Thursday, May 25th, 2017

Time	Event
3:00p	Switch Plans Gigantic Atlanta Data Center Campus Switch, the Las Vegas-based company behind massive SuperNAP data center campuses in Nevada and Michigan, is expanding into the Atlanta market. The company has secured land in the market for a green-field development of a data center campus that may in the future reach several million square feet and cost billions of dollars to build, Adam Kramer, senior VP of strategy at Switch, told Data Center Knowledge. He declined to specify the location of the property. The future data center in Atlanta will be to Switch’s Grand Rapids, Michigan, site what its Las Vegas campus is to the one in Reno, Nevada, meaning it will be one of two East Coast locations that are far enough from each other to enable a resilient, redundant application topology across two geographically separated sites for its customers. See also: Switch Launches Its Pyramid-Shaped Data Center in Michigan The fourth dot on the map will also complete Switch’s coverage of US markets it is able to reach within a reasonable network-latency window, with Las Vegas serving the Southwest, Reno serving the Northwest, Grand Rapids serving the Northeast, and Atlanta serving the Southeast (click image to enlarge): Switch is going into the Atlanta data center market with several anchor tenants, Kramer said, but declined to name them, citing confidentiality agreements. The company serves a wide range of customers, including some major technology brands, such as eBay, Amazon Web Services, and Hulu. eBay was the anchor tenant at Switch’s first Reno facility, launched earlier this year. While not growing as quickly as the booming Dallas, Northern Virginia, and Chicago markets, Altanta is one of the biggest data center markets in the US, thanks to the large corporate presence in the region and it being one of the major network interconnection hubs in the South. While there are many data center providers already operating in the Atlanta metro, Switch’s biggest competitor there will be QTS Realty Trust. At the end of last year, the giant was responsible for almost 75 percent of all wholesale data center capacity in the metro, according to a market report by CBRE. Both Switch and QTS provide a mix of wholesale and retail data center services. With the announcement of the Atlanta data center plan, Switch also appears to be rebranding its campuses from the old SuperNAP to the new Prime label, referring to its four locations as the Switch Primes. Like it’s done for its existing campuses, Switch said it will work on securing 100 percent renewable energy for the Atlanta campus. The company has publicly committed to powering all of its data centers with renewable energy. After years of expanding in one market – Las Vegas – Switch started expanding its geographic reach in 2015 with the announcement that it would build a data center campus in Reno. Since then, it’s entered Grand Rapids and struck joint ventures to build data centers in Italy and Thailand. (Comment on this)
4:25p	A Match Made in the Data Center – AI and Robotics David Wang is CEO of Wave2Wave Solution. As technology innovation continues to move forward, we are seeing what was once just thought of as fiction turn into reality. Technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) are starting to become tangible, finding applications in a variety of places. An October 2016 IDC Spending Guide found that cognitive/AI solutions will experience a CAGR of 55.1 percent over 2016-2020. A Forrester 2017 predictions report said that AI will “drive faster business decisions in marketing, e-commerce, product management, and other areas of the business by helping close the gap from insights to action.” While the thought of AI making its way into everything may scare some, it overall excites me for the future and not for reasons that many are considering now. What excites me is how AI can be leveraged in the data center. AI can potentially bring a great deal of benefit to the data center, specifically when layered onto robotics, deployed to make physical adjustments to the network. Robotics present a very compelling case and can be leveraged to not only give IT better control of the physical connections within the network, but also have extended benefits like significantly improved security incident response. Matching these two together in the data center can enhance security, speed, decrease expenses, and more. Let’s first take a look at, why robotics? Robotic Automation in the Data Center Last year, the trend of deploying robots to automate the management of physical connections within the network infrastructure began to emerge. With this, we saw benefits such as a simpler and more dynamic data center network infrastructure, decrease in security concerns and increase in reaction time, future-proofing of critical infrastructure, and decreased operational costs. Along with these benefits, incorporation of robotic automation also aids IT staff in quickly quarantining threats by eliminating connections to other systems remotely. For instance, during a security threat, IT managers can easily send a software command to the robots in the data center, and with the click of a button manage hundreds of fiber connections. When it comes to setting up and building a more robust and simple network, robotic technology that can connect or disconnect a network connection physically and quickly, introduces more security and manageability, as well as increases peace of mind. When actively deployed robotic technology allows IT staff to focus on more high-level business and projects, increasing productivity and creating a more automated environment. Pairing this with the capabilities of AI will only increase benefits and enhance the data center. Adding In AI As data continues to grow, this type of innovation in the data center is crucial to its success as well as the ability of IT admins and managers to keep up. By deploying AI and robotics alongside each other, switching of connections within the network will be able to occur based on network settings and real-time traffic. This will free up even more time for network operators, as they won’t need to monitor and direct these adjustments manually. Businesses will be able to leverage insights derived from AI to optimize performance of data-based operations, adjust workflows, and extend their physical infrastructure. By itself, if AI were to identify a possible security breach in traffic monitoring there would be little it could do to quarantine the infected systems, leading to malware, viruses or ransomware spreading until an IT admin could cut off the pathways physically. Additionally, robotics