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Welcome to the Inside Data Centre podcast.
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I'm Andy Davis, and in this podcast I will interview the people working in the data centre sector and tell their stories.
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If you are working in the DC sector or you are looking to work in the sector, then this is the podcast for you.
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Welcome to the Inside Data Centre Podcast.
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Today I'm joined by Colby Cox, Managing Director of America's at DC Byte.
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Good morning, Colby.
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Good morning, Andy.
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Thanks for coming on today.
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Obviously, looking forward to learning more about your career and about your role at DC Byte, but also go into a bit of detail about what's happening over there in the Americas at the moment.
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Very busy market, a lot of new regions are coming to the fore.
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So looking forward to going into detail about that.
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Before we start, do you just want to give a quick introduction of who you are and what your role is at DC BY?
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Yeah, so thank you.
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And you hit the nail on the head.
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There is uh plenty of activity happening in the US these days, and in really all of the Americas, you can you can blend that down into Latam as well, which is uh is another market that's experiencing a ton of growth.
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Um so really where my role is is I'm I'm managing director of the Americas.
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So ultimately I I reside over Latin America, North America.
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Um, and really that's around understanding and working with our operators, suppliers, private equity groups, hyperscalers, and users.
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You can really go down the whole gamut of who's looking at the data center space.
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And ultimately, it's around ensuring that they're kept abreast of what's happening in the data center sector today.
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Um, but more importantly, it's about what is going to be happening in the data center space when we look 24, 36 plus months beyond.
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So at the end of the day, for those that may not be as familiar with DC Byte, is you know, we really offer a global intelligence platform around specifically around the data center space.
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So it really kind of comes in in two flavors, if you will.
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There's a subscription portion, which is really the primary driver with our analytics platform.
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And then we also offer B-spoke consulting that will dive further into particular markets or activities based on what our customers or and prospects are asking us to look at.
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So ultimately, what we're there to do is really provide a consistent, unbiased global view of what's taking place in the data center market.
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Which sounds a lot easier than it is.
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And I think the crystal ball element is always what gets me.
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I find it hard to forecast what's happening next week, but you guys are looking 24, 36 a month, 36 months ahead, which sounds impossible from my side.
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Yeah, it's it's funny.
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It's it's it's really challenging.
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I think the the thing that everybody recognizes, and and I've I've uh you hear this from everybody in the data center space, but it's always been kind of secretive.
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Um, folks have always kind of kept things really close to their chest.
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And it's been difficult to get that data, but really where we've kind of shined is having that global presence, having a massive team of analysts and consultants that are interacting on a daily basis with these folks, that it ultimately comes down to just spreading your network, looking at all the public information, having direct conversations with anybody who's touching the market, and really pulling together all those details.
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And I think that's that's really a testament to how the market has evolved.
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Um, and when I say that, I mean the the secrecy that was once there is that veil is lifting slightly.
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I don't want to say it's lifted at this point, but it is lifting.
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And so people are definitely much more open to it, is as I think that's one of the things that we'll we'll talk about probably later.
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But yeah, is really one of the things that is has been really interesting to see is how everybody's starting to have to work together in a more cohesive way to make sure that everybody can keep up with the just massive influx of demand that the market is seeing.
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Yeah, definitely.
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And we'll go into more detail on what's happening, you know, what is actually happening on the ground shortly.
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But before we go there, I'd just like to learn a bit more about yourself and find out how you started your career.
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So, you know, how how did you first start your career and how did you end up in the world of data centers?
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It's a it's a funny question because it's um, you know, when I went to to college, I went to University of Montana, and my intention was was to be a lawyer.
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Um, I always wanted to be it, you know, the show wasn't around at the time, but but I kind of envisioned myself after seeing the show of being the Harvey Specter guy out there, just being that high-powered dominant New York lawyer.
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Um right out of school, got a job in staffing, ironically enough, and ran a staffing company for a couple of years after being a recruiter.
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And I've just kind of always somehow gone from one job and then into a totally new industry.
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So it's it's just been back and forth.
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But coming into DC Byte, I was with Career Builder at the time, actually, selling human capital management software and data intelligence to help people make smarter decisions.
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So it really good tie back into DC Byte.
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But ultimately, back in 2015, 2016 time frame, I got an opportunity to join QTS data centers.
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Yeah, no idea what a data center was.
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If you asked me what the cloud was, I would have said, yeah, it's one of those things up there in the sky.
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I don't know how my data is up there, but sure, I'll buy into that.
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It's it's in the cloud.
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Yeah.
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Massive learning curve to be able to get into the to what I needed to understand because I knew nothing about it, but I had really good connections into the Fortune 500 and and didn't have that legacy data center mindset.
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So it was a pro an approach that was coming a little bit fresher.
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Yeah.
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So I spent seven years with QTS.
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My first couple years were in the actual sales side.
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So as I was a senior account executive and then quickly moved into the channel world where I really helped just start connecting the dots on opportunities with companies and driving those types of activities with brokers, consultants.
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Yeah, ended up running the QTS channel program for about two and a half, maybe three years.
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Yeah, and then ultimately the the DC Byte opportunity popped up and it was one of those things where I recognize that the access to the data that's provided, that global view, but being able to get an on-the-ground perspective as well and really understand what's actually happening in a truly unbiased fashion was something that was incredibly appealing.
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And I recognize that the market is hungry for data right now on where they can go, how can they get there, who's there already, how do we compete with what's there, when will they have it?
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So that access to data was something that was incredibly intriguing.
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And it was, I knew once I got into the data center space that I wanted to stay here because it's such a critical market to be in right now, and it's not going anywhere.
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Um, yeah, I mean, we've all seen this AI boom.
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It's an absolutely bonkers, is maybe one of the better words to use on what's happening and the growth that it's creating.
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And it's it's gonna lead into years worth of some catch up, yeah, just based on the dynamics that are taking place, and but also just more and more opportunities for growth with this sector as things just really start to be more based on all of the AI, the technology, the IoT, everything that we have happening right now is is just going to continue to fuel data center expansion.
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Yeah, and it's always interesting to hear people, and this is why I love doing this, it come from outside the sector into the sector, because there is that kind of mystific, like the sector is a bit mystified, and that people don't really know what it is, but it exists.
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And like you say, you come into it without really knowing about it, and a lot of people outside think they can't get into it.
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But then when you talk to people like yourself, there's so many others that have come from other industries into the sector.
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We just need to let more people in, don't we?
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And tell people we exist.
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Yeah, and I think we're we're we're doing a significantly better job of that over the years.
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You know, I've been in the space now, I guess call it eight years, roughly, right around eight years, I've been in the data center space now.
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And it's been it's been pretty wild to see the changes that have happened even in those eight years, um, from the size of deals to to how the sector is has gotten more open.
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I mean, even just looking at Ashburn, Virginia.
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When I first started and and I live in that that area, um, it was always interesting to me coming from the staffing side, because when I would drive down Route 7 and pass all those buildings, before I knew what they actually were, which I didn't, I just thought they were warehouses.
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Like I swell, those are distribution centers.
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There's there's 500 guys and women in there that are working on, you know, packing boxes and packing trucks and doing things.
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Um, and it's been really interesting to see how you drive down it now and and you start to see the branding that even the data centers are putting on the side of their buildings that weren't there years ago.
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Um, people are starting to make the the big ugly square gray boxes start to look really nice, actually.
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Like they really have gotten to the point where they've got curb appeal, they look good.
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So the market has definitely gotten a little bit more open to just letting people know what they what they they're doing and who they are.
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Yeah, I totally agree with that point.
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It's great to see as well.
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I love seeing the fact that we're now shouting a little bit about what we do.
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I wanted to obviously use your inside and inside knowledge and your data around the the US market and in the Americas in total to see what's happening out there.
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So can you give us a bit of an overview of, if this is possible, of what is happening in the Americas right now?
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Yeah, it's a good question.
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And it's a uh it's obviously a dynamic answer that continues to change as things keep moving forward, which is which is where we do kind of come into play with that because we're constantly staying on top of things in a in an ongoing basis.
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I think what you're seeing right now when you look at the obviously the primary markets.
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I think everybody knows Ashburn.
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They they recognize what the primary markets in the US are.
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That's kind of table stakes at this point.
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And those markets have have seen such exponential growth, have also had some of the challenges with power, transmission more so than actually creating power, um, public perception, even in some of those markets, and then just oversaturation.
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So I think ultimately what we're seeing in the US region right now is and and this will kind of blend into some of the other things, but ultimately we're seeing the push going more into some of these secondary, kind of the tertiary markets.
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Um, you know, you look to start start looking at some of the statistics.
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And I was looking that at this in the in the platform that we have, and ultimately you start looking at markets like Arizona.
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That if I want to look and understand live capacity right now in Arizona, that's great, but realistically, most of it is going to be spoken for.
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It's pre-leased, there's things that are underway.
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One of the things that we're looking at is under construction, meaning they've got like ME fit out committed.
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So they've got permitting and power secured for the spaces that they're going to build, and then early stage growth.
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And that I think is one of the critical areas that the US is looking at right now, where you look at markets like Arizona, that compared to percentage of live capacity, we're looking at almost 4x growth of that market just based on what's going to hit in the coming years.
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And people are announcing gigawatt scale campuses, yeah, just these monster, monster campuses that are coming.
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So you're looking at 4x growth in places like Arizona.
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Then you start to look at some of those other markets like Ohio that is going to probably look at a 1x to 2x multiple, Utah looking at probably a 2x multiple of construction that's coming to meet the demands that people are seeing.
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Then so you start looking at some of those secondary markets that are booming.
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Even Maryland, you can look at.
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Now, there's not a ton of activity in Maryland from everybody that's there.
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There's there's one big thing with what with what Josh and his team at Quantum Loophole have been doing.
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But that one activity right there represents a 6X growth in that market from potential opportunities that could come for data center operators to hit that.
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And you factor that in with what's going on with the Ashburn market and Northern Virginia in general, it's right up the road.
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I mean, it's it's 15 minutes away.
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So you're right across the river to be able to capitalize on that in a market that's offering some things a little bit more.
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So I think ultimately the US market, we're going to continue to see the primary markets expand, but ultimately, when you start talking about the growth, we're going to see it in the second and third tier markets.
