“We can’t solve the problems of today, with the solutions of 100 years ago,” proclaims PCX’s sales and marketing director, Rob Coyle. “Meeting with industry leaders face-to-face and learning about operator’s challenges, are some of the best ways to solve these problems, with modern solutions.”
Those solutions, however, could be just an engagement away, thanks to national conferences like Data Center Dynamics, where growing data center companies, providers and thought leaders congregate to discuss the future of digital infrastructure in colocation, cloud and managed service provider spaces.
From October 21-22, Coyle led PCX’s networking initiatives at the 2019 Dallas, Texas-based DCD conference, which focused on industry challenges unique to colocation, wholesale and telco solution providers. Coyle and PCX specifically targeted engagements with companies that sought to improve their build schedule, remove risk from their construction timelines and optimize their energy storage or usage processes. This was compounded by Coyle's and PCX’s exploration into the challenges unique to the market segment, which allowed for PCX to experience and engage with in-depth perspectives from operators hyper focused on data center efficiency and speed.
To approach and provide solutions to these industry-laden objectives, Coyle and PCX offered the modular approach to DCD attendees through traditional networking and event round-tables. The approach was modeled to assist in improving attendee's data center build schedules, while concurrently removing risk from their construction process.
The modular approach can lessen operators’ total facility costs up to 20%, based on the ability to include only the necessary components of a data center while scaling. This reduces the center's stranded capacity and optimizes the efficiency of active power and cooling infrastructure.
Data center construction schedules are expedited through factory integration. Pre-built solutions provide controlled quality assurance (through our ISO 9001:2015 certified quality system) when complying with IBC, NEC, and UL standards. In addition, risks that prolong construction schedules are mitigated by in-house weather, safety and labor controls.
The modular approach also aims to replace traditional construction and bid-buy processes. “Traditional construction and the bid-to-buy process is an inefficient use of a growing company’s time and resources,” said Coyle. “Doing what has always been done has too many costs, is not fast enough, and brings no advantage to companies looking to succeed. That’s why we’re aiming to circumvent these archaic processes within the industry.”
Instead, Coyle and PCX offered attendees the promise of reduced lead times through a parallel design and construction process that incorporates engineers, contractors and inspectors at each stage. Through collaborative in-house planning, design and quality assurance processes that streamline and reduce unnecessary labor, PCX provides a multitude of residual modular benefits. By promoting these offerings through networking engagements at the conference, PCX ensures attendees learn how to expedite their installation, better assure quality, and streamline their planning and design processes.
But just because Coyle aimed to advocate for the modular solution on behalf of PCX, doesn’t mean internal protocol and industry education fell by the wayside. Coyle is a longstanding attendee of the DCD conferences, as this attendance marks his fifth time at DCD, and his second at the Dallas conference. Coyle said PCX joins these industry discussions and attends these events, “To learn and share the best way to deploy [modular] infrastructure in the fastest and most cost-effective way possible.” This includes utilizing best practices and modern industry solutions to continually audit and optimize the modular approach, as well as general data center design.
Coyle’s diligent networking with industry leaders and peers, on the front-line of data center design, continues to allow PCX to survey and benefit the future of data centers, while providing for the client’s focus. One of Coyle’s main goals for this attendance centered on discussing the intersection of renewable energy storage and backup power, which allows for PCX to optimize energy conservation and power efficiency within their data center offerings.
“The increasing energy demand from data centers and an outdated infrastructure to support it, requires data center owners and operators to build their own energy sources. Our experience with renewable energy and battery storage, combined with the needs learned from industry representatives at this conference, has a massive overlap with optimal opportunities in energy conservation and data center footprint reduction,” said Coyle.
"Armed with this experience and knowledge of the industry’s problem, we can work to provide more streamlined and corroborated solutions in the near future."
Coyle and PCX plan to be a consistent presence at DCD conferences, as they continue to network and learn from industry leaders, while promoting the modular approach to data center construction. For more information on trade show attendances, conference recaps and modular solutions to help your business maximize a data center investment, visit our blog. For information on upcoming trade shows, conferences and PCX projects, visit our official news release hub.