alone can’t make the needed adjustments. They allow for data center operators to make adjustments without having to do so by hand, but they require direction before an action can be taken. With AI layered on top of robotic technology the adjustments to the physical connections that need to be made within the network can be made automatically once a need is required, significantly reducing a threat’s ability to spread, while IT investigates the issue. It’s here that I find AI and robotics particularly exciting as to what they can bring, together, to the future of the data center. The path forward for data centers to become more efficient, cost effective, and secure, is to layer AI on top of robotic automation technology. Robotics have already started to make their way in to the data center and AI is currently seen in other areas within the data center. The combination of these two technologies in the changing of physical connections in the network infrastructure will alter the future of networks and data. Opinions expressed in the article above do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Data Center Knowledge and Penton. Industry Perspectives is a content channel at Data Center Knowledge highlighting thought leadership in the data center arena. See our guidelines and submission process for information on participating. View previously published Industry Perspectives in our Knowledge Library. (Comment on this)
4:42p	Firms Fret as China Implements Local Data Storage Law (Bloomberg) — Just days before China’s new Cybersecurity Law goes into force, foreign companies are grappling with rules that could tighten what is already one of the world’s most restricted technology regimes. Recent changes to the language of the law ahead of its June 1 implementation, such as a broader definition of those affected, could drag in a wider array of services and products. While industry groups are lobbying for a delay, the government is moving ahead. China is bringing in a raft of new measures, giving the government unprecedented access to foreign companies’ technology, as it bolsters control of the collection and movement of data. Forcing companies to store information within the mainland has already led some to tap cloud computing providers with more local server capacity, a potential boon to homegrown Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. at the expense of Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. “Almost all our companies are making moves to ensure that the majority of the data they collect in China is stored on servers located within China,” said Jake Parker, vice president of the US-China Business Council in Beijing. “It’s not just the technology companies – it’s financial services, semiconductor manufacturers, every sector of business in China, that’s impacted.” See also: How the Chinese Data Center Market is Evolving One organization that could feel the pinch of the regulations is GreatFire.org, which monitors blocked websites in China and helps users behind the nation’s controls. The nonprofit creates copies of banned sites hosted outside the mainland, putting them on Amazon Web Services cloud servers to circumvent government restrictions known as the Great Firewall. “Our strategy would collapse because if foreign businesses host all of their data in China, they would face minimal disruption if the authorities cut off access to the foreign internet,” said GreatFire.org founder Charlie Smith. Alibaba said in a statement it follows “all local laws where we conduct our business.” Microsoft declined to comment, Tencent couldn’t immediately comment and Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. In addition to the restrictions on moving data beyond the mainland, provisions in the law include a more comprehensive security-review process for key hardware and software deployed in China and a requirement to assist authorities conducting security investigations. See also: Chinese Data Center Provider GDS Files for IPO on NASDAQ While individual firms in China rarely speak out publicly against government policy, more than 50 trade associations and chambers of commerce signed a letter in May to the government seeking a delay. They argued that the law could impact billions of dollars of cross-border trade and lock out foreign cloud operators because of limits on how they operate in the country. “These measures will add costly burdens, restrict competition and may decrease the security of products and jeopardize the privacy of Chinese citizens,” according to the letter from bodies representing businesses based in the U.S., Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia, and elsewhere. While foreign firms are pushing for change, the law has support from some domestic experts, such as Li Yuxiao, a professor who studies internet regulation at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. He sees secure information systems as integral to protecting the economy while also placing value on domestic operating systems over foreign products. “Cyber security is crucial to national security,” he said. The National People’s Congress’s Standing Committee passed the law in 2016 ahead of its implementation, giving companies and others time to adjust. Subsequent language published by the government “expanded the scope of a law that was considered quite onerous to begin with,” said Gabriela Kennedy, a Hong Kong-based partner of Mayer Brown JSM. For example, rules limiting the transfer of data outside China’s borders originally applied only to “critical information infrastructure operators.” But that was changed mid-April to “network operators,” which could mean just about any business. “Even a small e-business or email system could be considered a network,” said Richard Zhang, director of KPMG Advisory in Shanghai. Another provision requires IT hardware and services to undergo inspection and verification as “secure and controllable” before companies can deploy them in China. That appears to be already tilting purchasing decisions at state-owned enterprises. “We’ve heard from our members that domestic banks and SOEs are being much more thoughtful about purchasing domestic technology, and shifting away from foreign products – despite the fact that there’s no specific requirement for them to do so,” said Parker. While the laws affect all companies in China, it’s expected to hit the foreign firms the hardest. That is because they typically have more businesses, headquarters and data-processing centers overseas with a greater need to move information outside the mainland, according to Scott Thiel, a Hong Kong-based partner at DLA Piper. Sophisticated or widespread cyberattacks, such as the recent WannaCry ransomware attack that exploited versions of Microsoft Windows, may bolster the government’s resolve. “We can assume that Chinese leadership will use it as an example of why China needs its own technology and cannot continue to rely on foreign suppliers,” said Adam Segal, Director of the Digital and Cyberspace Policy Program at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. (Comment on this)