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And just to kind of go into another portion of this, I think one of the things that you'll ultimately see with that is AI is driving a lot of the activity that everybody sees right now.
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So when you start breaking down the various forms of AI, there's a couple really kind of two main things I think you can look at.
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Um you've got the the training kind of models of the AI side of things, which aren't dependent on being next to a populous area.
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And they're not dependent on latency.
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So ultimately, I can look at that and say, well, Charlotte, North Carolina is a great market that's experiencing a ton of growth in and around Charlotte, even pushing down into South Carolina with a couple of announcements that have recently happened.
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So AI companies are going to start looking at developing and going to those markets as well as others.
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Because ultimately, what you're seeing with that AI side of things is it is creating challenges around what everybody's able to accomplish.
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Because right now, and this is where going into that early stage construction, committed, that kind of stuff works really well.
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Because again, like I mentioned before, when you're talking about most of the market having very, very limited inventory right now across the United States.
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Even if somebody shows it's available, more than likely they they've got three to four, maybe five people looking at it that are about to buy it.
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And so it's more than likely pre-leased or in the stages of being closed.
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But what that does is that forces people to have to start look at other markets in other regions.
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And I think a byproduct of that is even if you look at the enterprise side of things.
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So enterprise buyers who typically want to be able to go to Ashburn because they need to get there may find that super challenging right now, or they want to get to Chicago, wherever it may be.
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And reason they're going to find that challenging is all of the AI activity and hyperscale activity is eating up the supply that's there.
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And obviously, you start talking about simple economics when you've got a very big difference in supply versus demand, then what happens?
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Costs start to increase.
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So you start to almost push out some of the enterprise potential buyers that want to look at those primary markets and have to bleed into tertiary markets just to be able to keep up with what their plans are, or then they've got to go down totally different routes and really start to figure out where else they can go.
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And so I think there's a lot of a lot of value right now for companies that are going to focus in on tier two and tier three markets that represent a ton of opportunity for growth.
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And those come with immense benefits for the operators as well, just from a cost perspective, which then bleeds down to the end users' cost to be able to get into that building.
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So that's where you can start using some of the tools and the platform out there to be able to really understand where is their opportunity for me to grow in these other markets.
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How can I get there?
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Who's there?
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And then start to make an actual decision based on data to really help speed up your go-to-market strategy.
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Yeah, that's really interesting.
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I think it's always fascinating to hear because I don't think a lot of people understand from the outside looking in that a lot of these facilities are pre-leased.
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You see the capacity, you see, like, oh, they're built, like you said, a one gigawatt campus.
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That's already gone before it's even being built.
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And when you look at the demand, and then you hear on the market the cut some of the customers and the scale of capacity that they are looking for, and in the regions that they're looking for it, it just like you say, it doesn't work because there isn't enough capacity to meet the demand.
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And that's what we're seeing globally everywhere at the moment.
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Obviously, you know, we're talking Americans, but it's no different in Europe, it's no different in APAC.
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There's some huge scale customers out there that will take your capacity as soon as they can.
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Oh, yeah.
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Yeah, I think it's it's the moment somebody finds out there's availability, because at the end of the day, I think what you're seeing with a lot of these large-scale developments, um, whether it's AI within an enterprise who's building their own AI, you know, financial institutions, healthcare, whatever they may be, who's trying to build proprietary AI to be able to deliver better services for their customers.
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I think the reality right now, and where companies want to really understand that forward-looking statement for what operators are doing, and factoring in what you just said is most things are spoken for already.
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That's where when we start having these conversations with operators or even end users or private equity companies, it really ends up being a lot of the discussion around, well, what's coming?
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Because what these companies are asking for today is, you know, I want to get into Atlanta and I need five megawatts today, but I need somebody who can provide me a growth projection to get to a hundred megawatts.
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And do you even have?
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I'm looking at these three providers.
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Can you tell me what they have coming in the next three, four years that we need to be aware of?
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Because then I'm making a smarter decision based on the data provided to recognize that I will have runway if I go with this provider versus this provider, to be able to see that they've got a path to grow with me.
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And so I'm making a long-term buying decision versus this is who has capacity immediately.
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I got to buy it right now, and then move on to the next.
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And then you still have a disparate kind of IT workload built around in a in a city, and which can work perfectly fine, but may not be what that company is ultimately looking for.
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Yeah, and another point on what you're talking about at the moment is the influx of new capital.
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Because again, we see it from our positions, we have these conversations, but are you still seeing a lot of these private equity?
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There's a lot of funds out there that are investing significant funds into sector that are not even public yet.
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Are you seeing that that flow is continuing?
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Yeah, yeah.
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It's it's definitely one that's continuing and probably going to continue for the foreseeable future based on how things are going, because these funds are seeing immense returns when they're they're jumping into the data center sector.
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They're recognizing it quickly.
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And that's where that's where a lot of the conversations I've had so far um with the the kind of funds and the equity groups has been around we're thinking of you know, hypothetical situations that conversations that I have is X companies potentially looking at this market for growth.
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They want to understand these operators.
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Where are they currently at today?
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What growth projections do they have?
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Let's have you guys be support to what we're finding and really be able to make those buying decisions in a more meaningful way.
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And so equity is definitely somebody that is absolutely eating up the data side simply because they they are wanting to find the right companies to go in with that already have a good growth projection.
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Maybe they've got 30% capacity already, but they've got available IT workload that somebody can come into.
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And they happen to have land adjacency that's that's sitting there, not permitted yet, but offers a significant growth, knowing that if they have the capital to deploy it, given current cost of capital, if I'm a public company, can be very challenging.
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Where private, they're willing to write checks for billions and billions and billions of dollars to just pump these companies up, knowing they're going to see a return on it in very short order.
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Yeah, it's exciting.
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And I think we're lucky that we get to have some of these conversations with people from the outside that are looking to come in.
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Obviously, we won't go into detail around those.
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And using your kind of data and your crystal ball, as I say, how do you think the sector is going to evolve over the next you know 24 to 36 months?
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Yeah, I think it's, you know, this will even go back to one of the things that I've seen with some of my conversations and what we mentioned earlier about people now talking more regularly.
00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:34.880
Um, so I think what we've seen, because some of the areas that we actually work within the sector is also within the suppliers.
00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:44.319
So ultimately, it, you know, as an example, if I'm if I'm a company that produces prefab concrete, I want to understand where developments are going.
00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:45.519
I want to be able to see that.
00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:48.400
So having that access to that data is going to be there.
00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:55.680
I think when you start looking at how the market's going to evolve, again, it kind of goes back to that secondary markets initially.
00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:59.759
And while it may not be, you know, most people may hear secondary.
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:11.599
Third tier markets and think you know Des Moines, Iowa right out of the gate, or Fargo, North Dakota, you name a random town or city in the US, and think of those types of markets.
00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:19.680
I think it also just bleeds to just outside of the primary markets, where can there be growth there and how you can see it?
00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:27.519
So I think we continue to see the expansion across various markets within the US and to really kind of hone in on those.
00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:31.359
Like I mentioned, I mean, even Illinois is a good example.
00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:42.400
You you start of what I'm just saying there is you've got probably 2x growth from when I was looking at the data earlier this morning that's going to be hitting that from planned construction.
00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:54.160
But what's happening there is you've got that oversaturation of kind of the traditional, you know, the Franklin Park, Elk Grove, O'Hare regions, where people are starting to push further and further west.
00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:58.400
You know, they're looking at where else we can get the land, how can we get the power.
00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:05.200
And so I think it's it's going to be that continued sprawl mentality over the next 12 to 24 months.
00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:07.279
It's just going to continue to push out.
00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:20.400
And I think we also see it, you know, this is going to be an interesting point with all of the big operators who are kind of solely focused on these massive multi-megawatt deals that weren't years ago.
00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:26.960
You know, years ago they were seeing 500 KW, they were seeing, you know, they were doing couple cabinet rack deals.
00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:29.519
Now it's all these multi-megawatt deals.
00:23:29.599 --> 00:23:32.000
So go after those and and lock those down.
00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:34.400
Prices have increased, so they're great deals.
00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:45.359
What that's also going to lead to is all of the SMB needs and even some of the small enterprise, mid-market to enterprise needs, still have to go somewhere.
00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:49.279
And those people may not be able to compete with what's going on in the markets here.
00:23:49.440 --> 00:24:09.359
So I think you even start to see some of the lesser known operators in some of these other markets start to bubble up and start to have a bigger presence because they're going to be the the positive byproduct of the other operators going after the 100 megawatt shiny object.
00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:11.920
All those other deals still have to land somewhere.
00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:40.480
And so they're going to be able to really start to see expansion with players that were probably traditionally unknown to 90% of the community, and really start to get more visibility with that, which is going to be phenomenal for the industry because it continues to expand our reach, continues to expand the presence that we have and starts to pump up some other companies and just blending to a more competitive dynamic across the entire US and then even beyond.
00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:46.720
I think going outside of the US, you know, Latin America is poised for massive growth.
00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:52.960
I mean, I think you also have to put in context the starting point where they're coming from right now.
00:24:53.519 --> 00:25:02.960
But when I start when you start to look at the Latin American market, I mean, there's multiples of growth that they're going to be able to see across their primary markets.
00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:06.960
And so I think it's going to be really interesting to see how this all shifts.
00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:10.400
And does the AI bubble go away at a certain point?
00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:11.759
I, you know, who knows?
00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:13.759
That's a forward thinking statement.
00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:14.960
I have no idea about.
00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:21.839
But, you know, what is what happens if it does is a big question, too, to think about, which is a doomsday scenario.
00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:25.119
I don't think we're going to ever hit it then based on what's going on now.
00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:29.200
But yeah, I think you'll see you'll see smaller players start to bubble up to the surface.
00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:36.880
We're going to continue to see those secondary and third-tier markets get more and more publicity and just almost out of necessity.
00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:42.240
Yeah, and it's interesting because there's actually investors as well of funds looking at that market.
00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:46.079
I think everyone thinks the money coming in and the capital coming in is hyperscale.
00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:49.359
They're going after the major contracts, they want gigawatt campuses.
00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:50.079
They don't all want that.
00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:51.519
These are clever people.
00:25:51.599 --> 00:25:55.200
Yeah, they know what they're doing with their money, and there's some that are coming into that space.
