DEEP DIVE
WE ‘ DEEP DIVE ’ WITH CON ZWINKELS , CEO , FOUNDER & OWNER , LEASEWEB ,
WHO TELLS US ABOUT LIFE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE OFFICE .
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What would you describe as your most memorable achievement in the data centre industry ?
Leaseweb first started in a dorm room in Utrecht in 1997 , so it ’ s incredible to look back and realise how far we ’ ve come . With our original four servers , we could never have imagined that we would end up working with leading global brands and standing at the forefront of the cloud computing industry .
We ’ ve just celebrated 25 years in business , providing the infrastructure that powers mission-critical websites , applications and IT systems for over 20,000 customers worldwide . Leaseweb has steadily grown its global presence to 25 data centres located throughout Europe , North America , Asia and Australia , and over 10 Tbps of total network capacity , representing increases of 32 % and 82 %, respectively , in just the last five years alone .
What first made you think of a career in technology / data centres ?
Prior to my time with Leaseweb , I studied Law at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands and my deep passion for aviation led me to obtain an ATPL pilot license . I flew as a captain on Boeing 747s for 14 years and it was during this time that the vision for Leaseweb was born . I was inspired by my experience travelling across borders and , having witnessed the growth of the Internet around the world , I wanted to create a new company that would connect people and businesses no matter where they are .
What style of management philosophy do you employ with your current position ?
As the founder of Leaseweb , I am very proud of our growth , prosperity and innovation as well as our ability to not just simply meet our customers ’ expectations , but to work closely with them to create both the best possible products and real long-term relationships .
But this longevity doesn ’ t come from a deep familiarity with all aspects of the cloud hosting and data centre sector alone . Since Leaseweb ’ s inception , one of the core values we have stuck by is the importance of teamwork .
From the beginning we set out to create a great team , bringing together talented employees from around the world , as well as our business partners and customers . By understanding that all of these pieces are necessary for real teamwork , we have been able to develop a company that empowers our customers to achieve amazing things .
What do you think is the current hot talking point within the data centre space ?
The impact of data centres ’ energy usage on the environment and most importantly , how to reduce it , is one of the biggest topics in the data centre space currently . The nature of data centres means they do not organically lend themselves to being environmentally friendly infrastructures ; the upkeep of these centres requires large amounts of space , equipment and most importantly energy . Yet , it is for precisely this reason that it is so vital that the data centre industry continues to become more self-aware in its energy usage and efficiency .
At Leaseweb , we are very passionate about reducing the environmental impact of the data centre industry . Last year , we participated in the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact , which was developed in cooperation with the European Commission and saw over two dozen data centre and cloud providers commit to climate neutrality by 2030 .
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