

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Henry Brown

CEO of Miller Electric

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Generation game Brown has been a part of Miller Electric Company for 16 years, working his way up through the company in a variety of roles before being offered the position of CEO, but the company has been a part of his life for much longer.

Along with his brother and COO Daniel, Brown represents the third generation of ownership of the company, following in the footsteps of his mother, Susan Walden, and his uncle, Ron Autrey, who in turn followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, H.E. “Buck” Autrey.

It is this journey through the company, almost from the ground up, that has allowed Brown to lead the company into the future with a ‘new lens’.

Officially entering the company in 2001 in an accountancy role, over the years Brown worked through legal, risk management as well as strategy roles, establishing key relationships and understanding of the way the business works.

“I was able to build deep relationships with so many of our

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“We don’t want to be treated as a commodity, so we don’t treat vendors as a commodity” – Henry Brown, CEO of Miller Electric

project managers and team members; learning from them and identifying our strengths and weaknesses, what we did well as a company and what we didn’t,” he says.

Now as CEO, Brown works closely with his executive leadership team, developing and leading strategy, working to better understand challenges, opportunities and guiding the organisation into a better future.

Brown has identified key goals for the company, namely strengthening its presence across the country.

Expanding from its home base in Jacksonville, FL, the company has established a network of branch offices throughout the Southeast US, and beyond. In certain key markets, such as Tampa, Charlotte,

Daniel Brown

COO of Miller Electric

Nashville and Birmingham, Brown plans to invest in those locations to become not only the number one player in the industry but also a major part of those communities.

Core Values In order to create those long-term, trusting relationships with clients and employees, Brown and his team oversaw the development and establishment of six core values.

Trust, collaboration, safety, quality,

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stewardship and community. These are the values that truly define Miller Electric Company, values that Brown works tirelessly to instil into everything the company does both internally and externally.

“Trust is really the core foundation of everything. The company is very transparent – we work open book with clients to ensure we are working towards the most cost effective approach,” he says.

This applies to employees as well.

Miller Electric Company actively shares financial statements internally, so all employees are “in the loop” as to the company’s status.

“It’s the same with vendors, we want to establish open trusting relationships with them. We don’t want to be treated as a commodity, so we don’t treat vendors as a commodity,” Brown adds.

Safety and quality are “the price of admission” to Brown, but he is keen to stress that the company must focus on these elements in order to remain in business and these are still values Brown believes are core to the business.

David Long President

“You can have all the trust in the world, but without a safe and quality operation – you have nothing,” he says.

One of the more important areas, and one that is close to the Brown’s heart, is stewardship. As a thirdgeneration family business, Brown sees his role as “borrowing the company from the next generation.

We are stewards of our clients and their money, but we are also stewards for the future generation.”

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Pivotal moment elements of what made that such Following his move to CEO, Brown had a terrible contract and realised a baptism of fire with the company. that they were buying our work Miller Electric Company was locked as a commodity,” he says. into what Brown describes as one of This has forced the company to shift the worst contracts in its history. The its focus onto finding and working with project was a large hotel addition and customers that value and appreciate renovation project, with a general that long-term approach to quality contractor, an owner and an unfamiliar and trusting relationships. It was this construction type. very moment that saw It was born out of the core values of the the recession, where company established, key errors were made with Brown, his and not recognised executive team and until the project was all employees to well underway. gain a better a richer – Henry Brown, “After we realised understanding of CEO of Miller Electric this was a catastrophic the company. financial project, we “It allows us had to rally a lot of the team together to build a cohesive strategy, to finish the job,” says Brown. where we know we are working Following the completion of the towards the same goals and project, Brown and his team pulled everybody has that consistent together and made several key goal and consistent roadmap to decisions that set up the company achieve that goal,” he says. for the one it is today, one that works with the right clients and Through adversity... truly values its employees.

Following such a major challenge “We really picked apart the and pivotal moment in the history

“We have vendors who will walk through walls to get us what we need”

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USA

and future of the company, a pathway was paved towards a leaner, smarter and more successful business. For Brown, over the last five years, Miller Electric Company has developed a number of key clients across 40 states at any given time. The major clients from five years ago are still a part of the portfolio, but they have been joined by new clients that fully appreciate and buy into the longterm trusting approach to quality.

Clients now use their working relationship with Miller Electric Company as a standard for relationships in their respective industries. This standard is a testament to Miller Electric’s quality of delivery, commitment to the core values and appreciation of the client.

“They use our relationship as a test to see if our model works in new markets, and in turn they take us with them. That in itself is a major win for us,” he says.