00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:55.759
Yeah.
00:25:55.839 --> 00:26:05.039
And I mean, when you think it's it's the right move because your your barrier to entry, or I guess I should say your cost to enter those markets is going to be significantly less.
00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:11.599
Um, land cost is probably 50% less than what it would be if you try to go to Ashburn right now.
00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:16.559
Like you're just going to spend an arm and a leg going in into Ashburn at this point to try to get land.
00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:18.799
And then what's your power dynamic going to look like?
00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:21.680
So you've got potentially more reliable power.
00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:27.039
Um, you've got the land cost that's going to be significantly less.
00:26:27.119 --> 00:26:40.480
Uh, so you can get in and and be smarter about that the money that's spent, which is 100% where a lot of the conversations we're having and the consulting projects that we're doing are solely based on right now, not solely.
00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:47.440
I mean, we're still looking at primary markets, but most of the interest that we see these days is around the secondary markets.
00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:48.559
Who's there?
00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:51.839
If we go to this market, what are we competing with?
00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:54.880
Um, who has long-term needs that they're going to see?
00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:59.599
There's there's been a you know minor growth uptick in X market.
00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:08.400
How do we get to multiply that by what our goals are going to be and to really start better understanding where they can drive that to?
00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:10.880
So it's it's pretty unique to see what's going on.
00:27:11.119 --> 00:27:13.440
Yeah, it's exciting, so I'm just no doubt about it.
00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:16.000
And obviously, we touched on a few points earlier as well.
00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:21.039
There's expansion and growth brings challenges, you know, and this sector is amazing at overcoming challenges.
00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:25.599
And it it seems to be that whenever whenever I'm talking to anyone, there's there's a major challenge out there.
00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:31.039
But what do you think are the main challenges we're gonna face as we head through the rest of 2023?
00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:36.720
I I think we continue to see, you know, supply chain's normal, normalized out a little bit.
00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:40.079
I mean, it's gotten, I don't want to say normalized, it's gotten better.
00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:50.720
Um but at the same time, I think we're we're almost stuck in the in a somewhat of a vicious cycle where it's just gonna continue to get caught up and caught up and caught up.
00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:56.960
Um, and then once it gets caught up, it's now further behind because two gigawatts have been sold.
00:27:57.200 --> 00:28:06.240
You know, I think there was a there was a post I saw 2.1 gigawatts is pretty has been roughly estimated to have been sold in the last 90 days, and which is pretty wild.
00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:16.400
Um, so I think when you start looking at that, supply chain is gonna continue to be a challenge, power is gonna continue to be a challenge, um sustainability.
00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:22.319
I mean, that's obviously got to be factored into to what anybody's doing and and how they're gonna be able to do it.
00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:24.880
Um so I think we continue to see those.
00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:32.799
I think the other that other people have talked about, and I obviously you hear it as well, is is still talent.
00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:36.160
Um, we still need people to be able to come into this sector.
00:28:36.319 --> 00:28:46.960
Um, a lot of the folks that, you know, I've been in eight years, and a lot of my the folks that I'll lean on when I have questions or or I want to understand things better.
00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:54.319
Most of those guys and and those women are starting to look at how much longer am I going to be in this space?
00:28:54.480 --> 00:28:56.079
And and then what happens there.
00:28:56.240 --> 00:29:08.400
So I think there's a there's a talent and potential knowledge gap that we may start to see if if we're not pulling in folks to this industry and really opening it up a little even more than than it is today.
00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:10.319
Um, so I think we'll continue to see that.
00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:18.880
I think costs um both for the customers and for uh the suppliers uh obviously presents potential challenges.
00:29:19.039 --> 00:29:24.799
Now that's alleviated big time with this influx of private equity capital that's coming to the market.
00:29:25.039 --> 00:29:32.319
So yeah, depending on where you're at, but that does present challenges for some of the smaller players who may not have that access to capital.
00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:40.960
Um, but I think the the biggest thing is going to be the location side of where to build, um, how to build, how to get there, where to go with it.
00:29:41.119 --> 00:30:01.039
Um, and that's when when folks start looking at markets in which offer a good potential to grow into, you know, the the I'm in Iowa and I'm close enough to Chicago, or I'm I'm in certain regions that we can build at that are not far away and offer still good talent pools.
00:30:01.200 --> 00:30:05.359
They've still got all the technology technical type folks that they're gonna need to pull in.
00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:10.240
So I think that's gonna be some of the big things that we'll see hindering it.
00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:15.839
Um but I think again, everybody's gonna overcome it in the best way possible.
00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:22.079
And and that again leads driving into those other markets outside of the primary markets, looking at tier two, tier three.
00:30:22.319 --> 00:30:23.119
Yeah, it's interesting.
00:30:23.200 --> 00:30:30.400
With the talent piece, obviously it's what I do day to day, but it's it's linked to the new markets as well, because we're going into markets where there is no talent pool.
00:30:30.559 --> 00:30:41.119
So kind of the growth of the second, you've got the problem already with like pick a Virginia, where there's only an uh X amount of talent and there's growing there and it's poaching from everybody.
00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:49.200
But then you've got the market where you're going into a new market, like Arizona or somewhere, and you're building new facilities and there is no existing talent pool.
00:30:49.279 --> 00:31:02.400
So having to pull that talent with experience from somewhere else, or you've got to adapt to your search and actually take people that are not experienced from the sector and train them up and develop them for when you when your facility is live.
00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:05.440
So it they go hand in hand as well, those challenges.
00:31:05.680 --> 00:31:10.960
Yeah, I mean, I think you look at you even look at a market like South Carolina.
00:31:11.039 --> 00:31:15.119
I know there's been a there's been a couple of big stories recently about developments going there.
00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:20.720
I know QTS just announced uh a pretty big, pretty big campus they're gonna be growing into there.
00:31:20.799 --> 00:31:34.480
And and you've got Google and and you've got a couple other players there, but you start looking at a market like that that hasn't had a ton of growth uh over the years, doesn't really have a big supply at the moment right now.
00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:43.200
Um, obviously outside of some of the hyperscale activity there, but you start looking at a market like that that you're adjacent to Charlotte, um, you're close enough.
00:31:43.279 --> 00:31:44.720
I mean, you're right down the road.
00:31:44.799 --> 00:31:54.559
Uh you've got South Carolina there, you've got connectivity via some of the substation uh or the landing stations, I should say, with the sub-sea cables, that can have an impact.
00:31:54.640 --> 00:31:55.920
Um, is it going to be everything?
00:31:56.079 --> 00:31:57.519
No, but it can have an impact.
00:31:57.759 --> 00:32:06.160
But that market all of a sudden, with some of the announcements that have have hit, has gone from you know minimal megawatts.
00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:14.640
I mean, in the sub-20 megawatts range when you're talking about outside of hyperscale activity, to now all of a sudden being several hundred megawatts.
00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:19.359
Um, so you're seeing then you you got to start factoring in all right, who else goes there?
00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:24.079
Because is is the hyperscale community going to start driving further into that market?
00:32:24.240 --> 00:32:29.839
And how are they gonna start changing the landscape of it, which then does help attract and drive talent to it?
00:32:29.920 --> 00:32:47.440
And because now you've got a whole new opportunity to look at the University of South Carolina and some of the schools that are there for how can we start educating the local folks around here and within the university systems that that are adjacent to these new locations to be able to pull that talent pool in.
00:32:47.599 --> 00:33:12.559
And so I think that's something where the the industry, we all of us are going to have to do a really good job of when we do start creeping into new markets and start evaluating what's going on in these new markets is how do we have a positive impact and a and a clean perception coming in versus oh no, these big ugly boxes that that create a lot of noise, but do they really?
00:33:12.720 --> 00:33:28.000
And and you start to go down that path and then also making sure people recognize the the very, very, very minimal impact to the local community infrastructure, but the massive impact to the local community tax revenue.
00:33:28.160 --> 00:33:38.720
And then I think you start to be able to paint a picture much, much better uh for these new markets that we're all going to be entering into to be able to understand where that's going.
00:33:38.880 --> 00:33:53.119
And that's where a lot of the times when we're doing some of our analysis, looking at some of the big global players that are utilizing the platform today is they are looking at markets that are adjacent, that have minimal competition right now.
00:33:53.279 --> 00:33:57.519
And how can they go be the first ones to enter a market and build it up?
00:33:57.680 --> 00:34:12.480
Or the competition that's there is smaller, very small, call it mom and pop type shops that aren't going to pose a huge threat, uh, but they can still help that community and get more of the connectivity pulled in.
00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:23.679
They can they can speed up the timeline for that to start to become a true second tier second-tier market and just start to experience the growth that we're all going to continue to see.
00:34:24.159 --> 00:34:26.320
Yeah, I think we could talk all day about this.
00:34:26.639 --> 00:34:29.119
I think it's so exciting what's happening out in the industry at the moment.
00:34:29.199 --> 00:34:34.400
And it's it's great to get your insight when you're you know you're there, you're DC buyer looking at the numbers all the time.
00:34:34.480 --> 00:34:35.679
They know exactly what's happening.
00:34:35.760 --> 00:34:39.280
And it's uh I say I could we could go deeper, but we best not.
00:34:39.360 --> 00:34:40.880
We've both got things to do today.
00:34:40.960 --> 00:34:45.760
But before we close, just a couple of more quick fire questions just to get your opinion, really.
00:34:45.920 --> 00:34:51.039
But if you could ask everyone in the sector to start or stop doing one thing, what would it be?
00:34:52.400 --> 00:34:55.039
Um that's a really good question.
00:34:55.119 --> 00:35:01.119
I think to to keep doing is keep sharing.
00:35:01.199 --> 00:35:19.360
Yeah, I think this community has always been, it's it's interesting when you look at the the sheer volume of data and the numbers, the numbers paint it like it's this massive, massive world that we have to work within when in reality we're a really close-knit small community.
00:35:19.519 --> 00:35:19.760
Yeah.
00:35:19.920 --> 00:35:31.760
So ultimately, I think continuing that that conversation, that discussion on on how we can continue to be better at what we're doing, um, I think is something that we we a hundred percent need to need to continue.
00:35:31.920 --> 00:35:40.480
Um I think one thing that would be interesting to see I'm trying to think of a thing to stop doing.
