WEBVTT
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Welcome to the Insight Data Podcast.
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If you're working in the DT sector or you're looking to work in the sector, then this is a forecast for you.
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Welcome to the Insight Data Podcast.
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Today I'm joined by Todd Cushing, who's the president of 1623 Farnum in Omaha, the US.
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Good morning, Todd, for you.
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Good morning.
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And you, late afternoon for me.
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Always tricky to know whether to say morning or afternoon when we're on different time zones, but we'll get there.
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Thanks for coming on today, really appreciate it.
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I'm really keen to find out a bit more about your organization and also your career in the data center industry.
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But from all my listers, I've listened from all over the world.
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So you just want to give everyone a quick introduction on kind of who you are and um 1623 as well, just to give a bit of a snapshot of what we're talking about.
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Sure.
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Type cushing, I'm in right in the middle from a geography standpoint, middle of the US.
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If you were to put crosshairs or an X in the middle, that's where Omaha, Nebraska is.
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So we had to buy out leases and have tenants leave, and uh it was for security and just for ease of construction.
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And uh the facility was built as a bank in 1973, so it had very good um security aspects and structural aspects.
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We had to remove three vaults from the facility that were in the way.
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One of them was quite big, and that was a learning thing I'd never done before.
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Was there anything in them?
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Nothing.
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We did one of them hadn't been opened for almost 10 years, and uh somebody from the real estate company that was managing the building at the time.
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Uh it was like a moment where we thought we're gonna have Geraldo Guerrero or somebody there with us to watch, but it it um it turned out to be family belongings from somebody from South America, and it was mostly just family photo photos, slides, nothing, nothing magical, nothing we we were hoping for suitcases of cash.
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Didn't happen.
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I guess we wouldn't we probably wouldn't be talking now had there been uh suitcases of cash.
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So it left us with the opportunity to to have this conversation.
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But it's an uh I checked out the the the website and it's an amazing building, it's definitely worth everyone having a look, getting online and having a look.
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It's uh it's quite an amazing building.
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Um, well where I always like to start is go back to the beginning of your career just to get an idea of how you first entered the industry.
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Um, so how did you first end up in in the data center world?
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Sure.
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There was a company by the name of First Data Corporation that is also in Basledon.
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Uh, I spent some time there as part of that later in my career as it progressed.
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Uh, we were started as first data resources, became first data corporation, and then later now is FISERV, um, owned by, but at any rate, we had uh became global multinational.
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We started in a little data center in Omaha that did credit card transaction processing.
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So it had to be a tier four data center.
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And um we adapted and built out that data center, and we had call centers around the country and eventually around the world that needed generators and UPSs, and they started off to be just very simple, and then they become N plus one and you know more complex as time went on.
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But uh got an opportunity to work with a lot of different architects and builders and different teams in different countries as we became global, and uh a lot of different ways to do a data center, you know.
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Really at the end of the day, it's UPSs and generators, but the rules around how you're gonna do that, depending upon the country, um, they vary.
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And you've you've just got to be respectful and patient and kind of work through that process.
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That's it.
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And you and you spend quite a lot of time with CBRE as well, I understand.
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Correct.
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Is that uh it's funny CBRE when I was first data had been bought out, and it just was time for a change, you know, I it uh was ready for something different.
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And the brokers were were talking to me about being the guy in the middle.
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They didn't have anybody in in Oma, Nebraska is not uh large, it's a million people, it's not the like in the Los Angeles or a Dallas or something like that.
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And so they wanted somebody in the middle that could kind of cover those the flyover spots, and so I did that for about 10 years and got to do some international brokerage and worked with Andrew J in the UK from CBRE, he's a good good guy.
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Um, but did um through that process, I learned a different aspect of data centers.
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You know, so what I knew from operations was really different than how businesses looked at it or how the acquisition on the backside of a recycled facility would be.
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So it was very interesting to do that as well.
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Different, a different perspective.
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And now as an as a operator again, I know what the business of the engineer is looking at, I know what the business of the architect is looking at.
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So I I can kind of uh I get a better feeling for what the percentages maybe should be and how things would work and how they've got they have to zero out, you know, every week, every month.
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So I appreciate their the business challenges they have, you know, to make a living.
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Yeah, exactly.
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It's always it's always a positive to be able to see it from both sides, isn't it?
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Yeah.
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Um what I also like to talk about is you know, when you've been in the industry quite a while, it's just to get an idea of how it's changed over your career, really.
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I think it's it's quite easy these days to just assume that data centers have always been these, you know, massive buildings in well, yours is in the city centre or or in the middle of nowhere.
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But how's the industry changed and evolved since you first started in it?
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I think the internal connectivity within a facility, it used to be I was a mainframe shop, so it was bus and tag cables, and you'd drag these monster cables around, and then it really became uh multi-mode or or single mode fiber between devices.
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That was a big change.
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Uh the amount of space the storage took, but really the heat load has changed so much.
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So you used to have uh a 10 gig device for Hitachi or an Amdahl or somebody like that back in the day that uh was heavy and it took a lot of space, but it's it's um now you can get so much more into us into an area, and now you're managing the heat load of the space.
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And the other thing that's that's that really hasn't changed is since I started my career on 57 now, I was 16 years old when I started in my first data center.
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It was a big Star Treky door that you walk in on a race floor.
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Um, they were telling me the mainframe was dead back then and it's still around.
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So we have clients that still from time to time want that you know type of processing.
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Yeah, and from a you know, kind of exposure perspective as well.
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I I think the industry, I've been in the industry for about I don't know, 15, 16 years, and and I think the industry now is finally getting the exposure that it that it needs.
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Do you is it all do you agree with that?
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Is it it was obviously a bit hidden as a sector until the last 12 months, really?
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Yeah, a lot of people didn't know what you did, and uh yeah, what was a data center, why do you need it?
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And then uh there was the generators on the outside of the building that the rest of the building didn't understand, or why you had to have you know certain things for security in a building because that was an aspect of a building, so it really made people uh curious or suspicious of the data center, what's going on there?
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Nice.
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And do you think that helps the industry as a whole?
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That now that more people are appreciative of what you guys are doing?
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I I agree, and I think there are subsectors that like any business, you have niches or you have people that are kind of masters of all.
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And so telecommunications is a big part of what we do, interconnection.
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Uh, so we're a data center, we have people that put their things in our facility, but they want to be there because they want to peer data, they want to share data.
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We have you know 50 phone carriers, you know, learn distance, you know, multinational carriers.
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Um people want to be there for that, but then you have the bigger co-location, they're just there for um hyperscale, uh, really like wholesale, a wholesale carrier.
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Uh, we have a lot of interface with hyperscale.
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There's a lot of hyperscale data center in Omaha, and um, so we are the connection point for them and for the on-ramps for their their clouds, but there are there's specific data centers that do certain things now, where B used to be kind of a you're either an enterprise or you're a colo, you know, kind of is how it went, and that's different now.
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Yeah, and as and I guess you've seen your customers change and evolve over the last sort of 20, 30 years as well.
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I would agree.
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I think that what people are looking for in a data center, if they're if they're looking for a specific thing, you can find it.
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You it really is an ability to get that.
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If you're looking for um super, super dense, you know, there are people that can either provide it or there are play people that that's what they specialize in.
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Or if you're looking for super low cost, maybe less security, or there's people out there doing that as well.
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And you can, I find with cloud that people are there's a hybrid approach.
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So people will do some of their processing in one place or maybe keep some for themselves.
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It just depends on your people, aren't they afraid to break up the stack of what their applications are, you know, they're really uh it's there you can find it out there, yeah.
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Not a mystery.
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No, yeah, I totally agree.
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Along the career side of it, obviously you've you know you've developed quite a you know a highly successful career in the industry.
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Is there any particular advice you give to people that are looking to kind of follow a similar career path to yourself?
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I think for me, starting in operations and then getting into commercial real estate was a great path that a lot of brokers knew real estate, but they really didn't understand why a storage guy care?
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Why does a facility planner want this?
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And so when we did site selection, a lot of times I could anticipate what the what kind of bad things they didn't want to be by or what type of what a flight path means or distances, those kind of things.
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I think that was a good path if you want to get into commercial real estate to do your research on IT.
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If you were going to get into engineering architecture and you were going to be in that specific data center niche to do that, get exposure to your client and what they're doing.
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It really you're gonna build the relationships are important in anything we do for a living.
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Uh, I think it's it makes it important that you know why it's important to your client.
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That would be my assessment.
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Yeah, great advice.
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I've interviewed a couple of development um sort of managers on this podcast, and they've said similar things as well, actually.