Employee empowerment Miller Electric Company is a company that empowers its employees,

approaching their careers with the same long-term approach as it does with their clients. The transparent open book relationship creates a culture of connectivity; the employees know exactly where they stand and how much they are valued by the leadership.

In the construction industry, finding the right people with the right talent is often recognised as the biggest constraint to growth.

As a third-generation company, Miller Electric Company has second and even some third-generation employees on its books.

“This dedication and loyalty goes both ways creating employees that will go above and beyond for the client,” Brown says.

The challenge then, is replicating that committment going into the future. This is where partnerships with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) comes in with an apprenticeship programme, the Electrical Training Alliance that looks

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to create skilled employees to fill the skills gap.

“We invest heavily in our relationships with the IBEW and NECA, and in the Electrical Training Alliance. Our company president, David Long, focuses most of his time and energy on these industry relationships because we know they are a large part of our past and future success.

As early as the apprenticeship program, we look for employees who can be leaders in the company. From foreman in the field, superintendents, or even employees moving into project management roles and executive ranks, many of them begin their career in the apprenticeship” Brown says.

“We take those and invest in leadership training, executive education and create a culture of continuous learning within the company.”

Of course, not every employee can come from the field and into management. Miller Electric Company also invests heavily in searching for the right college graduates or entrants from other industries to bring into the company and into a management training program.

“The short answer really is that we want to build an

“it’s about looking outside the four walls of construction and how the more advanced industries are working” – Henry Brown, CEO of Miller Electric

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environment and provide opportunities that allows individuals to learn and grow, while being continuously challenged. We want people that want to be here,” explains Brown.

“This creates employees that have our culture engrained within them so deeply, it shines through in everything they do.”

Technology Technology is rapidly transforming the construction industry, with the Internet of Things (IoT) changing building electrical systems in a big way.

Miller Electric Company is investing

in this space to remain a leader in an ever-changing environment.

“We try to stay at the forefront of this change and identify ways we can use IoT to help clients monitor and control facilities through IP based networks,” says Brown.

Miller Electric Company is installing lighting systems that are connected through IP networks as well as security systems and other building management systems.

“This enables clients to run their buildings as efficiently as possible. But then there’s also the opportunity to use information that

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comes from their buildings, harness it and run their overall operations better,” Brown continues.

The importance of staying ahead of the technological curve is key to maintaining the success garnered over 80 years and enabling success in the future. On this front, Brown hits the books.

“I try to read as much as possible, really paying attention to the other industries,” he says. “Generally, the construction industry lags behind when it comes to technology, so it’s about looking outside the four walls of construction and how the more advanced industries are working.”

Trusting partnerships It’s all well and good promising a long-term trusting relationship, one that is found on quality assurance, but as a construction company you are nothing without the work of vendors to help deliver on those promises.

For Miller Electric Company, this is no different. The company works with Graybar, a leading distributor of electrical, communications and data networking products. The company allows a flexible distribution

model across the US, providing one point of contact to lead the account across the country in which the company is operating.

Graybar also provides a number of manufacturing partners for the company, manufacturers that Brown believes will “really go to bat” for Miller Electric Company.

Much like the relationship with clients, Brown looks to treat the supply chain with the same level of focus and value. “We want to be open, transparent and respectful, and want it to be a truly successful partnership for all involved,” he says.

“Our vendors, to me, are a large part of our competitive advantage. We have vendors who will walk through walls to get us what we need.”

Future foundations As market leaders in the electrical construction space, a position solidified through generations of employees, core values including stewardship, Miller Electric Company can only look to the future.

Miller Electric Company works with a number of Fortune 500 companies

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that rely on the company and through the continuous work with IBEW and NECA, Brown envisions a future of sustained growth in the company’s ability to service those clients, all with the goal of remaining the “go-to” partner.

But, with eyes set firmly on growth, success and better services, Brown values one area of the business above all else.

“For me, the most important part is to continue to establish ourselves as the employer of choice in the markets in which we compete,” says Brown.

“To me that does not mean having a ping pong table in the office and a BBQ, it means creating opportunities where employees have meaningful engaged work, they feel good at what they do, they feel good about their company and they know they make a difference in what they do.”

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MOVING FROM P R E S E R VAT I O N T O I N N OVAT I O N

Connectivity is a major and essential component of your digital platform. But your business needs more. So we take a more holistic approach. From front to back, we step up. We take responsibility for the design, build and maintenance. We’re accountable for ensuring your connectivity is not only high performance, but integrated and optimised with your LAN, cloud services, apps and hardware.

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