00:35:40.719 --> 00:35:48.079
Um yeah, I mean, I I I think it's that's it's almost more of a continue to open up.
00:35:48.239 --> 00:35:53.360
So I don't know if it's a stop doing, but continue to to share more about who we are.
00:35:53.519 --> 00:35:56.320
Um we do it internally with ourselves.
00:35:56.480 --> 00:36:18.400
We talk a lot, everybody's kind of open to share information with one another, but continue to expand on how we're doing that externally, on the critical nature of what we actually are and how the data center industry is ultimately really the fueling all of the growth that the world is able to see because we're the homes for it.
00:36:18.559 --> 00:36:32.800
And all this activity is happening inside of a data center, and really just start to make sure that folks understand the importance of what we're doing, and it's not, you know, I've got a 20-year-old soon to be 21 and a and a 17-year-old.
00:36:33.119 --> 00:36:36.239
And for them, it's just an iPhone.
00:36:36.719 --> 00:36:40.000
They have no clue how that works or where everything else is going.
00:36:40.159 --> 00:36:47.440
They've understood it now over the last couple of years, but making sure even the youth understands it a little bit a little bit more.
00:36:47.599 --> 00:36:51.599
Um so that way we're able to continue to expand the the industry as we move forward.
00:36:51.679 --> 00:37:06.719
And that will help our talent shortage that we're probably gonna continue to see if we don't start making sure that the the rest of the world understands and the youth in particular understand exactly who we are and and how impactful we are to what the world is trying to do.
00:37:07.039 --> 00:37:08.239
Yeah, I couldn't agree more.
00:37:08.320 --> 00:37:13.760
I think you know, stop keeping it a secret is something that I think we can all we can all do a better job at.
00:37:13.840 --> 00:37:16.079
And that's where the idea for the podcast came from.
00:37:16.159 --> 00:37:19.440
It's you know, we we can talk about a lot of things, it doesn't have to be a secret.
00:37:19.519 --> 00:37:21.760
So yeah, I totally agree with you on that one.
00:37:21.840 --> 00:37:27.599
And final question if you could give one piece of advice to anyone looking to start a career in the sector, what would it be?
00:37:28.880 --> 00:37:30.960
Curious, ask questions.
00:37:31.280 --> 00:37:45.119
I mean, it's it's such a silly thing to say, and it seems so obvious, I think, to most people, but curiosity is probably one of the best things any of us, just as humans, can have.
00:37:45.360 --> 00:37:52.320
Um, in particular coming into this space, I think the more you can ask the the simple question of why.
00:37:52.480 --> 00:37:54.880
I mean, it's like going back and being a toddler.
00:37:55.599 --> 00:37:56.480
You know, why?
00:37:56.639 --> 00:37:58.000
Why do I have to clean my room?
00:37:58.159 --> 00:37:58.400
Why?
00:37:58.559 --> 00:38:00.480
Like it just keep asking why.
00:38:00.639 --> 00:38:02.239
Why does this do it this way?
00:38:02.400 --> 00:38:04.639
Why is this company doing it this way?
00:38:04.880 --> 00:38:17.440
Because what that that ultimately will fuel is is that that fire and that that curiosity will will be the genesis of what's the next thing that we're going to come up with.
00:38:17.599 --> 00:38:35.280
Yeah, because the more we start to ask and people continue to ask the questions, that opens the door up for us to say, well, if we're all trying to tackle this influx of power on the floor and these you know 45, 50 kw racks, why are we not talking about it more?
00:38:35.360 --> 00:38:47.039
Why are we not figuring out design standards that our hyperscale customers can work within that they don't have to alter everything they're doing every time they pick a new provider to work with or how they want to go about it?
00:38:47.199 --> 00:38:50.000
So I think curiosity was would be the biggest thing.
00:38:50.159 --> 00:38:52.400
Maintain your curiosity throughout your career.
00:38:52.480 --> 00:38:59.920
Don't get to a point where where you feel you've you've got it down because you just you don't, especially in this industry.
00:39:00.079 --> 00:39:05.119
I think that's virtually impossible to say you you know everything that's going on in this industry.
00:39:05.280 --> 00:39:09.360
Um start with it, keep it, and and end with that curiosity.
00:39:09.440 --> 00:39:16.320
And I think people can have a phenomenal career in the data center space because people are more than willing to talk, just ask them questions.
00:39:16.639 --> 00:39:24.960
Yeah, I think from all the podcasts I've done and I ask everybody that question, I think what I've taken from it most is that the importance of curiosity.
00:39:25.119 --> 00:39:26.960
I think we do underestimate it.
00:39:27.039 --> 00:39:31.519
I think, like you say, when we're younger, we it's it's ingrained in us to ask because we don't know.
00:39:31.679 --> 00:39:34.079
Whereas as we get older, we get less confident.
00:39:34.239 --> 00:39:42.400
We feel that if we're asking why, it makes us look bad or it's negative on us when actually, like you say, it's you ask him why because you don't know.
00:39:42.559 --> 00:39:44.559
And if you don't know, you want to know why.
00:39:44.639 --> 00:39:46.159
So I couldn't agree more with it.
00:39:46.239 --> 00:39:51.119
It's a massive, massive skill to be curious, and I think you can work on it as well.
00:39:51.280 --> 00:39:52.960
So, yeah, couldn't agree more.
00:39:53.519 --> 00:39:54.800
Love that conversation.
00:39:54.960 --> 00:40:04.559
I always find it ironic when I'm talking about the use of data in the data center industry, and I think it's something that we could do a lot better, and platforms like DC Byte are making that possible.
00:40:04.719 --> 00:40:06.480
So thank you for doing that.
00:40:06.559 --> 00:40:08.239
But where can anyone find you?
00:40:08.400 --> 00:40:11.119
Where can they get more information if they want to learn more?
00:40:11.679 --> 00:40:12.719
Yeah, LinkedIn.
00:40:12.880 --> 00:40:14.880
Um, obviously, connect with me on LinkedIn.
00:40:14.960 --> 00:40:18.800
I would love to talk more with anybody who's who's looking to understand what we're doing.
00:40:19.039 --> 00:40:22.159
Check out our company website, dcbyte.com.
00:40:22.320 --> 00:40:28.159
Um, you can kind of peruse through who our current clientele is, fill in any contact forms if you want there.
00:40:28.239 --> 00:40:30.239
Um, or also just reach out to me directly.
00:40:30.320 --> 00:40:31.920
You know, my email's pretty straightforward.
00:40:32.000 --> 00:40:34.320
It's Colby.cox at dcbyte.com.
00:40:34.480 --> 00:40:39.760
If folks want to have conversations and to the curiosity discussion, I love just talking to people.
00:40:39.840 --> 00:40:47.360
Uh, half the time, that's that's where a lot of the data and a lot of the information in my head in particular comes from is oh, that was a good point.
00:40:47.440 --> 00:40:49.920
Let me figure out how I can talk about that or use that.
00:40:50.159 --> 00:40:52.320
Um, so I think that's the easiest way.
00:40:52.400 --> 00:40:54.320
I love discussions, I love conversations.
00:40:54.400 --> 00:40:56.719
So the more, more the the merrier.
00:40:56.880 --> 00:41:02.880
Um, but yeah, check me out on LinkedIn, connect with me, check out the DC Byte website, and feel free to email me at any time.
00:41:02.960 --> 00:41:20.480
I'm more than happy to have discussions about how we can solve potential challenges that companies are having, or just how they can utilize the data to support some of the initiatives that they're looking at or thinking about and want somebody to validate their thought process, yeah, via the use of data and in our global team.
00:41:20.559 --> 00:41:23.199
And I think we can we can 100% help everybody out.
00:41:23.519 --> 00:41:25.679
Yeah, and the website is an amazing resource as well.
00:41:25.760 --> 00:41:27.840
I'll say that because you know I look at it quite regularly.
00:41:27.920 --> 00:41:29.840
DC Byte is a great resource as well.
00:41:29.920 --> 00:41:32.960
So definitely if you haven't and you're listening, make sure you check it out.
00:41:33.039 --> 00:41:35.760
It's it's well worth five minutes or more of your time.
00:41:35.840 --> 00:41:37.199
So thanks, Colby.
00:41:37.360 --> 00:41:38.079
Love that conversation.
00:41:38.239 --> 00:41:42.079
Keep up the great work over there, and I say, and we'll definitely catch up again soon.
00:41:42.320 --> 00:41:43.599
Yeah, thank you very much, Andy.
00:41:43.679 --> 00:41:47.280
This has been fantastic, appreciate it, and uh happy to help out.
00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:19.039
Welcome to the Inside Data Centre podcast.
00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:24.879
I'm Andy Davis, and in this podcast I will interview the people working in the data centre sector and tell their stories.
00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:31.039
If you are working in the DC sector or you are looking to work in the sector, then this is the podcast for you.
00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:33.439
Welcome to the Inside Data Centre Podcast.
00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:37.600
Today I'm joined by Colby Cox, Managing Director of America's at DC Byte.
00:00:37.759 --> 00:00:38.719
Good morning, Colby.
00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:40.240
Good morning, Andy.
00:00:40.719 --> 00:00:41.920
Thanks for coming on today.
00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:50.560
Obviously, looking forward to learning more about your career and about your role at DC Byte, but also go into a bit of detail about what's happening over there in the Americas at the moment.
00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:53.920
Very busy market, a lot of new regions are coming to the fore.
00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:56.079
So looking forward to going into detail about that.
00:00:56.320 --> 00:01:01.359
Before we start, do you just want to give a quick introduction of who you are and what your role is at DC BY?
00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:03.119
Yeah, so thank you.
00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:04.719
And you hit the nail on the head.
00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:17.120
There is uh plenty of activity happening in the US these days, and in really all of the Americas, you can you can blend that down into Latam as well, which is uh is another market that's experiencing a ton of growth.
00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:21.680
Um so really where my role is is I'm I'm managing director of the Americas.
00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:26.239
So ultimately I I reside over Latin America, North America.
00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:35.359
Um, and really that's around understanding and working with our operators, suppliers, private equity groups, hyperscalers, and users.
00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:39.760
You can really go down the whole gamut of who's looking at the data center space.
00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:46.799
And ultimately, it's around ensuring that they're kept abreast of what's happening in the data center sector today.