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I think the the understanding of the technicality behind the project and the facilities really important when you're negotiating with clients and searching for land or facilities for them to develop their data centers.
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I agree.
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And on the 1623 farm, obviously, do you want to just give a quick sort of brief on, and I know you touched on it earlier, but exactly what it is, you know, the size of it, the scale of it, and then we can sort of dig a bit deeper.
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Sure.
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So it was a it's a nine-story building with a penthouse on top.
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There's a lower level and then a sub-basement.
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So we chose to uh there was 885 kilowatts of 208 power to the building when we took on the project and there was a data center running.
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The carriers sort of chose the building, so they've been in there since the mid-80s, and there was uh more and more all the time.
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So we as we organized the the fiber routes into the building, you know, the really the the point of entries and where where things were going to be for pull boxes, we had to work with those tenants.
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Now the building itself has four two megawatt transformers underground that are submersible grade, and we kept the 885 for life safety only.
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So we've got a little but a little less than nine megawatts uh to the building.
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We expect that we'll have um probably five and a half megawatts of critical load.
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Uh that's UPS, you know, that's load to the facility.
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And um, the building has um it's a it's a two to make one or a three to make two uh build is the way that it's built.
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So uh supposed so in a being a multi-story building, it might not uh it's it's it's so we we've taken out the ladies' room.
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We went to Unisex.
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The risers are now, you know, through the where the ladies' room was, we had through some op sinks out because they were stacked.
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That became another riser.
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So we've separated things physically, but it's uh being a multi-story building, it's a different animal than if you just had a big flat box, it was a greenfield.
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And then because you're up and running, you had to get up this, you had to bring in your new power and your new risers, and you had to commission it, and then you have to migrate over.
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And we did the same thing on cooling.
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It's just it's a whole a lot of change control, a lot of coordination.
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Um, change agent and owner's rep is different than the architectural engineering firm.
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So we have separation, so we have really a second set of eyes.
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Anytime we have an MOP or an SOP, multiple people are reading it, signing off on it, that it's right.
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You have to talk to your clients ahead of time to make sure they're okay with it.
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They're those firms, you know, some of them are large multinational telecom carriers, they have a rigid way in which they do things.
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So you're trying to maintain a schedule, not feel like you're pushing them, but you really need to get move on, you know, with what you're doing.
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So it's it's a it's a process.
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It's it's really uh I like it personally.
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I like a remodel more than a greenfield.
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Yeah, and I think I guess it must be um a lot of the facilities now are going down the multi-story route, aren't they?
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Especially in the the sort of city centers.
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So I guess a lot of what you're learning in your facility can be taken in new design and new concepts of the multi-story data center.
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Yeah, I think I think you wouldn't choose a multi-story unless you were in Asia where you know there's land is super tough, or or maybe in you know major metropolitan cities where you really have to.
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Here it was because the fiber was there.
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I think there were 16 or 17,000 fiber coming in the building when we started.
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There's over 20 now, but you can't move that very easy.
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So you kind of have to take what you have.
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You bought it for the for the interconnectivity, that's why we bought the business in the building.
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And um we I think are turning it into a really a it would stand up against about just about anything.
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Uh secretly, kind of behind the scenes, I'll tell you and the folks that will be listening to this the design of this facility is much like what we built for first data.
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So when we look at the way that this operates, it's what I was kind of used to for the powerhouse that we built there at Omaha, and um it makes it so that we can have just about anybody work on it.
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We've got 13.8 coming in, but we stayed 480 in the building.
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So just about anybody can work on it around the clock and not, you know, it's pretty pretty off-the-shelf stuff, vertive UPS, cat generators, those kind of things.
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You know, it's really really standard stuff.
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Yeah, I listened to a podcast you're on with Data Center Hawk, and um, I noticed you described it as kind of like an ecosystem.
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Do you want to sort of explain what you mean by that?
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Yeah, the ecosystem for us is when we started off as a as a carrier hotel, we knew that we needed to have more peering and more interaction.
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So we did purchase there was an IX, and there's a lot of IXs in from country to country in Europe.
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There aren't so many in the US.
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So we were able to purchase the IX and we've been able to add um content companies to that IX so they could share data.
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So that's part of that ecosystem that a large carrier would be looking to put some data on there and share that as a tertiary network.
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So you might have an A or a B network, but now every day that you're you can use that peering you're gonna save on your telecom cost and be able to get the content.
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So Netflix and other people are in there, Akamai, and and other hyperscales.
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So that ecosystem would mean that they also would want to bring in their clients or content people would want to be there so they can share data.
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It's much more cost effective.
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You can get uh scale that you can't find.
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So 100 gig is very reach, very achievable in the building, and you can also get um a pricing that is kind of on net pricing.
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So you're you're able to go direct carrier to carrier.
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If you think of us as a switching platform, kind of like where trains would go to a roundhouse back in the day or a spider with legs, that's really the ecosystem we're trying to build is people want to come to us mostly for connectivity, mostly for that ecosystem that we're building, is the attraction point.
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It isn't that we don't we have a we have a good base for cages and cabinets and space and power and cooling, but most people are there to be able to interface with other people.
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So if you are a hyperscale, you wouldn't necessarily put your on-ramp partners or some of your partners in your data center.
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You would have them be where your network is.
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Their network comes to us first.
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So if they come to our facility, a lot of those on-ramps are in our facility to get access to the hyperscale.
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That's what we're trying to, that's really where we think our growth could will come from.
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Yeah, and that makes sense.
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And I guess over the last 12 months, with with the uh COVID situation that we've all been through and more of the move to the edge, etc., I'm assuming you've seen an increase in demand for exactly that.
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We have, and we've seen uh phone companies and really uh carriers for hyperscale go from 10 or multiple 10 gig connections to maybe 100 gigs to be able to do that again.
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Video conferencing content is really going pretty wild.
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We also are working from home and have been since early March and have a construction project with that.
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We've got an orange team and a black team, and we're cleaning a lot every day, and we're making sure we have screening going on, and so to make sure that everybody's all right, we've had about 90 to 94 people on site every day for construction, and so making sure our clients that have to come on site are comfortable and know how they're gonna get in out of the building, and that you know, every everybody they follow the masking and the protocols, just like our trades do, is really important to keep the project going.
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So at this point, we're commissioning, so all of that hard work is is behind us.
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So we're in the process actually of cutting over.
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Commissioning is really complete.
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So we're in the process of cutting over to the new systems, and the clients are excited to see it happen.
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But they've been in there through the thick of all that construction and trying to keep it clean, uh, let alone safe, has been uh a long process.
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Yeah, I think everyone's found it fairly challenging doing the construction over the last 12 months in Europe as well.
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And it's quite interesting to hear you you talk about it really.
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How's the challenge been with regards to sourcing the people for it?
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I think uh have you had a is there a shortage of talent in in your region or have you taken advantage of the reduced workload in other sectors to get people in to do the data center?
00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:23.519
So so I have to speak in square feet because I don't convert over very well, but we've got we've got about seven million square feet of a social media networking company in the in Ohan.
00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:35.359
They're they're the largest search engine in the in the world, has three data centers within seven miles of us, and they have over a thousand megawatts at one of those facilities.
00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:40.880
It's the largest in North America, and so they had shut down part of their projects because of safety and COVID.
00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:50.240
So usually they decimate the market for trades, and we have gotten a huge boost and influx of access to talent that we wouldn't otherwise probably have.
00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:57.839
And so, our being that they're our clients, their general contractor in some of the cases is who we chose, but not by accident.
00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:02.400
So they've been able to kind of re-steer people towards our facility to really give us a boost.
00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:11.039
It's worked, it's it's um, I hate to say we took advantage of it, but we were able to get talent and take advantage of it in a way we didn't know we would be able to.
00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:13.200
Good timing, I think they call it.
00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:15.279
Yeah, every once in a while we're lucky.
00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:16.240
That's it, exactly.
00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:17.839
You know, doing it at the right time.
00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:25.839
And is there any is there any um sort of plans for future growth, or is it once you've completed this element of it, is sort of looking to settle at that?
00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:28.799
We are we have uh we're building two halves.
00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:33.839
So we put in our our first half is um a series of generators and UPS.
00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:36.559
We'll build in the second half once we get to 80 percent.
00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:39.519
We're watching lead times on on procurement.
00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:45.039
So we put in uh we we've we build out the facility from a rough end standpoint.
00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:48.640
We're ready at a moment's notice to to complete that other half.
00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:50.400
We think we have about 90 days.
00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:56.960
Uh, we also are looking and have uh control of neighboring property so we can expand physically outside.
