Q&A with TelecomNewsRoom’s Contributing Editor, Kathy Xu

Paul Ike is Managing Director of Unica Datacenters. Paul is an IT specialist focused on helping customers find the best solution for every challenge. He was born and raised in Amsterdam, lived and worked in the United States, and feels most at home in a technologically complex, international environment. Paul has always been interested in new technological developments and has been working in the data center world for the last 14 years.

TelecomNewsRoom recently had the opportunity to sit down with Paul and discuss his company’s attendance at KickStart Europe 2018, taking place January 24, in Amsterdam, and the impact that the Internet of Things and other emerging technologies will have on the data center.

TelecomNewsRoom, Kathy Xu (TNR-KX) Question: What are you most eager to share with attendees at KickStart Europe and to learn from fellow speakers?

Unica Datacenters, Paul Ike (Unica Datacenters-PI) Answer: We look forward to sharing our view on the future of the data center market with the attendees of KickStart Europe. The fact that IT and digitalization has become so inconceivably big has an impact on all of us. Things like Internet of Things and consequently the use of 5G networks, machine-to-machine learning and augmented reality used to be science fiction, but they are here now. And they will cause an explosion of data. We believe the internet is the new grid and the energy of humanity. We expect to learn a lot from the fellow speakers, especially in terms of how we deal with the digital present and how to react in terms of chain dependence and responsibility. What are we doing, how do we prepare and how do we keep discussing this which each other. We are innovating together, after all.

TNR-KX Q: What shifts in the market are you expecting to see in 2018? What can we do now to prepare?

Unica Datacenters-PI A: There are quite a few developments we can expect in the coming years. Major data center operators will continue to build in a modular approach. The service-oriented economy will further increase not only the amount of data, but also the consumption-based procurement and the need to monitor and respond with IT resources. There is thus a lot of growth in the market, the explosion of data will continue, and it will increase. I think it is important to remember to find the momentum in the market and to stop and think about how to cope with this enormous growth in the market. If we just keep building, there is no time to think ahead or innovate. And to be able to deal with the market expansion, we need to work together. Innovation is key, we continuously need to improve.

TNR-KX Q: KickStart Europe’s focus is on increasing collaboration across industry subsets to further the industry as a whole. What does that mean to you and what are you doing to help realize that goal?

Unica Datacenters-PI A: As a general contractor, we think about data centers in terms of the Lifecycle Model: Consult, Construct, Operate, Maintain. The last two often are the most important for our customers, but for the operator, the design and build phase is the most important. We believe you need to understand and improve the entire scope. Look at the IT needs in the market, what do we need to do and how do we respond to this?

TNR-KX: Thank you for spending some time with us today and best of luck at KickStart Europe! To learn more about Unica Datacenters, click here.