00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:55.840
Um, but more importantly, it's about what is going to be happening in the data center space when we look 24, 36 plus months beyond.
00:01:56.079 --> 00:02:06.879
So at the end of the day, for those that may not be as familiar with DC Byte, is you know, we really offer a global intelligence platform around specifically around the data center space.
00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:10.960
So it really kind of comes in in two flavors, if you will.
00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:16.240
There's a subscription portion, which is really the primary driver with our analytics platform.
00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:27.759
And then we also offer B-spoke consulting that will dive further into particular markets or activities based on what our customers or and prospects are asking us to look at.
00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:37.599
So ultimately, what we're there to do is really provide a consistent, unbiased global view of what's taking place in the data center market.
00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:39.759
Which sounds a lot easier than it is.
00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:42.719
And I think the crystal ball element is always what gets me.
00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:52.560
I find it hard to forecast what's happening next week, but you guys are looking 24, 36 a month, 36 months ahead, which sounds impossible from my side.
00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:54.319
Yeah, it's it's funny.
00:02:54.400 --> 00:02:56.400
It's it's it's really challenging.
00:02:56.560 --> 00:03:06.319
I think the the thing that everybody recognizes, and and I've I've uh you hear this from everybody in the data center space, but it's always been kind of secretive.
00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:10.879
Um, folks have always kind of kept things really close to their chest.
00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:36.000
And it's been difficult to get that data, but really where we've kind of shined is having that global presence, having a massive team of analysts and consultants that are interacting on a daily basis with these folks, that it ultimately comes down to just spreading your network, looking at all the public information, having direct conversations with anybody who's touching the market, and really pulling together all those details.
00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:41.039
And I think that's that's really a testament to how the market has evolved.
00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:48.719
Um, and when I say that, I mean the the secrecy that was once there is that veil is lifting slightly.
00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:52.000
I don't want to say it's lifted at this point, but it is lifting.
00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:58.479
And so people are definitely much more open to it, is as I think that's one of the things that we'll we'll talk about probably later.
00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:14.319
But yeah, is really one of the things that is has been really interesting to see is how everybody's starting to have to work together in a more cohesive way to make sure that everybody can keep up with the just massive influx of demand that the market is seeing.
00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:15.120
Yeah, definitely.
00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:19.839
And we'll go into more detail on what's happening, you know, what is actually happening on the ground shortly.
00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:24.319
But before we go there, I'd just like to learn a bit more about yourself and find out how you started your career.
00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:29.040
So, you know, how how did you first start your career and how did you end up in the world of data centers?
00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:38.560
It's a it's a funny question because it's um, you know, when I went to to college, I went to University of Montana, and my intention was was to be a lawyer.
00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:50.319
Um, I always wanted to be it, you know, the show wasn't around at the time, but but I kind of envisioned myself after seeing the show of being the Harvey Specter guy out there, just being that high-powered dominant New York lawyer.
00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:58.639
Um right out of school, got a job in staffing, ironically enough, and ran a staffing company for a couple of years after being a recruiter.
00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:04.720
And I've just kind of always somehow gone from one job and then into a totally new industry.
00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:06.879
So it's it's just been back and forth.
00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:17.120
But coming into DC Byte, I was with Career Builder at the time, actually, selling human capital management software and data intelligence to help people make smarter decisions.
00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:20.480
So it really good tie back into DC Byte.
00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:28.639
But ultimately, back in 2015, 2016 time frame, I got an opportunity to join QTS data centers.
00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:32.160
Yeah, no idea what a data center was.
00:05:32.319 --> 00:05:36.480
If you asked me what the cloud was, I would have said, yeah, it's one of those things up there in the sky.
00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:39.600
I don't know how my data is up there, but sure, I'll buy into that.
00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:40.959
It's it's in the cloud.
00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:41.759
Yeah.
00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:57.600
Massive learning curve to be able to get into the to what I needed to understand because I knew nothing about it, but I had really good connections into the Fortune 500 and and didn't have that legacy data center mindset.
00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:01.360
So it was a pro an approach that was coming a little bit fresher.
00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:01.680
Yeah.
00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:03.839
So I spent seven years with QTS.
00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:08.000
My first couple years were in the actual sales side.
00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:21.839
So as I was a senior account executive and then quickly moved into the channel world where I really helped just start connecting the dots on opportunities with companies and driving those types of activities with brokers, consultants.
00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:28.000
Yeah, ended up running the QTS channel program for about two and a half, maybe three years.
00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:50.879
Yeah, and then ultimately the the DC Byte opportunity popped up and it was one of those things where I recognize that the access to the data that's provided, that global view, but being able to get an on-the-ground perspective as well and really understand what's actually happening in a truly unbiased fashion was something that was incredibly appealing.
00:06:50.959 --> 00:07:02.319
And I recognize that the market is hungry for data right now on where they can go, how can they get there, who's there already, how do we compete with what's there, when will they have it?
00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:05.680
So that access to data was something that was incredibly intriguing.
00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:14.879
And it was, I knew once I got into the data center space that I wanted to stay here because it's such a critical market to be in right now, and it's not going anywhere.
00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:17.360
Um, yeah, I mean, we've all seen this AI boom.
00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:24.879
It's an absolutely bonkers, is maybe one of the better words to use on what's happening and the growth that it's creating.
00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:49.439
And it's it's gonna lead into years worth of some catch up, yeah, just based on the dynamics that are taking place, and but also just more and more opportunities for growth with this sector as things just really start to be more based on all of the AI, the technology, the IoT, everything that we have happening right now is is just going to continue to fuel data center expansion.
00:07:49.759 --> 00:08:03.120
Yeah, and it's always interesting to hear people, and this is why I love doing this, it come from outside the sector into the sector, because there is that kind of mystific, like the sector is a bit mystified, and that people don't really know what it is, but it exists.
00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:08.560
And like you say, you come into it without really knowing about it, and a lot of people outside think they can't get into it.
00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:14.800
But then when you talk to people like yourself, there's so many others that have come from other industries into the sector.
00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:17.120
We just need to let more people in, don't we?
00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:18.720
And tell people we exist.
00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:23.680
Yeah, and I think we're we're we're doing a significantly better job of that over the years.
00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:30.800
You know, I've been in the space now, I guess call it eight years, roughly, right around eight years, I've been in the data center space now.
00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:40.960
And it's been it's been pretty wild to see the changes that have happened even in those eight years, um, from the size of deals to to how the sector is has gotten more open.
00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:43.759
I mean, even just looking at Ashburn, Virginia.
00:08:44.080 --> 00:09:00.000
When I first started and and I live in that that area, um, it was always interesting to me coming from the staffing side, because when I would drive down Route 7 and pass all those buildings, before I knew what they actually were, which I didn't, I just thought they were warehouses.
00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:02.320
Like I swell, those are distribution centers.
00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:11.440
There's there's 500 guys and women in there that are working on, you know, packing boxes and packing trucks and doing things.
00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:21.200
Um, and it's been really interesting to see how you drive down it now and and you start to see the branding that even the data centers are putting on the side of their buildings that weren't there years ago.
00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:30.399
Um, people are starting to make the the big ugly square gray boxes start to look really nice, actually.
00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:34.720
Like they really have gotten to the point where they've got curb appeal, they look good.
00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:41.440
So the market has definitely gotten a little bit more open to just letting people know what they what they they're doing and who they are.
00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:43.360
Yeah, I totally agree with that point.
00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:44.399
It's great to see as well.
00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:48.320
I love seeing the fact that we're now shouting a little bit about what we do.
00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:57.519
I wanted to obviously use your inside and inside knowledge and your data around the the US market and in the Americas in total to see what's happening out there.
00:09:57.679 --> 00:10:04.320
So can you give us a bit of an overview of, if this is possible, of what is happening in the Americas right now?
00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:06.080
Yeah, it's a good question.
00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:19.120
And it's a uh it's obviously a dynamic answer that continues to change as things keep moving forward, which is which is where we do kind of come into play with that because we're constantly staying on top of things in a in an ongoing basis.
00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:23.679
I think what you're seeing right now when you look at the obviously the primary markets.
00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:25.600
I think everybody knows Ashburn.
00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:28.480
They they recognize what the primary markets in the US are.
00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:31.279
That's kind of table stakes at this point.
00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:48.639
And those markets have have seen such exponential growth, have also had some of the challenges with power, transmission more so than actually creating power, um, public perception, even in some of those markets, and then just oversaturation.
00:10:48.720 --> 00:11:02.639
So I think ultimately what we're seeing in the US region right now is and and this will kind of blend into some of the other things, but ultimately we're seeing the push going more into some of these secondary, kind of the tertiary markets.
00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:06.159
Um, you know, you look to start start looking at some of the statistics.
00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:13.919
And I was looking that at this in the in the platform that we have, and ultimately you start looking at markets like Arizona.
00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:23.440
That if I want to look and understand live capacity right now in Arizona, that's great, but realistically, most of it is going to be spoken for.
00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:25.840
It's pre-leased, there's things that are underway.
00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:33.039
One of the things that we're looking at is under construction, meaning they've got like ME fit out committed.
00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:39.600
So they've got permitting and power secured for the spaces that they're going to build, and then early stage growth.
00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:56.720
And that I think is one of the critical areas that the US is looking at right now, where you look at markets like Arizona, that compared to percentage of live capacity, we're looking at almost 4x growth of that market just based on what's going to hit in the coming years.
00:11:56.960 --> 00:12:03.360
And people are announcing gigawatt scale campuses, yeah, just these monster, monster campuses that are coming.
00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:06.960
So you're looking at 4x growth in places like Arizona.
00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:22.320
Then you start to look at some of those other markets like Ohio that is going to probably look at a 1x to 2x multiple, Utah looking at probably a 2x multiple of construction that's coming to meet the demands that people are seeing.
00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:26.639
Then so you start looking at some of those secondary markets that are booming.
00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:28.639
Even Maryland, you can look at.
00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:33.120
Now, there's not a ton of activity in Maryland from everybody that's there.
00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:38.399
There's there's one big thing with what with what Josh and his team at Quantum Loophole have been doing.
00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:49.519
But that one activity right there represents a 6X growth in that market from potential opportunities that could come for data center operators to hit that.