00:20:57.039 --> 00:20:58.880
We have looked in other regions.
00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:04.720
We like what's called a tier two market or tier three market, and we have looked at several.
00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:16.400
Um, we have a great investment partner family owner uh with with us that uh has been in this space, so they appreciate how expensive these things are, what it costs to do it, and they're patient.
00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:23.920
So they are very keen to continue to look at other projects, and we certainly have uh well as this has been going on.
00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:35.759
Yeah, I guess like we talked about earlier, as the demand for edge and reduced latency, et cetera, increases, your your type of offering is is we're gonna come more demand or in more demand.
00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:42.160
Yes, we're definitely looking for that interconnection ecosystem capable, maybe not built out, but we could get it there.
00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:50.319
But there's more than enough demand and growth in our building and business, and they like what they're saying, so they're willing to back us to go on to the right other fence.
00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:58.400
Yeah, and how would you go about identifying a facility or or a region for that type of project?
00:21:58.720 --> 00:22:03.759
So for this one, it was Because I was born and raised in Omaha when I first had on that, done real estate.
00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:06.960
So I I saw that this was going to be capable.
00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:20.400
And I'd seen what happened with Infomart in Dallas and Wilshar and some of the 360 and some of the other ones in 1102, Grand in Kansas City, had been had been big facilities in their day.
00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:22.640
But there were some things that could be done maybe different.
00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:29.119
And so that's what I've tried to do is identify how we could start fresh on this and do it maybe different than others had.
00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:37.279
And then uh as we look at other facilities, we're kind of looking for that unit's probably not mature yet.
00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:47.279
It hasn't been really, we aren't going to unremodel what somebody else has done, where they've maybe chopped up the UPS too much, or there's no infrastructure, no physical plant, things like that.
00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:48.559
You can't take advantage of it.
00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:55.279
So we we were looking for, you know, the geography matters, the amount of connectivity that has a facility has.
00:22:55.519 --> 00:22:59.200
It used to be where three or four carriers of a facility was okay for a colo.
00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:04.000
Now you're looking for a dozen or more at a facility, or the capability for that.
00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:09.039
So a lot of it is our customers, our carriers tell us where they'd like us to be.
00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:16.319
And so then we go look at a facility because we really do have customers that like to work with us, and it's it's it's neat to do business that way.
00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:19.359
So a lot of times our carriers will tell us, hey, could you go?
00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:22.079
We we hear this facility is coming up, why don't you go look at it?
00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:24.079
So some of that goes on as well.
00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:27.359
Yeah, and I guess it's uh like you say, it's supply and demand, isn't it?
00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:32.079
And also trying to identify those areas that will have the demand in the future.
00:23:32.240 --> 00:23:48.880
I think in most regions that I'm working with people at the moment, it is those tier two, tier three regions, whether that's in Europe, Asia, or the US, it's it's those up and coming new regions that have seen a massive increase in demand and now require an increase in connectivity.
00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:50.240
I agree completely.
00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:57.519
I think it's gonna be certain continents or certain countries that maybe are developing are going to be a hot spot.
00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:12.880
I think that you're gonna find that there are areas that were flyover or small cities in any country that if you look at the geography of what it takes to connect a large city to a large city, if they're in the middle, it they could be the edge.
00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:16.160
So they are the new edge, and that's kind of what we like to think we are.
00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:27.440
Is we are that edge that if you're going to kind of between the two plop your network, that the new hub probably belongs between them, not inside of those big cities.
00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:33.680
If you find the right interaction or the right intersection of those, yeah, no, that that makes sense.
00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:58.640
It would be interesting to see how other countries develop, whether they look to develop in a similar way, or you do because in in Europe at the moment, you still obviously it's a lot Europe as a whole is similar to the US, I guess, but because it's country specific, you tend to have multiple facilities in multiple cities in a country, so separate connectivity, as opposed to that the link that kind of you provide.
00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:00.160
Spot on 100%.
00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:01.359
Totally agree.
00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:09.759
Um, I wanted to touch on a few other things as well, just before we kind of close up, but just to talk about some of the challenges in the industry that that we face at the moment.
00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:19.680
Um, obviously the growth of the data center industry has expedited quite significantly over the last at least 12 months, but probably going back 24 months.
00:25:19.839 --> 00:25:24.160
And one of the key challenges that I deal with is the talent shortages, and we touched on it earlier.
00:25:24.319 --> 00:25:29.440
But do you think the industry can do any more to attract more people into the sector?
00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:36.079
I think that it's when we started off today, people there's that mystery of what's a data center, it's still there.
00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:45.279
So you have to go out to the universities and you have to start at the, you know, at the when they're when they're young, and people are trying to become pick their path.
00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:50.720
Maybe they're in a generalist uh path for trying to pick which major they're going to go for.
00:25:50.880 --> 00:26:01.359
And if you can start young and get people exposure, uh I don't I don't think I think that they think that a data center they have to be a programmer or they have to be, you know, different than maybe they are.
00:26:01.519 --> 00:26:14.160
And there's enough different places within engineering or other capacity planning or other things you do within a facility, data security, that you could probably find something you like and it's going to be exciting.
00:26:14.319 --> 00:26:18.079
It's it's it's ever changing, it's evolving, as we've talked about today.
00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:21.359
I think that that is um that's for us is something.
00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:27.279
So I I'm on a board with one of the local universities, some of our other folks at our facility do the same thing.
00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:34.240
We kind of follow those things and try to help the universities know what they should be doing to give people exposure to it.
00:26:34.319 --> 00:26:39.119
Because even when we talk to the schools, they don't know a lot about what a data center is, frankly.
00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:40.559
No, definitely it's the same.
00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:41.119
I totally agree.
00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:42.880
And that's that's one of my key points as well.
00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:53.759
I think educating the younger generation is really, really important, and it's trying to work out a way of doing that with the that creates the correct impact and gets enough people interested.
00:26:53.920 --> 00:27:02.000
Um, I think you raise a good point about all the different career paths, which is one of the reasons why I started this podcast to demonstrate all the different opportunities in the industry.
00:27:02.079 --> 00:27:06.799
And it's it's maybe the sector as a whole just really getting that message out a bit better.
00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:12.319
Yeah, I think people are intimidated by the data center, and it's not that intimidating.
00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:22.160
If they if they had a friend or somebody that they knew, and maybe we can be friends to people as data center operators and and pull people in and give them some exposure, it doesn't hurt.
00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:30.640
We we work a lot with the Omaha Chamber here, and and we have uh events that we are we help them plan that are annual called Data Center Day, is one of them.
00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:38.079
And we bring people in that are they, they're brokers, their engineers, they're builders, and we bring them to Omaha.
00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:52.319
The College World Series is a baseball event that typically pre-COVID would have happened around June time frame in Omaha, and it's a great time to bring people in and do some really no pressure data center tours and give people exposure to what's going on.
00:27:52.480 --> 00:28:02.960
And um, partnering with your chamber uh could help a lot too for people that are in cities to kind of break down that mystery of what we what we have going on.
00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:05.039
Yeah, do you see it when you do things like that?
00:28:05.119 --> 00:28:07.599
Do you see quite a positive impact as a result?
00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:10.000
Yes, quite quite quite a bit.
00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:23.599
I I think that they have thought about us when they've had other people come to the market looking for things and they'd say, Hey, you sound like you might be able to talk to Todd, and he'd be able to, you know, it's kind of nano nano, as they say, kind of help each other figure out what what we need to talk about.
00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:26.000
And it it's worked out well to help them.
00:28:26.160 --> 00:28:30.720
And there's it's not like we're gonna get business out of it then, maybe down the road, who knows?
00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:34.960
But it's really it's uh helping people uh do commerce, you know.
00:28:35.279 --> 00:28:36.160
Yeah, no, definitely.
00:28:36.240 --> 00:28:45.759
And I and you touched on it earlier about the kind of the impact the the larger social media giants have on the industry as well, by you know, they they do soak up a lot of the talent.
00:28:45.839 --> 00:28:56.319
So I think it's important that the other organizations are probably more vocal than they are to try and attract people to them as well, so they don't all end up at one of those companies.
00:28:56.640 --> 00:28:57.440
Yeah, I think so.
00:28:57.599 --> 00:29:12.319
And I think we you have the local regional companies that will people pol there's people we do tend to cross-pollinate, we migrate from one spot to another spot, and there's some people that will stay to career just like anything else you would do, it could be in the auto industry or anywhere.
00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:15.279
But I know people have been at the same data center job for 35 years.
