VP of Network and Cloud, Chad Rodriguez, joins Stream’s Phoenix I Data Center Operations team in Goodyear, AZ in welcoming customers to the largest data center campus in the region.
Does anyone else feel like the world of IT infrastructure is so full of “should”s and “must”s these days? There used to be something exciting about digital transformations, about forging a path all your own. Now it’s just playing catch up with the same cloud-first commandments and edge-centric expectations that everyone is trying to manage through. Along the way, the world of IT deployments started feeling less invigorating and more like a slog — looking less like the wild west and more like the suburban jungle full of boring cookie-cutter houses.
We get it — in a fast-paced digital economy, choosing pre-fabbed solutions can be tempting. Providers may believe that the advantages of scale make a one-size-fits-all approach somehow more palatable to the enterprise. But does any critical infrastructure customer really want to be pigeonholed? When did we as an industry determine that uniformity is more important than bespoke solutions?
In truth, this idea of simplicity via predetermined options can lull businesses into a false sense of security. Not everything in IT should come down to standard, run of the mill, product catalog-driven and deal desk-reviewed options — especially when so many organizations have individualized needs that are better suited to less prescriptive models. But beyond that, let’s face it: Nobody wants a partner that “should”s all over them.
The Goldilocks Dilemma
Make no mistake — tailored data center solutions are out there. It’s finding them that can be tricky. The main issue is that neither end of the infrastructure provider spectrum is likely to deliver the right mix of capability and customization. On the one side, you have the massive Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). On the other end, you have the private equity-backed companies that are desperate for market share and top line growth since their mandate is to sell the business quickly.
REITs have the scale to be in many markets where customers want to go, along with large robust facilities, but they don’t often have the agility or capability to meet customers exactly where they need to be in terms of custom solutions — instead offering predetermined options. Private equity-backed providers have that agility and are eager to take any deal, but the fact that there is a pending team and culture-changing sale on the horizon can scare enterprise users who value stability and continuity from their long-term partners.
Even more than the ability or willingness to modify an existing data center, enterprise and cloud users value a provider who can deliver it all: Powered shell solutions, build-to-suit options, site selection work and the option to buy a facility vs. offering lease-only options. Now, enterprises are looking for that ‘just right’ space in the middle where they can get the best geographic reach and robust data center services without sacrificing a white-glove, hands-on, customer-centric service style.
Choosing Your Own Adventure
Here’s where Stream Data Centers stakes its claim. We live and breathe end-to-end collaboration, offering participative — not prescriptive — experiences and solutions that are customized procedurally, operationally and structurally for our customers. With over 90% of Stream’s data centers occupied by Fortune 100 customers, Stream is able to provide smart solutions and team members that conform to our customer’s needs, not the other way around.
No matter the solution we’re delivering, Stream’s strength lies in a team with outstanding continuity — we’re the only major data center provider to have the same leadership team in place for over 20 years, and a great culture to boot. Give us your toughest challenge, and we’ll help you solve it.
What makes us different? We’re privately funded, which translates to greater financial stability and no need to wonder when we will sell the business to appease our outside investors. Stream also puts real steel on the ground — we don’t advertise new locations on the website that are hollow shells (or even barren fields). Instead, we proactively invest in spec turnkey offerings that allow our customers to meet their timing requirements while remaining highly configurable for their needs. Furthermore, by focusing on large deployments from global enterprise and cloud players, we don’t have to manage hundreds of clients in a market.
Instead of being spread thin, we pride ourselves on bringing our stakeholders and leaders, whether that’s a partner or a founder, to the table to work with our customers directly. This means our customers don’t have conversations that end in a bunch of unresolved, open issues. Stream delivers what our clients want — not what we are forced to sell. That means offering everything today’s end users need, including real, adaptable turnkey capacity clients can leverage now, as well as build-to-suit offerings or powered shells wherever needed.
This is why we’ve been a leader in meeting complex requirements for the largest and most sophisticated enterprises and Fortune 100s since 1999. The truth is, with the right partner, every organization can get the exact solution they need, tailored for their requirements, without sacrificing simplicity — that’s the type of trusted partnership that keeps IT exciting.
Interested in talking to us about getting exactly what you want for your digital transformation? We’re headed to ITW later this month, and we’d love to chat with you. Click here to book a meeting.