00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:56.879
And you factor that in with what's going on with the Ashburn market and Northern Virginia in general, it's right up the road.
00:12:56.960 --> 00:12:59.360
I mean, it's it's 15 minutes away.
00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:05.759
So you're right across the river to be able to capitalize on that in a market that's offering some things a little bit more.
00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:17.840
So I think ultimately the US market, we're going to continue to see the primary markets expand, but ultimately, when you start talking about the growth, we're going to see it in the second and third tier markets.
00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:29.279
And just to kind of go into another portion of this, I think one of the things that you'll ultimately see with that is AI is driving a lot of the activity that everybody sees right now.
00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:37.759
So when you start breaking down the various forms of AI, there's a couple really kind of two main things I think you can look at.
00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:49.679
Um you've got the the training kind of models of the AI side of things, which aren't dependent on being next to a populous area.
00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:51.840
And they're not dependent on latency.
00:13:52.000 --> 00:14:05.600
So ultimately, I can look at that and say, well, Charlotte, North Carolina is a great market that's experiencing a ton of growth in and around Charlotte, even pushing down into South Carolina with a couple of announcements that have recently happened.
00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:12.480
So AI companies are going to start looking at developing and going to those markets as well as others.
00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:22.480
Because ultimately, what you're seeing with that AI side of things is it is creating challenges around what everybody's able to accomplish.
00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:29.039
Because right now, and this is where going into that early stage construction, committed, that kind of stuff works really well.
00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:38.399
Because again, like I mentioned before, when you're talking about most of the market having very, very limited inventory right now across the United States.
00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:45.679
Even if somebody shows it's available, more than likely they they've got three to four, maybe five people looking at it that are about to buy it.
00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:49.679
And so it's more than likely pre-leased or in the stages of being closed.
00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:55.360
But what that does is that forces people to have to start look at other markets in other regions.
00:14:55.600 --> 00:15:00.320
And I think a byproduct of that is even if you look at the enterprise side of things.
00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:11.840
So enterprise buyers who typically want to be able to go to Ashburn because they need to get there may find that super challenging right now, or they want to get to Chicago, wherever it may be.
00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:20.639
And reason they're going to find that challenging is all of the AI activity and hyperscale activity is eating up the supply that's there.
00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:29.200
And obviously, you start talking about simple economics when you've got a very big difference in supply versus demand, then what happens?
00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:30.720
Costs start to increase.
00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:48.639
So you start to almost push out some of the enterprise potential buyers that want to look at those primary markets and have to bleed into tertiary markets just to be able to keep up with what their plans are, or then they've got to go down totally different routes and really start to figure out where else they can go.
00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:58.720
And so I think there's a lot of a lot of value right now for companies that are going to focus in on tier two and tier three markets that represent a ton of opportunity for growth.
00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:08.320
And those come with immense benefits for the operators as well, just from a cost perspective, which then bleeds down to the end users' cost to be able to get into that building.
00:16:08.559 --> 00:16:19.120
So that's where you can start using some of the tools and the platform out there to be able to really understand where is their opportunity for me to grow in these other markets.
00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:20.320
How can I get there?
00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:21.120
Who's there?
00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:28.240
And then start to make an actual decision based on data to really help speed up your go-to-market strategy.
00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:29.840
Yeah, that's really interesting.
00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:37.840
I think it's always fascinating to hear because I don't think a lot of people understand from the outside looking in that a lot of these facilities are pre-leased.
00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:42.720
You see the capacity, you see, like, oh, they're built, like you said, a one gigawatt campus.
00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:46.000
That's already gone before it's even being built.
00:16:46.080 --> 00:17:01.360
And when you look at the demand, and then you hear on the market the cut some of the customers and the scale of capacity that they are looking for, and in the regions that they're looking for it, it just like you say, it doesn't work because there isn't enough capacity to meet the demand.
00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:04.079
And that's what we're seeing globally everywhere at the moment.
00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:08.400
Obviously, you know, we're talking Americans, but it's no different in Europe, it's no different in APAC.
00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:13.359
There's some huge scale customers out there that will take your capacity as soon as they can.
00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:14.079
Oh, yeah.
00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:36.559
Yeah, I think it's it's the moment somebody finds out there's availability, because at the end of the day, I think what you're seeing with a lot of these large-scale developments, um, whether it's AI within an enterprise who's building their own AI, you know, financial institutions, healthcare, whatever they may be, who's trying to build proprietary AI to be able to deliver better services for their customers.
00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:50.559
I think the reality right now, and where companies want to really understand that forward-looking statement for what operators are doing, and factoring in what you just said is most things are spoken for already.
00:17:50.799 --> 00:18:01.440
That's where when we start having these conversations with operators or even end users or private equity companies, it really ends up being a lot of the discussion around, well, what's coming?
00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:14.160
Because what these companies are asking for today is, you know, I want to get into Atlanta and I need five megawatts today, but I need somebody who can provide me a growth projection to get to a hundred megawatts.
00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:16.319
And do you even have?
00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:18.400
I'm looking at these three providers.
00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:23.920
Can you tell me what they have coming in the next three, four years that we need to be aware of?
00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:36.640
Because then I'm making a smarter decision based on the data provided to recognize that I will have runway if I go with this provider versus this provider, to be able to see that they've got a path to grow with me.
00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:42.240
And so I'm making a long-term buying decision versus this is who has capacity immediately.
00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:44.720
I got to buy it right now, and then move on to the next.
00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:55.759
And then you still have a disparate kind of IT workload built around in a in a city, and which can work perfectly fine, but may not be what that company is ultimately looking for.
00:18:56.079 --> 00:19:01.519
Yeah, and another point on what you're talking about at the moment is the influx of new capital.
00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:09.519
Because again, we see it from our positions, we have these conversations, but are you still seeing a lot of these private equity?
00:19:09.599 --> 00:19:15.599
There's a lot of funds out there that are investing significant funds into sector that are not even public yet.
00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:18.400
Are you seeing that that flow is continuing?
00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:19.599
Yeah, yeah.
00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:31.599
It's it's definitely one that's continuing and probably going to continue for the foreseeable future based on how things are going, because these funds are seeing immense returns when they're they're jumping into the data center sector.
00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:32.960
They're recognizing it quickly.
00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:51.200
And that's where that's where a lot of the conversations I've had so far um with the the kind of funds and the equity groups has been around we're thinking of you know, hypothetical situations that conversations that I have is X companies potentially looking at this market for growth.
00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:53.680
They want to understand these operators.
00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:55.440
Where are they currently at today?
00:19:55.599 --> 00:19:57.839
What growth projections do they have?
00:19:58.160 --> 00:20:06.000
Let's have you guys be support to what we're finding and really be able to make those buying decisions in a more meaningful way.
00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:20.799
And so equity is definitely somebody that is absolutely eating up the data side simply because they they are wanting to find the right companies to go in with that already have a good growth projection.
00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:28.480
Maybe they've got 30% capacity already, but they've got available IT workload that somebody can come into.
00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:42.559
And they happen to have land adjacency that's that's sitting there, not permitted yet, but offers a significant growth, knowing that if they have the capital to deploy it, given current cost of capital, if I'm a public company, can be very challenging.
00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:54.000
Where private, they're willing to write checks for billions and billions and billions of dollars to just pump these companies up, knowing they're going to see a return on it in very short order.
00:20:54.319 --> 00:20:55.440
Yeah, it's exciting.
00:20:55.519 --> 00:21:01.279
And I think we're lucky that we get to have some of these conversations with people from the outside that are looking to come in.
00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:03.759
Obviously, we won't go into detail around those.
00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:13.759
And using your kind of data and your crystal ball, as I say, how do you think the sector is going to evolve over the next you know 24 to 36 months?
00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:25.920
Yeah, I think it's, you know, this will even go back to one of the things that I've seen with some of my conversations and what we mentioned earlier about people now talking more regularly.
00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:34.880
Um, so I think what we've seen, because some of the areas that we actually work within the sector is also within the suppliers.
00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:44.319
So ultimately, it, you know, as an example, if I'm if I'm a company that produces prefab concrete, I want to understand where developments are going.
00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:45.519
I want to be able to see that.
00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:48.400
So having that access to that data is going to be there.
00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:55.680
I think when you start looking at how the market's going to evolve, again, it kind of goes back to that secondary markets initially.
00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:59.759
And while it may not be, you know, most people may hear secondary.
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:11.599
Third tier markets and think you know Des Moines, Iowa right out of the gate, or Fargo, North Dakota, you name a random town or city in the US, and think of those types of markets.
00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:19.680
I think it also just bleeds to just outside of the primary markets, where can there be growth there and how you can see it?
00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:27.519
So I think we continue to see the expansion across various markets within the US and to really kind of hone in on those.
00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:31.359
Like I mentioned, I mean, even Illinois is a good example.
00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:42.400
You you start of what I'm just saying there is you've got probably 2x growth from when I was looking at the data earlier this morning that's going to be hitting that from planned construction.
00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:54.160
But what's happening there is you've got that oversaturation of kind of the traditional, you know, the Franklin Park, Elk Grove, O'Hare regions, where people are starting to push further and further west.
00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:58.400
You know, they're looking at where else we can get the land, how can we get the power.
00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:05.200
And so I think it's it's going to be that continued sprawl mentality over the next 12 to 24 months.
00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:07.279
It's just going to continue to push out.
00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:20.400
And I think we also see it, you know, this is going to be an interesting point with all of the big operators who are kind of solely focused on these massive multi-megawatt deals that weren't years ago.
00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:26.960
You know, years ago they were seeing 500 KW, they were seeing, you know, they were doing couple cabinet rack deals.
00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:29.519
Now it's all these multi-megawatt deals.
00:23:29.599 --> 00:23:32.000
So go after those and and lock those down.
00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:34.400
Prices have increased, so they're great deals.
00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:45.359
What that's also going to lead to is all of the SMB needs and even some of the small enterprise, mid-market to enterprise needs, still have to go somewhere.
00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:49.279
And those people may not be able to compete with what's going on in the markets here.
00:23:49.440 --> 00:24:09.359
So I think you even start to see some of the lesser known operators in some of these other markets start to bubble up and start to have a bigger presence because they're going to be the the positive byproduct of the other operators going after the 100 megawatt shiny object.
00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:11.920
All those other deals still have to land somewhere.