00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:20.960
I know people that have moved every five to six years or less because they felt like they wanted to.
00:29:21.119 --> 00:29:28.720
I when we ran facilities in Shanghai, we had to have a buddy with them because people would quit their job before they came because they'd move on to the next one already.
00:29:28.799 --> 00:29:36.079
So it just depends on where your, you know, what what age group of folks, what's your what's your what's your presence in that city?
00:29:36.240 --> 00:29:37.039
Are you known?
00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:40.880
You know, are you are you feeling like you're people feel secure working for you?
00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:44.960
Are you gonna you know get sold out tomorrow because that happens in this industry quite a bit?
00:29:45.039 --> 00:29:46.880
And so what so what's their longevity?
00:29:46.960 --> 00:29:56.400
But I I do find that people um if they get exposed to what's going on with your your business and who you are, that's as important as knowing what a data center is.
00:29:58.000 --> 00:29:58.640
Yeah, definitely.
00:29:58.720 --> 00:30:05.519
And I don't think a lot of people appreciate the longevity of the industry either, which is why it's good to talk to people that have been in the sector for quite a while.
00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:09.119
I genuinely think a lot of people think it's maybe only five years old.
00:30:09.359 --> 00:30:10.240
Yeah, yeah, right.
00:30:10.400 --> 00:30:20.079
I think you know, for me, I think I know guys that are in their 60s that were maybe in it, but you know, some of these you look at the the day, the mainframe, and some of the things that were going on.
00:30:20.240 --> 00:30:25.599
Um, it was a Voyager was launched in 1963 or four.
00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:30.720
So that thing's going across you know massive amounts of speed.
00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:33.680
I think I read the other day it was 111,000 miles an hour.
00:30:33.920 --> 00:30:36.079
Think of the technology they used when they built that thing.
00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:37.440
Where are those guys at now?
00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:42.319
So that those were those were computer guys, you know, that put that stuff up in the air that made a fly.
00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:43.359
That's pretty neat.
00:30:43.599 --> 00:30:44.559
It is, it's amazing.
00:30:44.640 --> 00:31:04.960
And I think a lot with a lot of the you know, like Tesla and electric cars and all that, all the technology that's being utilized now with you know, Tesla satellites, etc., that is really having an impact on the younger generation, and which is why I'm so keen that the data center sector takes advantage of their interest in tech to make sure that we are attracting some of the better ones into the industry.
00:31:05.279 --> 00:31:05.920
I I agree.
00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:09.599
I think the car cars specifically have become kind of an appliance for people.
00:31:09.759 --> 00:31:11.200
So the passion that's there.
00:31:11.279 --> 00:31:13.359
I do have a Triumph TR6, by the way.
00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:19.359
So I'm a huge Triumph fan, but it's uh I think that people look at the new cars as an appliance, and I tend to too.
00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:23.759
I have uh a Chevy Volt that's electric that drive back and forth to work, it works great for that.
00:31:23.839 --> 00:31:27.119
But if I really want to treat on a nice day, the Triumph does the trick.
00:31:27.279 --> 00:31:27.599
That's it.
00:31:27.839 --> 00:31:29.839
A good good bit of British engineering.
00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:31.359
Yeah, that's right.
00:31:31.680 --> 00:31:32.079
Excellent.
00:31:32.160 --> 00:31:34.240
Um, before I let you go on, I've really enjoyed our chat.
00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:40.000
There's there's one question I ask everybody on my podcast just before we close up, just to get your your advice, really.
00:31:40.079 --> 00:31:46.160
But if there's one piece of advice you'd give to someone looking to work in the data center industry, what would it be?
00:31:47.680 --> 00:31:51.759
Don't be afraid to ask questions of others in the industry.
00:31:51.920 --> 00:31:54.880
You know, when you're in there, look look at multiple data centers.
00:31:54.960 --> 00:32:03.839
So if you were to go to hyperscale or if you're to look at an enterprise data center, but don't be afraid to knock on the door and say, hey, I'm looking at this industry.
00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:05.359
I'm thinking about coming in here.
00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:10.880
Though there's probably a guard at the desk, there's probably somebody in there that would love to show you around and talk to you about it.
00:32:11.039 --> 00:32:14.160
So if you don't have a way to do it, there's also multiple organizations.
00:32:14.319 --> 00:32:21.119
You know, AFCOM is on the facility side, your ITEL screw, your 7x24 on the facility side.
00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:24.640
There are organizations you could reach out to, but I would say don't be afraid to reach out.
00:32:24.799 --> 00:32:28.720
There's people are it's uh it's almost like people with a classic car, like I said earlier.
00:32:28.880 --> 00:32:30.319
People want to talk to you about their car.
00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:36.160
People would love to talk to you about their data center because typically they're so geeky, they don't it's harder for them to talk to anybody anyway.
00:32:36.240 --> 00:32:37.839
So if you ask about it, they probably won't.
00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:43.839
Yeah, no, I totally agree that and I always say it on these as well that I think everyone I speak to says the same thing, you know.
00:32:44.000 --> 00:32:46.000
Please reach out to me if I can help you.
00:32:46.079 --> 00:32:48.559
And that's one thing I think the industry does really well.
00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:51.599
We just need to encourage more people to reach out.
00:32:51.920 --> 00:32:53.200
I would offer that same thing.
00:32:53.359 --> 00:32:56.319
Anyone that has a question, if I can help out, I'm here to help out.
00:32:56.640 --> 00:32:57.200
Appreciate that.
00:32:57.279 --> 00:33:01.279
And we can uh you know, we'll put your company website and everything on when we when we launch this.
00:33:01.359 --> 00:33:10.799
Because I also think it's as I say, the facility is an amazing facility, and it's definitely worth everyone having a look at your your website to get an idea of exactly what you're doing and what you're providing.
00:33:11.119 --> 00:33:12.160
Yeah, I appreciate it.
00:33:12.240 --> 00:33:17.759
Yeah, it's uh www.1623farnum, f a r n-m.com.
00:33:17.920 --> 00:33:18.559
Check it out.
00:33:18.799 --> 00:33:19.200
That's it.
00:33:19.279 --> 00:33:19.759
Take a look.
00:33:19.839 --> 00:33:22.079
Okay, well, I really appreciate your time today, Todd.
00:33:22.160 --> 00:33:33.599
I think that's hopefully um brought some benefit to the listeners and you know, we've raised some good points about the industry and also get a bit of a snapshot about yourself and and what you're doing at the moment at um 1623.
00:33:34.079 --> 00:33:34.400
Perfect.
00:33:34.480 --> 00:33:35.519
Thank you for the opportunity, Andy.
00:33:35.599 --> 00:33:36.319
I really appreciate your time.
00:33:36.559 --> 00:33:37.119
Absolute pleasure.
00:33:37.440 --> 00:33:38.240
Enjoy your triumph.
00:33:38.720 --> 00:33:39.200
Great, thank you.
00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:18.960
Welcome to the Insight Data Podcast.
00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:30.719
If you're working in the DT sector or you're looking to work in the sector, then this is a forecast for you.
00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:32.960
Welcome to the Insight Data Podcast.
00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:39.280
Today I'm joined by Todd Cushing, who's the president of 1623 Farnum in Omaha, the US.
00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:41.200
Good morning, Todd, for you.
00:00:41.679 --> 00:00:42.240
Good morning.
00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:45.439
And you, late afternoon for me.
00:00:45.600 --> 00:00:51.280
Always tricky to know whether to say morning or afternoon when we're on different time zones, but we'll get there.
00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:53.600
Thanks for coming on today, really appreciate it.
00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:59.439
I'm really keen to find out a bit more about your organization and also your career in the data center industry.
00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:02.320
But from all my listers, I've listened from all over the world.
00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:10.959
So you just want to give everyone a quick introduction on kind of who you are and um 1623 as well, just to give a bit of a snapshot of what we're talking about.
00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:11.920
Sure.
00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:16.640
Type cushing, I'm in right in the middle from a geography standpoint, middle of the US.
00:01:16.799 --> 00:01:20.879
If you were to put crosshairs or an X in the middle, that's where Omaha, Nebraska is.
00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:13.759
So we had to buy out leases and have tenants leave, and uh it was for security and just for ease of construction.
00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:22.080
And uh the facility was built as a bank in 1973, so it had very good um security aspects and structural aspects.
00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:25.520
We had to remove three vaults from the facility that were in the way.
00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:29.599
One of them was quite big, and that was a learning thing I'd never done before.
00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:31.199
Was there anything in them?
00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:31.840
Nothing.
00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:38.639
We did one of them hadn't been opened for almost 10 years, and uh somebody from the real estate company that was managing the building at the time.
