International Data Center Day, designed to create awareness of the rapidly-growing global data center industry, is a day to inspire the world’s next generation to become a part of the connected digital world. Digital Fortress, a leading multi-tenant colocation and wholesale data center provider, celebrates International Data Center Day by sharing Jhoan Checo’s story on how he began his data center career.
Jhoan Checo, Chief Sales Officer of Digital Fortress, served in the United States military for 10 years before beginning his impressive career in the data center industry. Beginning as a chef in the navy, Jhoan worked his way into IT. From there, Jhoan was given the opportunity to work within the Navy data center where Jhoan was responsible for the networks & systems operations and overlooking the data center teams. After the military, Jhoan began to build his network around Wall Street and was introduced to the data center industry during the high-trading explosion in the 2000s. Since then, Jhoan became an award-winning data center sales leader. Over the course of his career, he had led his teams to achieve greatness. Jhoan attributes his drive, leadership and team management skills to his time serving the country in the United States Navy.
Jhoan expresses the strong connection between the military and working within the data center industry. On the Navy ships, there are generators and cooling systems that provide power and cooling. Along with this aspect, there is security and compliance. The data center industry has seen great success with mechanical engineering veterans of the military and transitioning them into a data center role. Veterans take less time and light training before working for data center companies because they are equipped with experience and technical skills necessary prior to stepping into a data center. Jhoan also emphasizes that you do not need to be an engineer to work in the data center industry. The younger generation of talent should be aware of the many career paths that the data center industry has to offer including operations, sales, marketing, public relations and more. The data center industry is a great opportunity for employment with various paths to take.
“International Data Center Day is a day to celebrate the data center industry and raise awareness of the vast variety of careers that this industry has to offer,” adds Jhoan Checo. “I encourage the younger generation and veterans to explore the many great opportunities, technical or not, and acknowledge that they are the future of this industry.”