00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:40.480
And so they're going to be able to really start to see expansion with players that were probably traditionally unknown to 90% of the community, and really start to get more visibility with that, which is going to be phenomenal for the industry because it continues to expand our reach, continues to expand the presence that we have and starts to pump up some other companies and just blending to a more competitive dynamic across the entire US and then even beyond.
00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:46.720
I think going outside of the US, you know, Latin America is poised for massive growth.
00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:52.960
I mean, I think you also have to put in context the starting point where they're coming from right now.
00:24:53.519 --> 00:25:02.960
But when I start when you start to look at the Latin American market, I mean, there's multiples of growth that they're going to be able to see across their primary markets.
00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:06.960
And so I think it's going to be really interesting to see how this all shifts.
00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:10.400
And does the AI bubble go away at a certain point?
00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:11.759
I, you know, who knows?
00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:13.759
That's a forward thinking statement.
00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:14.960
I have no idea about.
00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:21.839
But, you know, what is what happens if it does is a big question, too, to think about, which is a doomsday scenario.
00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:25.119
I don't think we're going to ever hit it then based on what's going on now.
00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:29.200
But yeah, I think you'll see you'll see smaller players start to bubble up to the surface.
00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:36.880
We're going to continue to see those secondary and third-tier markets get more and more publicity and just almost out of necessity.
00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:42.240
Yeah, and it's interesting because there's actually investors as well of funds looking at that market.
00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:46.079
I think everyone thinks the money coming in and the capital coming in is hyperscale.
00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:49.359
They're going after the major contracts, they want gigawatt campuses.
00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:50.079
They don't all want that.
00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:51.519
These are clever people.
00:25:51.599 --> 00:25:55.200
Yeah, they know what they're doing with their money, and there's some that are coming into that space.
00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:55.759
Yeah.
00:25:55.839 --> 00:26:05.039
And I mean, when you think it's it's the right move because your your barrier to entry, or I guess I should say your cost to enter those markets is going to be significantly less.
00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:11.599
Um, land cost is probably 50% less than what it would be if you try to go to Ashburn right now.
00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:16.559
Like you're just going to spend an arm and a leg going in into Ashburn at this point to try to get land.
00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:18.799
And then what's your power dynamic going to look like?
00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:21.680
So you've got potentially more reliable power.
00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:27.039
Um, you've got the land cost that's going to be significantly less.
00:26:27.119 --> 00:26:40.480
Uh, so you can get in and and be smarter about that the money that's spent, which is 100% where a lot of the conversations we're having and the consulting projects that we're doing are solely based on right now, not solely.
00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:47.440
I mean, we're still looking at primary markets, but most of the interest that we see these days is around the secondary markets.
00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:48.559
Who's there?
00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:51.839
If we go to this market, what are we competing with?
00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:54.880
Um, who has long-term needs that they're going to see?
00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:59.599
There's there's been a you know minor growth uptick in X market.
00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:08.400
How do we get to multiply that by what our goals are going to be and to really start better understanding where they can drive that to?
00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:10.880
So it's it's pretty unique to see what's going on.
00:27:11.119 --> 00:27:13.440
Yeah, it's exciting, so I'm just no doubt about it.
00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:16.000
And obviously, we touched on a few points earlier as well.
00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:21.039
There's expansion and growth brings challenges, you know, and this sector is amazing at overcoming challenges.
00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:25.599
And it it seems to be that whenever whenever I'm talking to anyone, there's there's a major challenge out there.
00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:31.039
But what do you think are the main challenges we're gonna face as we head through the rest of 2023?
00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:36.720
I I think we continue to see, you know, supply chain's normal, normalized out a little bit.
00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:40.079
I mean, it's gotten, I don't want to say normalized, it's gotten better.
00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:50.720
Um but at the same time, I think we're we're almost stuck in the in a somewhat of a vicious cycle where it's just gonna continue to get caught up and caught up and caught up.
00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:56.960
Um, and then once it gets caught up, it's now further behind because two gigawatts have been sold.
00:27:57.200 --> 00:28:06.240
You know, I think there was a there was a post I saw 2.1 gigawatts is pretty has been roughly estimated to have been sold in the last 90 days, and which is pretty wild.
00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:16.400
Um, so I think when you start looking at that, supply chain is gonna continue to be a challenge, power is gonna continue to be a challenge, um sustainability.
00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:22.319
I mean, that's obviously got to be factored into to what anybody's doing and and how they're gonna be able to do it.
00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:24.880
Um so I think we continue to see those.
00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:32.799
I think the other that other people have talked about, and I obviously you hear it as well, is is still talent.
00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:36.160
Um, we still need people to be able to come into this sector.
00:28:36.319 --> 00:28:46.960
Um, a lot of the folks that, you know, I've been in eight years, and a lot of my the folks that I'll lean on when I have questions or or I want to understand things better.
00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:54.319
Most of those guys and and those women are starting to look at how much longer am I going to be in this space?
00:28:54.480 --> 00:28:56.079
And and then what happens there.
00:28:56.240 --> 00:29:08.400
So I think there's a there's a talent and potential knowledge gap that we may start to see if if we're not pulling in folks to this industry and really opening it up a little even more than than it is today.
00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:10.319
Um, so I think we'll continue to see that.
00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:18.880
I think costs um both for the customers and for uh the suppliers uh obviously presents potential challenges.
00:29:19.039 --> 00:29:24.799
Now that's alleviated big time with this influx of private equity capital that's coming to the market.
00:29:25.039 --> 00:29:32.319
So yeah, depending on where you're at, but that does present challenges for some of the smaller players who may not have that access to capital.
00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:40.960
Um, but I think the the biggest thing is going to be the location side of where to build, um, how to build, how to get there, where to go with it.
00:29:41.119 --> 00:30:01.039
Um, and that's when when folks start looking at markets in which offer a good potential to grow into, you know, the the I'm in Iowa and I'm close enough to Chicago, or I'm I'm in certain regions that we can build at that are not far away and offer still good talent pools.
00:30:01.200 --> 00:30:05.359
They've still got all the technology technical type folks that they're gonna need to pull in.
00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:10.240
So I think that's gonna be some of the big things that we'll see hindering it.
00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:15.839
Um but I think again, everybody's gonna overcome it in the best way possible.
00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:22.079
And and that again leads driving into those other markets outside of the primary markets, looking at tier two, tier three.
00:30:22.319 --> 00:30:23.119
Yeah, it's interesting.
00:30:23.200 --> 00:30:30.400
With the talent piece, obviously it's what I do day to day, but it's it's linked to the new markets as well, because we're going into markets where there is no talent pool.
00:30:30.559 --> 00:30:41.119
So kind of the growth of the second, you've got the problem already with like pick a Virginia, where there's only an uh X amount of talent and there's growing there and it's poaching from everybody.
00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:49.200
But then you've got the market where you're going into a new market, like Arizona or somewhere, and you're building new facilities and there is no existing talent pool.
00:30:49.279 --> 00:31:02.400
So having to pull that talent with experience from somewhere else, or you've got to adapt to your search and actually take people that are not experienced from the sector and train them up and develop them for when you when your facility is live.
00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:05.440
So it they go hand in hand as well, those challenges.
00:31:05.680 --> 00:31:10.960
Yeah, I mean, I think you look at you even look at a market like South Carolina.
00:31:11.039 --> 00:31:15.119
I know there's been a there's been a couple of big stories recently about developments going there.
00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:20.720
I know QTS just announced uh a pretty big, pretty big campus they're gonna be growing into there.
00:31:20.799 --> 00:31:34.480
And and you've got Google and and you've got a couple other players there, but you start looking at a market like that that hasn't had a ton of growth uh over the years, doesn't really have a big supply at the moment right now.
00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:43.200
Um, obviously outside of some of the hyperscale activity there, but you start looking at a market like that that you're adjacent to Charlotte, um, you're close enough.
00:31:43.279 --> 00:31:44.720
I mean, you're right down the road.
00:31:44.799 --> 00:31:54.559
Uh you've got South Carolina there, you've got connectivity via some of the substation uh or the landing stations, I should say, with the sub-sea cables, that can have an impact.
00:31:54.640 --> 00:31:55.920
Um, is it going to be everything?
00:31:56.079 --> 00:31:57.519
No, but it can have an impact.
00:31:57.759 --> 00:32:06.160
But that market all of a sudden, with some of the announcements that have have hit, has gone from you know minimal megawatts.
00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:14.640
I mean, in the sub-20 megawatts range when you're talking about outside of hyperscale activity, to now all of a sudden being several hundred megawatts.
00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:19.359
Um, so you're seeing then you you got to start factoring in all right, who else goes there?
00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:24.079
Because is is the hyperscale community going to start driving further into that market?
00:32:24.240 --> 00:32:29.839
And how are they gonna start changing the landscape of it, which then does help attract and drive talent to it?
00:32:29.920 --> 00:32:47.440
And because now you've got a whole new opportunity to look at the University of South Carolina and some of the schools that are there for how can we start educating the local folks around here and within the university systems that that are adjacent to these new locations to be able to pull that talent pool in.
00:32:47.599 --> 00:33:12.559
And so I think that's something where the the industry, we all of us are going to have to do a really good job of when we do start creeping into new markets and start evaluating what's going on in these new markets is how do we have a positive impact and a and a clean perception coming in versus oh no, these big ugly boxes that that create a lot of noise, but do they really?
00:33:12.720 --> 00:33:28.000
And and you start to go down that path and then also making sure people recognize the the very, very, very minimal impact to the local community infrastructure, but the massive impact to the local community tax revenue.
00:33:28.160 --> 00:33:38.720
And then I think you start to be able to paint a picture much, much better uh for these new markets that we're all going to be entering into to be able to understand where that's going.
00:33:38.880 --> 00:33:53.119
And that's where a lot of the times when we're doing some of our analysis, looking at some of the big global players that are utilizing the platform today is they are looking at markets that are adjacent, that have minimal competition right now.
00:33:53.279 --> 00:33:57.519
And how can they go be the first ones to enter a market and build it up?
00:33:57.680 --> 00:34:12.480
Or the competition that's there is smaller, very small, call it mom and pop type shops that aren't going to pose a huge threat, uh, but they can still help that community and get more of the connectivity pulled in.