00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:56.000
Uh it was like a moment where we thought we're gonna have Geraldo Guerrero or somebody there with us to watch, but it it um it turned out to be family belongings from somebody from South America, and it was mostly just family photo photos, slides, nothing, nothing magical, nothing we we were hoping for suitcases of cash.
00:02:56.240 --> 00:02:56.879
Didn't happen.
00:02:57.199 --> 00:03:01.199
I guess we wouldn't we probably wouldn't be talking now had there been uh suitcases of cash.
00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:04.800
So it left us with the opportunity to to have this conversation.
00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:11.840
But it's an uh I checked out the the the website and it's an amazing building, it's definitely worth everyone having a look, getting online and having a look.
00:03:11.919 --> 00:03:13.840
It's uh it's quite an amazing building.
00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:20.479
Um, well where I always like to start is go back to the beginning of your career just to get an idea of how you first entered the industry.
00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:25.199
Um, so how did you first end up in in the data center world?
00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:25.919
Sure.
00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:30.560
There was a company by the name of First Data Corporation that is also in Basledon.
00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:35.039
Uh, I spent some time there as part of that later in my career as it progressed.
00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:46.560
Uh, we were started as first data resources, became first data corporation, and then later now is FISERV, um, owned by, but at any rate, we had uh became global multinational.
00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:50.960
We started in a little data center in Omaha that did credit card transaction processing.
00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:53.199
So it had to be a tier four data center.
00:03:53.520 --> 00:04:09.520
And um we adapted and built out that data center, and we had call centers around the country and eventually around the world that needed generators and UPSs, and they started off to be just very simple, and then they become N plus one and you know more complex as time went on.
00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:21.600
But uh got an opportunity to work with a lot of different architects and builders and different teams in different countries as we became global, and uh a lot of different ways to do a data center, you know.
00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:28.879
Really at the end of the day, it's UPSs and generators, but the rules around how you're gonna do that, depending upon the country, um, they vary.
00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:32.800
And you've you've just got to be respectful and patient and kind of work through that process.
00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:33.439
That's it.
00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:36.959
And you and you spend quite a lot of time with CBRE as well, I understand.
00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:37.759
Correct.
00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:47.680
Is that uh it's funny CBRE when I was first data had been bought out, and it just was time for a change, you know, I it uh was ready for something different.
00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:50.639
And the brokers were were talking to me about being the guy in the middle.
00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:58.480
They didn't have anybody in in Oma, Nebraska is not uh large, it's a million people, it's not the like in the Los Angeles or a Dallas or something like that.
00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:13.279
And so they wanted somebody in the middle that could kind of cover those the flyover spots, and so I did that for about 10 years and got to do some international brokerage and worked with Andrew J in the UK from CBRE, he's a good good guy.
00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:18.639
Um, but did um through that process, I learned a different aspect of data centers.
00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:28.160
You know, so what I knew from operations was really different than how businesses looked at it or how the acquisition on the backside of a recycled facility would be.
00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:30.399
So it was very interesting to do that as well.
00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:31.920
Different, a different perspective.
00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:40.240
And now as an as a operator again, I know what the business of the engineer is looking at, I know what the business of the architect is looking at.
00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:48.800
So I I can kind of uh I get a better feeling for what the percentages maybe should be and how things would work and how they've got they have to zero out, you know, every week, every month.
00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:53.600
So I appreciate their the business challenges they have, you know, to make a living.
00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:54.399
Yeah, exactly.
00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:57.839
It's always it's always a positive to be able to see it from both sides, isn't it?
00:05:58.079 --> 00:05:58.639
Yeah.
00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:05.920
Um what I also like to talk about is you know, when you've been in the industry quite a while, it's just to get an idea of how it's changed over your career, really.
00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:15.680
I think it's it's quite easy these days to just assume that data centers have always been these, you know, massive buildings in well, yours is in the city centre or or in the middle of nowhere.
00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:19.360
But how's the industry changed and evolved since you first started in it?
00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:34.879
I think the internal connectivity within a facility, it used to be I was a mainframe shop, so it was bus and tag cables, and you'd drag these monster cables around, and then it really became uh multi-mode or or single mode fiber between devices.
00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:36.079
That was a big change.
00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:40.879
Uh the amount of space the storage took, but really the heat load has changed so much.
00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:56.560
So you used to have uh a 10 gig device for Hitachi or an Amdahl or somebody like that back in the day that uh was heavy and it took a lot of space, but it's it's um now you can get so much more into us into an area, and now you're managing the heat load of the space.
00:06:56.720 --> 00:07:05.360
And the other thing that's that's that really hasn't changed is since I started my career on 57 now, I was 16 years old when I started in my first data center.
00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:08.720
It was a big Star Treky door that you walk in on a race floor.
00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:13.199
Um, they were telling me the mainframe was dead back then and it's still around.
00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:18.720
So we have clients that still from time to time want that you know type of processing.
00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:22.480
Yeah, and from a you know, kind of exposure perspective as well.
00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:31.920
I I think the industry, I've been in the industry for about I don't know, 15, 16 years, and and I think the industry now is finally getting the exposure that it that it needs.
00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:33.920
Do you is it all do you agree with that?
00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:38.160
Is it it was obviously a bit hidden as a sector until the last 12 months, really?
00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:44.319
Yeah, a lot of people didn't know what you did, and uh yeah, what was a data center, why do you need it?
00:07:44.480 --> 00:08:02.480
And then uh there was the generators on the outside of the building that the rest of the building didn't understand, or why you had to have you know certain things for security in a building because that was an aspect of a building, so it really made people uh curious or suspicious of the data center, what's going on there?
00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:03.040
Nice.
00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:05.040
And do you think that helps the industry as a whole?
00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:09.120
That now that more people are appreciative of what you guys are doing?
00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:16.639
I I agree, and I think there are subsectors that like any business, you have niches or you have people that are kind of masters of all.
00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:20.879
And so telecommunications is a big part of what we do, interconnection.
00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:29.600
Uh, so we're a data center, we have people that put their things in our facility, but they want to be there because they want to peer data, they want to share data.
00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:35.840
We have you know 50 phone carriers, you know, learn distance, you know, multinational carriers.
00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:45.279
Um people want to be there for that, but then you have the bigger co-location, they're just there for um hyperscale, uh, really like wholesale, a wholesale carrier.
00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:47.360
Uh, we have a lot of interface with hyperscale.
00:08:47.519 --> 00:09:05.200
There's a lot of hyperscale data center in Omaha, and um, so we are the connection point for them and for the on-ramps for their their clouds, but there are there's specific data centers that do certain things now, where B used to be kind of a you're either an enterprise or you're a colo, you know, kind of is how it went, and that's different now.
00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:11.840
Yeah, and as and I guess you've seen your customers change and evolve over the last sort of 20, 30 years as well.
00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:12.960
I would agree.
00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:20.240
I think that what people are looking for in a data center, if they're if they're looking for a specific thing, you can find it.
00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:22.799
You it really is an ability to get that.
00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:30.320
If you're looking for um super, super dense, you know, there are people that can either provide it or there are play people that that's what they specialize in.
00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:35.039
Or if you're looking for super low cost, maybe less security, or there's people out there doing that as well.
00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:41.440
And you can, I find with cloud that people are there's a hybrid approach.
00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:45.600
So people will do some of their processing in one place or maybe keep some for themselves.
00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:56.080
It just depends on your people, aren't they afraid to break up the stack of what their applications are, you know, they're really uh it's there you can find it out there, yeah.
00:09:56.320 --> 00:09:56.960
Not a mystery.
00:09:57.279 --> 00:09:58.480
No, yeah, I totally agree.
00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:03.360
Along the career side of it, obviously you've you know you've developed quite a you know a highly successful career in the industry.
00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:10.080
Is there any particular advice you give to people that are looking to kind of follow a similar career path to yourself?
00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:23.120
I think for me, starting in operations and then getting into commercial real estate was a great path that a lot of brokers knew real estate, but they really didn't understand why a storage guy care?
00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:26.080
Why does a facility planner want this?
00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:36.960
And so when we did site selection, a lot of times I could anticipate what the what kind of bad things they didn't want to be by or what type of what a flight path means or distances, those kind of things.
00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:42.080
I think that was a good path if you want to get into commercial real estate to do your research on IT.
00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:51.519
If you were going to get into engineering architecture and you were going to be in that specific data center niche to do that, get exposure to your client and what they're doing.
00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:56.480
It really you're gonna build the relationships are important in anything we do for a living.
