October 17, 2018

Market Leading Solutions in an Evolving Digital Landscape (Part 1)

by: Align

Align-Data-Center-Feature-V2
The following excerpt originally appeared in Gigabit and Business Chief North America Magazines and was written by Dale Benton and produced by Tom Venturo.

Read on for exclusive insights from Art Dooling, Principal of Align – Assessments and Migrations, and Tom Weber, Director of Data Center and Design of Align.

For over 30 years, Align has provided next-generation solutions designed to manage client technology needs, optimize their business operations and secure their IT infrastructure. It does this through three key areas – Professional Services, Managed IT Services and Cybersecurity Risk Management.

However, it goes without saying that what worked 30 years ago – or even five years ago – no longer guarantees it will meet the technology needs of today, and of tomorrow. As such, technology solutions providers have had to evolve and innovate faster than the market in order to not only serve this changing client base but stay ahead of the curve.
Art Dooling_Headshot
“As a company we’ve been extremely fortunate to evolve with the way that technology has changed and to stay on the cusp of what’s happening with the future landscape of technology,” says
Art Dooling, Principal of Align – Assessments and Migrations.

“Let’s be honest, technology has evolved so much over the last 30 years that we’ve had to. What we were doing 30 years ago is completely different to what we are doing today.”

Align was formed in 1986 in a pre-internet age. In fact, Align was formed merely five years after IBM launched the very first, commercially available, personal computer. Dooling, along with Tom Weber as Align’s Director of Data Center and Design, both share a unique perspective of the emergence of new technologies — matched with increasing client demands and expectations — and as such they both understand the importance for Align to continuously redefine what it can do for its clients.
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“Companies around the world are developing something new on an almost daily basis,” says Weber. “The fact of the matter is that as a firm you simply cannot put your focus into every new solution or product. You have to select the right ones and develop solutions that allow our customers to maximize the efficiencies that these new technologies afford.”

This understanding is written into the company’s very DNA with both Dooling and Weber pointing to a saying that defines the strategic direction of Align: if our firm was doing the same thing it was doing five years ago we would be out of business.

One particular market that is undergoing substantial growth and momentum is the data center space. Over the past decade, data center investments have soared as more and more companies are moving legacy infrastructure into cloud solutions and leasing purpose-built data center whitespace. Align has designed power, cabling and pathways for over 250MW of production-ready data center space as it looks to provide “a solution for everyone.”

This is Weber and Dooling’s domain as Weber takes charge of the design and build of the whitespace and Dooling oversees the physical implementation of data center technologies — the migration of the data and moving of applications and workloads.

“It’s an amazingly hot market with competition increasing daily,” says Weber. “But Align is defined by being ahead of the curve. So, what do we do to push our solutions offering further? We strive to provide more cost effective data center designs, workplace technology solutions, audio visual technology, Wi-Fi and big data. These are hot topics right now, but it’s important to understand what is ahead and think about a year, or two or three years’ time. You’ve got to continually refresh and upgrade the skillsets on Align with a unique insight into what clients are asking for and how well Align is adapting and exceeding those expectations.

"Align is defined by being 
ahead of the curve." — TOM WEBER, 
Director of Data Center and Design 

“Our greatest advantage is the diversity of clients that we have, and what they’re trying to do in various industries, whether it’s health, whether it’s financial, whether it’s pharmaceutical,
retail, media, you name it,” says Dooling. “Our customers have world-class engineers and technologists of their own to support their business. Align strives to partner with these teams,
understand their business model, its pain points and to use this knowledge to introduce new technologies and smart solutions that improve efficiency and eliminate their IT challenges.”

Integral to this knowledge exchange is people — and Weber firmly believes that Align employs some of the smartest and most innovative people in the industry today, when a number of companies in the data center industry look to third parties for the skillsets and talented and knowledgeable workforce completely in-house. This is crucial in delivering the best possible service to the most important component of your team. But our differentiator is to provide top customer service. The customer needs to feel like they are your biggest and only priority. That is
what Align offers.”

Come back thursday for part two of this two-part series, or click below to access the full report. 

ACCESS THE FULL REPORT HERE

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★★★★★

“Align is our trusted provider for all our Managed Services and cybersecurity needs. They provide us best-in-class IT services that not only help drive productivity and growth, but ensure we meet both current and evolving compliance and security requirements with ease. As consultants to financial advisors, trust and reliability are indispensable to our operations, which is why we never hesitate to refer Align to our very own client base. Align isn’t just our partner, they are an extension of our team. We look forward to entrusting them with our IT infrastructure for years to come.”

Ed Fasano - Experienced Advisory Consultants LLC