LEADERSHIP
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The first question Falk Weinreich is often asked by press and staff alike is ‘ why are you still here ?’ – and with good reason .
Currently Senior Vice President of carrier neutral data centre operator , Colt Data Centre Services , Weinreich has been part of the wider Colt family for over a decade . “ The company in a wider sense is a remarkable company in my view ,” he enthuses , harking back to its foundation over 15 years ago as a family-financed enterprise .
A business driven by numbers and results but also loyalty , Colt has grown across Europe and is now making waves in Asia , which is another reason Weinreich has chosen to stick around . “ This is a great portfolio – there ’ s such an international environment , as well as a lot of changes and challenges . The company also helps employees grow . If you ’ re eager to learn , it creates opportunities . That ’ s why I ’ m still here .”
COLT DATA CENTRE SERVICES
Two years ago , Colt split its data centre offering ( Colt DCS ) from its wider business , with Weinreich opted to join the new segment . “ Now , we call ourselves a mature startup because we only have 300 people in the data centre business . We have a better structure and are more mature , but we are still agile and small enough , and fast and speedy in the market to make bold decisions .
“ In the past , Colt had never really focused on the data centre business ; the first data centre came on the market in 2000 , but in those days , we focused more on managed services and hosting , which today of course is very much driven by cloud businesses .”
Three years ago Colt sold its managed services , leaving it with the legacy of its data centres but more time to concentrate on the business of the data centre itself . Now with a total of 24 data centres across the globe , Colt offers 24 / 7 services to businesses via its data centres including engineering , security and colocation .
It ’ s the opportunity to focus on one area ( the real-estate side ) that ’ s key for Weinreich . “ When you only do this and aren ’ t worried about networks , you gain expertise ,” he outlines . “ We became successful month after month . We hired good people , but educated our own staff as well . By now we ’ re even filling legacy sites that are 10-15 years
OCTOBER 2018