00:10:56.559 --> 00:11:01.519
Uh, I think it's it makes it important that you know why it's important to your client.
00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:03.200
That would be my assessment.
00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:04.240
Yeah, great advice.
00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:10.320
I've interviewed a couple of development um sort of managers on this podcast, and they've said similar things as well, actually.
00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:22.960
I think the the understanding of the technicality behind the project and the facilities really important when you're negotiating with clients and searching for land or facilities for them to develop their data centers.
00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:24.080
I agree.
00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:36.240
And on the 1623 farm, obviously, do you want to just give a quick sort of brief on, and I know you touched on it earlier, but exactly what it is, you know, the size of it, the scale of it, and then we can sort of dig a bit deeper.
00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:36.960
Sure.
00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:40.960
So it was a it's a nine-story building with a penthouse on top.
00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:43.120
There's a lower level and then a sub-basement.
00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:51.759
So we chose to uh there was 885 kilowatts of 208 power to the building when we took on the project and there was a data center running.
00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:58.639
The carriers sort of chose the building, so they've been in there since the mid-80s, and there was uh more and more all the time.
00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:08.240
So we as we organized the the fiber routes into the building, you know, the really the the point of entries and where where things were going to be for pull boxes, we had to work with those tenants.
00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:17.200
Now the building itself has four two megawatt transformers underground that are submersible grade, and we kept the 885 for life safety only.
00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:21.120
So we've got a little but a little less than nine megawatts uh to the building.
00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:26.799
We expect that we'll have um probably five and a half megawatts of critical load.
00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:30.240
Uh that's UPS, you know, that's load to the facility.
00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:40.000
And um, the building has um it's a it's a two to make one or a three to make two uh build is the way that it's built.
00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:47.200
So uh supposed so in a being a multi-story building, it might not uh it's it's it's so we we've taken out the ladies' room.
00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:48.639
We went to Unisex.
00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:54.399
The risers are now, you know, through the where the ladies' room was, we had through some op sinks out because they were stacked.
00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:55.759
That became another riser.
00:12:55.840 --> 00:13:05.919
So we've separated things physically, but it's uh being a multi-story building, it's a different animal than if you just had a big flat box, it was a greenfield.
00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:13.759
And then because you're up and running, you had to get up this, you had to bring in your new power and your new risers, and you had to commission it, and then you have to migrate over.
00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:15.600
And we did the same thing on cooling.
00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:20.480
It's just it's a whole a lot of change control, a lot of coordination.
00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:25.600
Um, change agent and owner's rep is different than the architectural engineering firm.
00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:29.039
So we have separation, so we have really a second set of eyes.
00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:34.799
Anytime we have an MOP or an SOP, multiple people are reading it, signing off on it, that it's right.
00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:38.559
You have to talk to your clients ahead of time to make sure they're okay with it.
00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:46.399
They're those firms, you know, some of them are large multinational telecom carriers, they have a rigid way in which they do things.
00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:52.879
So you're trying to maintain a schedule, not feel like you're pushing them, but you really need to get move on, you know, with what you're doing.
00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:55.039
So it's it's a it's a process.
00:13:55.200 --> 00:13:57.120
It's it's really uh I like it personally.
00:13:57.200 --> 00:13:59.279
I like a remodel more than a greenfield.
00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:04.879
Yeah, and I think I guess it must be um a lot of the facilities now are going down the multi-story route, aren't they?
00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:06.799
Especially in the the sort of city centers.
00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:14.480
So I guess a lot of what you're learning in your facility can be taken in new design and new concepts of the multi-story data center.
00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:26.159
Yeah, I think I think you wouldn't choose a multi-story unless you were in Asia where you know there's land is super tough, or or maybe in you know major metropolitan cities where you really have to.
00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:28.159
Here it was because the fiber was there.
00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:31.919
I think there were 16 or 17,000 fiber coming in the building when we started.
00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:34.960
There's over 20 now, but you can't move that very easy.
00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:37.200
So you kind of have to take what you have.
00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:41.039
You bought it for the for the interconnectivity, that's why we bought the business in the building.
00:14:41.279 --> 00:14:48.080
And um we I think are turning it into a really a it would stand up against about just about anything.
00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:55.919
Uh secretly, kind of behind the scenes, I'll tell you and the folks that will be listening to this the design of this facility is much like what we built for first data.
00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:05.679
So when we look at the way that this operates, it's what I was kind of used to for the powerhouse that we built there at Omaha, and um it makes it so that we can have just about anybody work on it.
00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:09.519
We've got 13.8 coming in, but we stayed 480 in the building.
00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:18.320
So just about anybody can work on it around the clock and not, you know, it's pretty pretty off-the-shelf stuff, vertive UPS, cat generators, those kind of things.
00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:21.360
You know, it's really really standard stuff.
00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:28.799
Yeah, I listened to a podcast you're on with Data Center Hawk, and um, I noticed you described it as kind of like an ecosystem.
00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:31.279
Do you want to sort of explain what you mean by that?
00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:40.320
Yeah, the ecosystem for us is when we started off as a as a carrier hotel, we knew that we needed to have more peering and more interaction.
00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:46.639
So we did purchase there was an IX, and there's a lot of IXs in from country to country in Europe.
00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:48.240
There aren't so many in the US.
00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:56.320
So we were able to purchase the IX and we've been able to add um content companies to that IX so they could share data.
00:15:56.399 --> 00:16:03.279
So that's part of that ecosystem that a large carrier would be looking to put some data on there and share that as a tertiary network.
00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:12.720
So you might have an A or a B network, but now every day that you're you can use that peering you're gonna save on your telecom cost and be able to get the content.
00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:17.200
So Netflix and other people are in there, Akamai, and and other hyperscales.
00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:26.080
So that ecosystem would mean that they also would want to bring in their clients or content people would want to be there so they can share data.
00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:28.559
It's much more cost effective.
00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:31.519
You can get uh scale that you can't find.
00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:41.279
So 100 gig is very reach, very achievable in the building, and you can also get um a pricing that is kind of on net pricing.
00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:44.080
So you're you're able to go direct carrier to carrier.
00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:59.600
If you think of us as a switching platform, kind of like where trains would go to a roundhouse back in the day or a spider with legs, that's really the ecosystem we're trying to build is people want to come to us mostly for connectivity, mostly for that ecosystem that we're building, is the attraction point.
00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:09.200
It isn't that we don't we have a we have a good base for cages and cabinets and space and power and cooling, but most people are there to be able to interface with other people.
00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:16.160
So if you are a hyperscale, you wouldn't necessarily put your on-ramp partners or some of your partners in your data center.
00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:18.240
You would have them be where your network is.
00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:20.319
Their network comes to us first.
00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:27.440
So if they come to our facility, a lot of those on-ramps are in our facility to get access to the hyperscale.
00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:31.039
That's what we're trying to, that's really where we think our growth could will come from.
00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:32.079
Yeah, and that makes sense.
00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:42.480
And I guess over the last 12 months, with with the uh COVID situation that we've all been through and more of the move to the edge, etc., I'm assuming you've seen an increase in demand for exactly that.
00:17:42.799 --> 00:17:53.599
We have, and we've seen uh phone companies and really uh carriers for hyperscale go from 10 or multiple 10 gig connections to maybe 100 gigs to be able to do that again.
00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:56.960
Video conferencing content is really going pretty wild.
00:17:57.119 --> 00:18:02.640
We also are working from home and have been since early March and have a construction project with that.
00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:28.799
We've got an orange team and a black team, and we're cleaning a lot every day, and we're making sure we have screening going on, and so to make sure that everybody's all right, we've had about 90 to 94 people on site every day for construction, and so making sure our clients that have to come on site are comfortable and know how they're gonna get in out of the building, and that you know, every everybody they follow the masking and the protocols, just like our trades do, is really important to keep the project going.
00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:33.519
So at this point, we're commissioning, so all of that hard work is is behind us.
00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:35.200
So we're in the process actually of cutting over.
00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:36.559
Commissioning is really complete.
00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:40.799
So we're in the process of cutting over to the new systems, and the clients are excited to see it happen.
00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:48.640
But they've been in there through the thick of all that construction and trying to keep it clean, uh, let alone safe, has been uh a long process.
00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:54.799
Yeah, I think everyone's found it fairly challenging doing the construction over the last 12 months in Europe as well.
00:18:54.960 --> 00:18:58.000
And it's quite interesting to hear you you talk about it really.
00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:02.559
How's the challenge been with regards to sourcing the people for it?
00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:13.359
I think uh have you had a is there a shortage of talent in in your region or have you taken advantage of the reduced workload in other sectors to get people in to do the data center?
