What would you describe as your most memorable achievement in the data centre industry?
It may be a cliché of a response, but each successful delivery of a project is an achievement as each one comes with its own unique challenges – be that commercially with budgets constraints, out-of-control changes or with delivery and management of the project. By resolving these issues and delivering a successful project on behalf of my client I feel that I have really achieved something.
What first made you think of a career in technology/data centres?
Being an MEP QS I have a keen interest in the engineering and technological aspects of projects. I love how the different solutions affect other elements of construction or end-user requirements. After starting out in critical infrastructure projects by delivering major MEP upgrades and plant replacement projects, the next natural step was the data centre market and with the sector’s current focus on reducing environmental impact and energy usage, it is interesting to keep up with the technological advancements that are instilling efficiencies throughout.
What style of management philosophy do you employ with your current position?
I like to empower and share responsibility with my team as this allows them to be engaged with their work, not only encouraging them in their delivery and tasks but enabling them to contribute to the project and the business overall. An empowered individual will understand the reasons for any deadlines, the purpose of delivering the day-to-day tasks and delivering outputs for clients leading to successful outcomes and instilling trust from our clients.
What do you think is the current hot talking point within the data centre space?
I believe the same hot topic that is not just within our sector but throughout many aspects of life at the moment is the reduction of CO2 impact on the environment, green energy and efficiency in commodities such as water and energy. Data centres use a vast amount of energy and water, the majority of which is to support the servers and to provide a cooling infrastructure. While there has always been a constant drive at reducing energy usage, I feel the main focus for clients and developers is on reducing the cooling impact in deploying energy efficient plants and minimising water usage.
How do you deal with stress and unwind outside the office?
Having recently learned to drive, albeit late on in life, I do enjoy taking my young son for car rides and day trips to local attractions, especially historical places and museums.
I also like to go swimming with the family and find it is another good way to unwind. I also love sport and play regularly for a veteran football club at weekends. I probably should do more to relax and unwind but due to a busy work and family life it’s not always that easy.
What do you currently identify as the major areas of investment in your industry?
In my opinion the major investments go hand in hand with the current ‘hot topics’ in the industry. The drive to invest in sustainability is pushing towards more efficient and sustainable plant and equipment, in particular more efficient cooling systems. We understand from the market that there is current investment in Hydrogen generators in lieu of diesel fuel etc. which we should be seeing deployed over the next few years. Data centres, as we all know, use a vast amount of energy and the more efficient and sustainable we can make the technology the less impact there will be on the environment.
What are the region-specific challenges you encounter in your role?
I believe the major challenge is more global and that’s concerning supply, demand and availability. Due to the recent global pandemic and the ongoing Ukraine war, we have seen an impact on available parts for manufacture, which is common across all sectors of business and economy. I believe that this issue has been exacerbated in the data centre market due to the high demand in the sector and the critical nature of controls and redundancy in system infrastructures. Another specific challenge on a more individual projects basis relates to the availability of local expertise and experience in the delivery and operation of data centres within some countries where we’re delivering projects.
What changes to your job role have you seen in the last year and how do you see these developing in the coming months?
I don’t believe my role has changed per-say – just more developed in line with clients’ requirements and the volatility of costs and supply seen in the construction market.
BCS ensures our roles are agile so we can step up to support our clients, ensuring that we are bringing people, processes, technology and any other required support together to find the most appropriate and effective way of delivering within a client’s guidelines.
Moving forward, I don’t see any major change for myself or my role within the industry. Obviously, clients and developers will be concerned around the current global financial markets, however, my role would be as diligent as always in supporting any opportunities or proposals.
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