4:50p	Former EarthLink CEO to Head Rackspace as Its New Chief Exec Brought to You by Talkin’ Cloud Joe Eazor, former EarthLink CEO and president, has been named Rackspace CEO less than a month after Taylor Rhodes said he would be leaving the managed cloud company. Eazor will officially start in his role on June 12. Eazor, who served as CEO at Earthlink since 2014 and led the company to its $1.1 billion sale to Windstream in February, will be responsible for Rackspace’s global strategy and operations. “I’m proud and excited to welcome Joe to Rackspace,” David Sambur, senior partner at Apollo Global Management and chairman of the Rackspace board of directors said in a statement.“Joe has had a long and successful career growing IT services businesses. He has a proven reputation for driving investment and allocation of resources to the areas that will generate the best returns. Joe has led large and complex organizations.  And he will be a good fit as CEO for Rackspace, a company whose culture is a unique asset that has produced industry leading Net Promoter Scores and low customer churn.” Interim CEO Jeff Cotten will remain as Rackspace president as Eazor takes on duties of CEO. “All of us feel that Joe will be a great culture fit, as well as a very effective CEO,” Cotten said in a statement. He worked with Eazor at EDS nearly a decade ago. “Joe brings deep IT services experience, and strong leadership qualities. I look forward to working with him.” Prior to Earthlink, Eazor served in executive roles at EMC, HP and EDS. He is currently on the boards of Commvault Systems and Discover Financial Services. “As soon as the call came about Rackspace, I knew that was where I wanted to go,” Eazor said. “I know the company. I’ve visited the headquarters and felt the spirit there, and watched Rackers at work. I admire Rackspace’s well-earned reputation for expertise and Fanatical Support® — and for a workplace culture that makes that great support possible. “I’m excited by the huge market opportunity that Rackspace has, as companies move out of their corporate data centers and into multiple clouds,” he added. “Rackspace is uniquely well positioned to take advantage of this trend, as the only provider who can deliver expertise and exceptional customer service for all of the leading public and private clouds, along with managed hosting. Thanks to the strategy Rackspace adopted a few years ago, it’s got the early lead in the managed cloud space. My goal here is to build on that foundation and make us the world’s preeminent IT-services company.” This article originally appeared on Talkin’ Cloud. (Comment on this)
5:30p	What You Can Learn about Business from Cisco’s John Chambers By The VAR Guy The last couple of years have seen changes in the technology industry that are putting a lot of pressure on networking giant Cisco Systems. Businesses are shifting from data center hardware to cloud services like AWS and Azure. Though its legacy networking gear business still nets billions of dollars each quarter, it isn’t hard to see that Cisco needs to diversify in order to maintain its position as one of the most powerful companies in the world. Cisco’s executive chairman John Chambers, who was succeeded as CEO by Chuck Robbins in 2015, has spent the last 20 years riding the technological waves at Cisco. Speaking today at Fortune’s Great Place to Work conference in Chicago, Chambers admitted that while the company is often criticized for moving too fast, nearly every mistake he’s made has been because he’s moved too slowly. Chambers said that the key to being able to make big business decisions quickly is having a proven template to follow. “You can’t have speed without a replicable process. And at that replicable process, which we think of as playbooks, it is your replicable process for how you develop your vision and strategy; your replicable process for how you develop, retain, recruit, and change your leadership team; your replicable process for communications; and your replicable process for culture. Without that, with the speed we’re now moving, things come apart.” This concept can just as easily be applied to VARs trying to make the transition to recurring revenue models as it can to huge corporate acquisitions. The idea of “solutions in a box” has been gaining in popularity in the channel in recent years as partners look for low-effort, high-return offerings they can build a monthly revenue stream upon. Where Chambers talks about “replicable process,” many service providers are experimenting with replicable packages of services, software and hardware presented as a customized solution for small to midsize businesses. The customer feels secure and understood by the service provider because they have something they can physically touch that’s specific to their vertical or job function. Think a desktop pre-loaded with QuickBooks and connected to AWS for accounting, for example, or a Microsoft Surface with Salesforce and all the hardware an outside sales rep might need to connect to any company’s conference room system for presentations. Each customer feels as though they’re getting a solution build just for them, when in reality the MSP has built an offering it can sell over and over again, with all of the services wrapped up into one recurring fee. For channel partners trying to strike a balance between products and services, this replicable process can be a good solution. It’s certainly paid off for Chambers and Cisco, whose 2016 profits were up 14.4 percent despite all of the hysteria around the rise of the cloud and how traditional tech companies are in for a bumpy ride. Using this model, Cisco has made a number of big acquisitions in the last couple of years that will open the door to fast-growing fields like cybersecurity and the Internet of Things. “Decisions will be made much further down in the organization at a fast pace and yet the leader has to be able to keep their finger on the pulse at the top,” Chambers said. “Without those playbooks in place, without that culture in place, without that—unfortunately—process, it doesn’t work.” This article originally appeared on The VAR Guy. (Comment on this)

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