00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:23.519
So so I have to speak in square feet because I don't convert over very well, but we've got we've got about seven million square feet of a social media networking company in the in Ohan.
00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:35.359
They're they're the largest search engine in the in the world, has three data centers within seven miles of us, and they have over a thousand megawatts at one of those facilities.
00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:40.880
It's the largest in North America, and so they had shut down part of their projects because of safety and COVID.
00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:50.240
So usually they decimate the market for trades, and we have gotten a huge boost and influx of access to talent that we wouldn't otherwise probably have.
00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:57.839
And so, our being that they're our clients, their general contractor in some of the cases is who we chose, but not by accident.
00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:02.400
So they've been able to kind of re-steer people towards our facility to really give us a boost.
00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:11.039
It's worked, it's it's um, I hate to say we took advantage of it, but we were able to get talent and take advantage of it in a way we didn't know we would be able to.
00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:13.200
Good timing, I think they call it.
00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:15.279
Yeah, every once in a while we're lucky.
00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:16.240
That's it, exactly.
00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:17.839
You know, doing it at the right time.
00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:25.839
And is there any is there any um sort of plans for future growth, or is it once you've completed this element of it, is sort of looking to settle at that?
00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:28.799
We are we have uh we're building two halves.
00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:33.839
So we put in our our first half is um a series of generators and UPS.
00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:36.559
We'll build in the second half once we get to 80 percent.
00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:39.519
We're watching lead times on on procurement.
00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:45.039
So we put in uh we we've we build out the facility from a rough end standpoint.
00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:48.640
We're ready at a moment's notice to to complete that other half.
00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:50.400
We think we have about 90 days.
00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:56.960
Uh, we also are looking and have uh control of neighboring property so we can expand physically outside.
00:20:57.039 --> 00:20:58.880
We have looked in other regions.
00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:04.720
We like what's called a tier two market or tier three market, and we have looked at several.
00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:16.400
Um, we have a great investment partner family owner uh with with us that uh has been in this space, so they appreciate how expensive these things are, what it costs to do it, and they're patient.
00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:23.920
So they are very keen to continue to look at other projects, and we certainly have uh well as this has been going on.
00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:35.759
Yeah, I guess like we talked about earlier, as the demand for edge and reduced latency, et cetera, increases, your your type of offering is is we're gonna come more demand or in more demand.
00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:42.160
Yes, we're definitely looking for that interconnection ecosystem capable, maybe not built out, but we could get it there.
00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:50.319
But there's more than enough demand and growth in our building and business, and they like what they're saying, so they're willing to back us to go on to the right other fence.
00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:58.400
Yeah, and how would you go about identifying a facility or or a region for that type of project?
00:21:58.720 --> 00:22:03.759
So for this one, it was Because I was born and raised in Omaha when I first had on that, done real estate.
00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:06.960
So I I saw that this was going to be capable.
00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:20.400
And I'd seen what happened with Infomart in Dallas and Wilshar and some of the 360 and some of the other ones in 1102, Grand in Kansas City, had been had been big facilities in their day.
00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:22.640
But there were some things that could be done maybe different.
00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:29.119
And so that's what I've tried to do is identify how we could start fresh on this and do it maybe different than others had.
00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:37.279
And then uh as we look at other facilities, we're kind of looking for that unit's probably not mature yet.
00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:47.279
It hasn't been really, we aren't going to unremodel what somebody else has done, where they've maybe chopped up the UPS too much, or there's no infrastructure, no physical plant, things like that.
00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:48.559
You can't take advantage of it.
00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:55.279
So we we were looking for, you know, the geography matters, the amount of connectivity that has a facility has.
00:22:55.519 --> 00:22:59.200
It used to be where three or four carriers of a facility was okay for a colo.
00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:04.000
Now you're looking for a dozen or more at a facility, or the capability for that.
00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:09.039
So a lot of it is our customers, our carriers tell us where they'd like us to be.
00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:16.319
And so then we go look at a facility because we really do have customers that like to work with us, and it's it's it's neat to do business that way.
00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:19.359
So a lot of times our carriers will tell us, hey, could you go?
00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:22.079
We we hear this facility is coming up, why don't you go look at it?
00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:24.079
So some of that goes on as well.
00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:27.359
Yeah, and I guess it's uh like you say, it's supply and demand, isn't it?
00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:32.079
And also trying to identify those areas that will have the demand in the future.
00:23:32.240 --> 00:23:48.880
I think in most regions that I'm working with people at the moment, it is those tier two, tier three regions, whether that's in Europe, Asia, or the US, it's it's those up and coming new regions that have seen a massive increase in demand and now require an increase in connectivity.
00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:50.240
I agree completely.
00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:57.519
I think it's gonna be certain continents or certain countries that maybe are developing are going to be a hot spot.
00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:12.880
I think that you're gonna find that there are areas that were flyover or small cities in any country that if you look at the geography of what it takes to connect a large city to a large city, if they're in the middle, it they could be the edge.
00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:16.160
So they are the new edge, and that's kind of what we like to think we are.
00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:27.440
Is we are that edge that if you're going to kind of between the two plop your network, that the new hub probably belongs between them, not inside of those big cities.
00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:33.680
If you find the right interaction or the right intersection of those, yeah, no, that that makes sense.
00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:58.640
It would be interesting to see how other countries develop, whether they look to develop in a similar way, or you do because in in Europe at the moment, you still obviously it's a lot Europe as a whole is similar to the US, I guess, but because it's country specific, you tend to have multiple facilities in multiple cities in a country, so separate connectivity, as opposed to that the link that kind of you provide.
00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:00.160
Spot on 100%.
00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:01.359
Totally agree.
00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:09.759
Um, I wanted to touch on a few other things as well, just before we kind of close up, but just to talk about some of the challenges in the industry that that we face at the moment.
00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:19.680
Um, obviously the growth of the data center industry has expedited quite significantly over the last at least 12 months, but probably going back 24 months.
00:25:19.839 --> 00:25:24.160
And one of the key challenges that I deal with is the talent shortages, and we touched on it earlier.
00:25:24.319 --> 00:25:29.440
But do you think the industry can do any more to attract more people into the sector?
00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:36.079
I think that it's when we started off today, people there's that mystery of what's a data center, it's still there.
00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:45.279
So you have to go out to the universities and you have to start at the, you know, at the when they're when they're young, and people are trying to become pick their path.
00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:50.720
Maybe they're in a generalist uh path for trying to pick which major they're going to go for.
00:25:50.880 --> 00:26:01.359
And if you can start young and get people exposure, uh I don't I don't think I think that they think that a data center they have to be a programmer or they have to be, you know, different than maybe they are.
00:26:01.519 --> 00:26:14.160
And there's enough different places within engineering or other capacity planning or other things you do within a facility, data security, that you could probably find something you like and it's going to be exciting.
00:26:14.319 --> 00:26:18.079
It's it's it's ever changing, it's evolving, as we've talked about today.
00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:21.359
I think that that is um that's for us is something.
00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:27.279
So I I'm on a board with one of the local universities, some of our other folks at our facility do the same thing.
00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:34.240
We kind of follow those things and try to help the universities know what they should be doing to give people exposure to it.
00:26:34.319 --> 00:26:39.119
Because even when we talk to the schools, they don't know a lot about what a data center is, frankly.
00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:40.559
No, definitely it's the same.
00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:41.119
I totally agree.
00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:42.880
And that's that's one of my key points as well.
00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:53.759
I think educating the younger generation is really, really important, and it's trying to work out a way of doing that with the that creates the correct impact and gets enough people interested.
00:26:53.920 --> 00:27:02.000
Um, I think you raise a good point about all the different career paths, which is one of the reasons why I started this podcast to demonstrate all the different opportunities in the industry.
00:27:02.079 --> 00:27:06.799
And it's it's maybe the sector as a whole just really getting that message out a bit better.
00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:12.319
Yeah, I think people are intimidated by the data center, and it's not that intimidating.
00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:22.160
If they if they had a friend or somebody that they knew, and maybe we can be friends to people as data center operators and and pull people in and give them some exposure, it doesn't hurt.
00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:30.640
We we work a lot with the Omaha Chamber here, and and we have uh events that we are we help them plan that are annual called Data Center Day, is one of them.
00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:38.079
And we bring people in that are they, they're brokers, their engineers, they're builders, and we bring them to Omaha.
00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:52.319
The College World Series is a baseball event that typically pre-COVID would have happened around June time frame in Omaha, and it's a great time to bring people in and do some really no pressure data center tours and give people exposure to what's going on.
