DEEP DIVE
WE ‘DEEP DIVE’ WITH MASAAKI MORIBAYASHI,
SENIOR EXECUTIVE VP, SERVICES, NTT LTD,
WHO TELLS US ABOUT LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE OFFICE.
Masaaki Moribayashi is Senior Executive
Vice President, Services at NTT Ltd. He is
responsible for driving growth and delivery
of the company’s IT infrastructure
services portfolio, including data centre,
cloud, voice and video, and network.
What would you describe
as your most memorable
achievement in the technology/
data centre industry?
The launch of a new data centre in
Hong Kong in 2008 when I worked
for NTT Communications. Most
people in the company at the time
were against the idea of making
an aggressive investment in the
data centre business. We finally
got approval for the new data
centre and it was very successful,
enabling NTT to expand its data
centre business globally.
The expansion paved the way
for our current strategy. One
year ago, 31 existing companies
were brought together under
one umbrella brand – NTT
Ltd. Working together as one
company means we can offer
our clients end-to-end global
technology services. This
strategy is enabling growth
and the Global Data Centers
division plays a large role.
As NTT Ltd. moves into
its second year, we will
continue to expand our
global footprint with over £500
million investment in new data
centres in the UK. This includes the
opening of our London 1 Data Center, in
Dagenham, east London, in September
2020. This is part of a wider global
investment of US$7 billion in the global
data centres portfolio.
What first made you think
of a career in technology/
data centres?
I actually never thought of a career in
data centres. However, many of my
assignments have been related to data
centres over the last 20 years. The
first time I did a data centre-related job
was in 1998 when I was sent to the US
and joined Verio, a company which
was acquired by NTT. Verio and NTT
owned two data centres on the east
and west coast. It gave me a taste of
the business growth and opportunity in
data centres.
What style of management
philosophy do you employ
with your current position?
The secret is team work. If you build
the best team around you, you have
trusted advisers and can make strategic
decisions. I usually make
high-level decisions and look
to my team to execute. I have
always thought that trusted
relationships bring success.
What do you think is
the current hot talking
point within the data
centre space?
It’s definitely renewable energy.
Data centres use a huge amount
of power and we must find ways to
make them more efficient. It’s very
important to consider how we save
resources in the world to make it a
better place in the future.
At NTT Ltd., we have worked hard to
innovate in this area. We use solar
power for our new data centre in
India, and in Germany we use cold
underground water for the cooling
system, which is unique. Our new
London 1 Data Center is also being
built to the very latest standards and is
powered with 100% renewable energy
sources. We will continue to innovate
overall within NTT Ltd. to make
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