00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:23.679
They can they can speed up the timeline for that to start to become a true second tier second-tier market and just start to experience the growth that we're all going to continue to see.
00:34:24.159 --> 00:34:26.320
Yeah, I think we could talk all day about this.
00:34:26.639 --> 00:34:29.119
I think it's so exciting what's happening out in the industry at the moment.
00:34:29.199 --> 00:34:34.400
And it's it's great to get your insight when you're you know you're there, you're DC buyer looking at the numbers all the time.
00:34:34.480 --> 00:34:35.679
They know exactly what's happening.
00:34:35.760 --> 00:34:39.280
And it's uh I say I could we could go deeper, but we best not.
00:34:39.360 --> 00:34:40.880
We've both got things to do today.
00:34:40.960 --> 00:34:45.760
But before we close, just a couple of more quick fire questions just to get your opinion, really.
00:34:45.920 --> 00:34:51.039
But if you could ask everyone in the sector to start or stop doing one thing, what would it be?
00:34:52.400 --> 00:34:55.039
Um that's a really good question.
00:34:55.119 --> 00:35:01.119
I think to to keep doing is keep sharing.
00:35:01.199 --> 00:35:19.360
Yeah, I think this community has always been, it's it's interesting when you look at the the sheer volume of data and the numbers, the numbers paint it like it's this massive, massive world that we have to work within when in reality we're a really close-knit small community.
00:35:19.519 --> 00:35:19.760
Yeah.
00:35:19.920 --> 00:35:31.760
So ultimately, I think continuing that that conversation, that discussion on on how we can continue to be better at what we're doing, um, I think is something that we we a hundred percent need to need to continue.
00:35:31.920 --> 00:35:40.480
Um I think one thing that would be interesting to see I'm trying to think of a thing to stop doing.
00:35:40.719 --> 00:35:48.079
Um yeah, I mean, I I I think it's that's it's almost more of a continue to open up.
00:35:48.239 --> 00:35:53.360
So I don't know if it's a stop doing, but continue to to share more about who we are.
00:35:53.519 --> 00:35:56.320
Um we do it internally with ourselves.
00:35:56.480 --> 00:36:18.400
We talk a lot, everybody's kind of open to share information with one another, but continue to expand on how we're doing that externally, on the critical nature of what we actually are and how the data center industry is ultimately really the fueling all of the growth that the world is able to see because we're the homes for it.
00:36:18.559 --> 00:36:32.800
And all this activity is happening inside of a data center, and really just start to make sure that folks understand the importance of what we're doing, and it's not, you know, I've got a 20-year-old soon to be 21 and a and a 17-year-old.
00:36:33.119 --> 00:36:36.239
And for them, it's just an iPhone.
00:36:36.719 --> 00:36:40.000
They have no clue how that works or where everything else is going.
00:36:40.159 --> 00:36:47.440
They've understood it now over the last couple of years, but making sure even the youth understands it a little bit a little bit more.
00:36:47.599 --> 00:36:51.599
Um so that way we're able to continue to expand the the industry as we move forward.
00:36:51.679 --> 00:37:06.719
And that will help our talent shortage that we're probably gonna continue to see if we don't start making sure that the the rest of the world understands and the youth in particular understand exactly who we are and and how impactful we are to what the world is trying to do.
00:37:07.039 --> 00:37:08.239
Yeah, I couldn't agree more.
00:37:08.320 --> 00:37:13.760
I think you know, stop keeping it a secret is something that I think we can all we can all do a better job at.
00:37:13.840 --> 00:37:16.079
And that's where the idea for the podcast came from.
00:37:16.159 --> 00:37:19.440
It's you know, we we can talk about a lot of things, it doesn't have to be a secret.
00:37:19.519 --> 00:37:21.760
So yeah, I totally agree with you on that one.
00:37:21.840 --> 00:37:27.599
And final question if you could give one piece of advice to anyone looking to start a career in the sector, what would it be?
00:37:28.880 --> 00:37:30.960
Curious, ask questions.
00:37:31.280 --> 00:37:45.119
I mean, it's it's such a silly thing to say, and it seems so obvious, I think, to most people, but curiosity is probably one of the best things any of us, just as humans, can have.
00:37:45.360 --> 00:37:52.320
Um, in particular coming into this space, I think the more you can ask the the simple question of why.
00:37:52.480 --> 00:37:54.880
I mean, it's like going back and being a toddler.
00:37:55.599 --> 00:37:56.480
You know, why?
00:37:56.639 --> 00:37:58.000
Why do I have to clean my room?
00:37:58.159 --> 00:37:58.400
Why?
00:37:58.559 --> 00:38:00.480
Like it just keep asking why.
00:38:00.639 --> 00:38:02.239
Why does this do it this way?
00:38:02.400 --> 00:38:04.639
Why is this company doing it this way?
00:38:04.880 --> 00:38:17.440
Because what that that ultimately will fuel is is that that fire and that that curiosity will will be the genesis of what's the next thing that we're going to come up with.
00:38:17.599 --> 00:38:35.280
Yeah, because the more we start to ask and people continue to ask the questions, that opens the door up for us to say, well, if we're all trying to tackle this influx of power on the floor and these you know 45, 50 kw racks, why are we not talking about it more?
00:38:35.360 --> 00:38:47.039
Why are we not figuring out design standards that our hyperscale customers can work within that they don't have to alter everything they're doing every time they pick a new provider to work with or how they want to go about it?
00:38:47.199 --> 00:38:50.000
So I think curiosity was would be the biggest thing.
00:38:50.159 --> 00:38:52.400
Maintain your curiosity throughout your career.
00:38:52.480 --> 00:38:59.920
Don't get to a point where where you feel you've you've got it down because you just you don't, especially in this industry.
00:39:00.079 --> 00:39:05.119
I think that's virtually impossible to say you you know everything that's going on in this industry.
00:39:05.280 --> 00:39:09.360
Um start with it, keep it, and and end with that curiosity.
00:39:09.440 --> 00:39:16.320
And I think people can have a phenomenal career in the data center space because people are more than willing to talk, just ask them questions.
00:39:16.639 --> 00:39:24.960
Yeah, I think from all the podcasts I've done and I ask everybody that question, I think what I've taken from it most is that the importance of curiosity.
00:39:25.119 --> 00:39:26.960
I think we do underestimate it.
00:39:27.039 --> 00:39:31.519
I think, like you say, when we're younger, we it's it's ingrained in us to ask because we don't know.
00:39:31.679 --> 00:39:34.079
Whereas as we get older, we get less confident.
00:39:34.239 --> 00:39:42.400
We feel that if we're asking why, it makes us look bad or it's negative on us when actually, like you say, it's you ask him why because you don't know.
00:39:42.559 --> 00:39:44.559
And if you don't know, you want to know why.
00:39:44.639 --> 00:39:46.159
So I couldn't agree more with it.
00:39:46.239 --> 00:39:51.119
It's a massive, massive skill to be curious, and I think you can work on it as well.
00:39:51.280 --> 00:39:52.960
So, yeah, couldn't agree more.
00:39:53.519 --> 00:39:54.800
Love that conversation.
00:39:54.960 --> 00:40:04.559
I always find it ironic when I'm talking about the use of data in the data center industry, and I think it's something that we could do a lot better, and platforms like DC Byte are making that possible.
00:40:04.719 --> 00:40:06.480
So thank you for doing that.
00:40:06.559 --> 00:40:08.239
But where can anyone find you?
00:40:08.400 --> 00:40:11.119
Where can they get more information if they want to learn more?
00:40:11.679 --> 00:40:12.719
Yeah, LinkedIn.
00:40:12.880 --> 00:40:14.880
Um, obviously, connect with me on LinkedIn.
00:40:14.960 --> 00:40:18.800
I would love to talk more with anybody who's who's looking to understand what we're doing.
00:40:19.039 --> 00:40:22.159
Check out our company website, dcbyte.com.
00:40:22.320 --> 00:40:28.159
Um, you can kind of peruse through who our current clientele is, fill in any contact forms if you want there.
00:40:28.239 --> 00:40:30.239
Um, or also just reach out to me directly.
00:40:30.320 --> 00:40:31.920
You know, my email's pretty straightforward.
00:40:32.000 --> 00:40:34.320
It's Colby.cox at dcbyte.com.
00:40:34.480 --> 00:40:39.760
If folks want to have conversations and to the curiosity discussion, I love just talking to people.
00:40:39.840 --> 00:40:47.360
Uh, half the time, that's that's where a lot of the data and a lot of the information in my head in particular comes from is oh, that was a good point.
00:40:47.440 --> 00:40:49.920
Let me figure out how I can talk about that or use that.
00:40:50.159 --> 00:40:52.320
Um, so I think that's the easiest way.
00:40:52.400 --> 00:40:54.320
I love discussions, I love conversations.
00:40:54.400 --> 00:40:56.719
So the more, more the the merrier.
00:40:56.880 --> 00:41:02.880
Um, but yeah, check me out on LinkedIn, connect with me, check out the DC Byte website, and feel free to email me at any time.
00:41:02.960 --> 00:41:20.480
I'm more than happy to have discussions about how we can solve potential challenges that companies are having, or just how they can utilize the data to support some of the initiatives that they're looking at or thinking about and want somebody to validate their thought process, yeah, via the use of data and in our global team.
00:41:20.559 --> 00:41:23.199
And I think we can we can 100% help everybody out.
00:41:23.519 --> 00:41:25.679
Yeah, and the website is an amazing resource as well.
00:41:25.760 --> 00:41:27.840
I'll say that because you know I look at it quite regularly.
00:41:27.920 --> 00:41:29.840
DC Byte is a great resource as well.
00:41:29.920 --> 00:41:32.960
So definitely if you haven't and you're listening, make sure you check it out.
00:41:33.039 --> 00:41:35.760
It's it's well worth five minutes or more of your time.
00:41:35.840 --> 00:41:37.199
So thanks, Colby.
00:41:37.360 --> 00:41:38.079
Love that conversation.
00:41:38.239 --> 00:41:42.079
Keep up the great work over there, and I say, and we'll definitely catch up again soon.
00:41:42.320 --> 00:41:43.599
Yeah, thank you very much, Andy.
00:41:43.679 --> 00:41:47.280
This has been fantastic, appreciate it, and uh happy to help out.