00:27:52.480 --> 00:28:02.960
And um, partnering with your chamber uh could help a lot too for people that are in cities to kind of break down that mystery of what we what we have going on.
00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:05.039
Yeah, do you see it when you do things like that?
00:28:05.119 --> 00:28:07.599
Do you see quite a positive impact as a result?
00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:10.000
Yes, quite quite quite a bit.
00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:23.599
I I think that they have thought about us when they've had other people come to the market looking for things and they'd say, Hey, you sound like you might be able to talk to Todd, and he'd be able to, you know, it's kind of nano nano, as they say, kind of help each other figure out what what we need to talk about.
00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:26.000
And it it's worked out well to help them.
00:28:26.160 --> 00:28:30.720
And there's it's not like we're gonna get business out of it then, maybe down the road, who knows?
00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:34.960
But it's really it's uh helping people uh do commerce, you know.
00:28:35.279 --> 00:28:36.160
Yeah, no, definitely.
00:28:36.240 --> 00:28:45.759
And I and you touched on it earlier about the kind of the impact the the larger social media giants have on the industry as well, by you know, they they do soak up a lot of the talent.
00:28:45.839 --> 00:28:56.319
So I think it's important that the other organizations are probably more vocal than they are to try and attract people to them as well, so they don't all end up at one of those companies.
00:28:56.640 --> 00:28:57.440
Yeah, I think so.
00:28:57.599 --> 00:29:12.319
And I think we you have the local regional companies that will people pol there's people we do tend to cross-pollinate, we migrate from one spot to another spot, and there's some people that will stay to career just like anything else you would do, it could be in the auto industry or anywhere.
00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:15.279
But I know people have been at the same data center job for 35 years.
00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:20.960
I know people that have moved every five to six years or less because they felt like they wanted to.
00:29:21.119 --> 00:29:28.720
I when we ran facilities in Shanghai, we had to have a buddy with them because people would quit their job before they came because they'd move on to the next one already.
00:29:28.799 --> 00:29:36.079
So it just depends on where your, you know, what what age group of folks, what's your what's your what's your presence in that city?
00:29:36.240 --> 00:29:37.039
Are you known?
00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:40.880
You know, are you are you feeling like you're people feel secure working for you?
00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:44.960
Are you gonna you know get sold out tomorrow because that happens in this industry quite a bit?
00:29:45.039 --> 00:29:46.880
And so what so what's their longevity?
00:29:46.960 --> 00:29:56.400
But I I do find that people um if they get exposed to what's going on with your your business and who you are, that's as important as knowing what a data center is.
00:29:58.000 --> 00:29:58.640
Yeah, definitely.
00:29:58.720 --> 00:30:05.519
And I don't think a lot of people appreciate the longevity of the industry either, which is why it's good to talk to people that have been in the sector for quite a while.
00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:09.119
I genuinely think a lot of people think it's maybe only five years old.
00:30:09.359 --> 00:30:10.240
Yeah, yeah, right.
00:30:10.400 --> 00:30:20.079
I think you know, for me, I think I know guys that are in their 60s that were maybe in it, but you know, some of these you look at the the day, the mainframe, and some of the things that were going on.
00:30:20.240 --> 00:30:25.599
Um, it was a Voyager was launched in 1963 or four.
00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:30.720
So that thing's going across you know massive amounts of speed.
00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:33.680
I think I read the other day it was 111,000 miles an hour.
00:30:33.920 --> 00:30:36.079
Think of the technology they used when they built that thing.
00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:37.440
Where are those guys at now?
00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:42.319
So that those were those were computer guys, you know, that put that stuff up in the air that made a fly.
00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:43.359
That's pretty neat.
00:30:43.599 --> 00:30:44.559
It is, it's amazing.
00:30:44.640 --> 00:31:04.960
And I think a lot with a lot of the you know, like Tesla and electric cars and all that, all the technology that's being utilized now with you know, Tesla satellites, etc., that is really having an impact on the younger generation, and which is why I'm so keen that the data center sector takes advantage of their interest in tech to make sure that we are attracting some of the better ones into the industry.
00:31:05.279 --> 00:31:05.920
I I agree.
00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:09.599
I think the car cars specifically have become kind of an appliance for people.
00:31:09.759 --> 00:31:11.200
So the passion that's there.
00:31:11.279 --> 00:31:13.359
I do have a Triumph TR6, by the way.
00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:19.359
So I'm a huge Triumph fan, but it's uh I think that people look at the new cars as an appliance, and I tend to too.
00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:23.759
I have uh a Chevy Volt that's electric that drive back and forth to work, it works great for that.
00:31:23.839 --> 00:31:27.119
But if I really want to treat on a nice day, the Triumph does the trick.
00:31:27.279 --> 00:31:27.599
That's it.
00:31:27.839 --> 00:31:29.839
A good good bit of British engineering.
00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:31.359
Yeah, that's right.
00:31:31.680 --> 00:31:32.079
Excellent.
00:31:32.160 --> 00:31:34.240
Um, before I let you go on, I've really enjoyed our chat.
00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:40.000
There's there's one question I ask everybody on my podcast just before we close up, just to get your your advice, really.
00:31:40.079 --> 00:31:46.160
But if there's one piece of advice you'd give to someone looking to work in the data center industry, what would it be?
00:31:47.680 --> 00:31:51.759
Don't be afraid to ask questions of others in the industry.
00:31:51.920 --> 00:31:54.880
You know, when you're in there, look look at multiple data centers.
00:31:54.960 --> 00:32:03.839
So if you were to go to hyperscale or if you're to look at an enterprise data center, but don't be afraid to knock on the door and say, hey, I'm looking at this industry.
00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:05.359
I'm thinking about coming in here.
00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:10.880
Though there's probably a guard at the desk, there's probably somebody in there that would love to show you around and talk to you about it.
00:32:11.039 --> 00:32:14.160
So if you don't have a way to do it, there's also multiple organizations.
00:32:14.319 --> 00:32:21.119
You know, AFCOM is on the facility side, your ITEL screw, your 7x24 on the facility side.
00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:24.640
There are organizations you could reach out to, but I would say don't be afraid to reach out.
00:32:24.799 --> 00:32:28.720
There's people are it's uh it's almost like people with a classic car, like I said earlier.
00:32:28.880 --> 00:32:30.319
People want to talk to you about their car.
00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:36.160
People would love to talk to you about their data center because typically they're so geeky, they don't it's harder for them to talk to anybody anyway.
00:32:36.240 --> 00:32:37.839
So if you ask about it, they probably won't.
00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:43.839
Yeah, no, I totally agree that and I always say it on these as well that I think everyone I speak to says the same thing, you know.
00:32:44.000 --> 00:32:46.000
Please reach out to me if I can help you.
00:32:46.079 --> 00:32:48.559
And that's one thing I think the industry does really well.
00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:51.599
We just need to encourage more people to reach out.
00:32:51.920 --> 00:32:53.200
I would offer that same thing.
00:32:53.359 --> 00:32:56.319
Anyone that has a question, if I can help out, I'm here to help out.
00:32:56.640 --> 00:32:57.200
Appreciate that.
00:32:57.279 --> 00:33:01.279
And we can uh you know, we'll put your company website and everything on when we when we launch this.
00:33:01.359 --> 00:33:10.799
Because I also think it's as I say, the facility is an amazing facility, and it's definitely worth everyone having a look at your your website to get an idea of exactly what you're doing and what you're providing.
00:33:11.119 --> 00:33:12.160
Yeah, I appreciate it.
00:33:12.240 --> 00:33:17.759
Yeah, it's uh www.1623farnum, f a r n-m.com.
00:33:17.920 --> 00:33:18.559
Check it out.
00:33:18.799 --> 00:33:19.200
That's it.
00:33:19.279 --> 00:33:19.759
Take a look.
00:33:19.839 --> 00:33:22.079
Okay, well, I really appreciate your time today, Todd.
00:33:22.160 --> 00:33:33.599
I think that's hopefully um brought some benefit to the listeners and you know, we've raised some good points about the industry and also get a bit of a snapshot about yourself and and what you're doing at the moment at um 1623.
00:33:34.079 --> 00:33:34.400
Perfect.
00:33:34.480 --> 00:33:35.519
Thank you for the opportunity, Andy.
00:33:35.599 --> 00:33:36.319
I really appreciate your time.
00:33:36.559 --> 00:33:37.119
Absolute pleasure.
00:33:37.440 --> 00:33:38.240
Enjoy your triumph.
00:33:38.720 --> 00:33:39.200
Great, thank you.
