30572_Kao Data Critical Careers_Pages - Flipbook - Page 58
Can you share your journey into the data centre industry?
Lisa
Rhodes
Senior Director,
NTT DATA Services
58
y career in the data centre industry has
truly spanned the entire “food chain”
of data centres, re昀氀ecting how the
昀椀eld has evolved over time. I began as an IT VP
managing an outsourced data centre during a
pivotal period when applications were transitioning
from mainframes to local area networks. This shift
fundamentally changed where applications resided
and who managed them.
then went to Verne, a data centre operator, where
I integrated my knowledge of networking, physical
infrastructure, and the emerging cloud models.
Redundant networks had become an expectation
as companies like Equinix were beginning to
offer network connectivity as part of their value
proposition. During that time I also saw the rise of
hyperscalers like Google and AWS marking a new era
in the industry.
M
I
From there, I was encouraged by my vendor
suppliers to move into the carrier side of
the business, selling network connectivity to
data centres. This role shifted my focus to the
redundancy and security of networks, which were
critical concerns before redundant data centres
became the norm.
In essence, my journey has taken me from managing
small, outsourced setups to navigating hyperscaler
environments and global trends. The industry’s
constant innovation and intersection with cuttingedge technology has kept me deeply engaged. Over
the years I’ve developed a real passion for this everchanging industry.
