The Innovation in the Data Center Industry comes from those who can connect the dots

Check out this video.

David Brier who created the above video also wrote this article.

“WHAT IS INNOVATION?
LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF STEVE JOBS, RICHARD BRANSON, AND SETH GODIN AND YOU’LL DISCOVER WHAT SEPARATES TRUE INNOVATORS FROM EVERYONE ELSE.
BY DAVID BRIER
It all comes down to dots.

In his famous commencement speech, Steve Jobs said:

You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something—your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
Sir Richard Branson has a mantra that runs through the DNA of his companies. The mantra is A-B-C-D. (Always Be Connecting the Dots).”

Where is the Growth Mindset in the Data Center Industry?

There are a type of people in the data center industry I gravitate more than others.  One characteristic is those who have a "growth mindset" vs. "fixed mindset.  I had posted on this topic before.

If you want more detail on the growth mindset here is a google talk.

if you want the polished quick pitch here is a TED talk.

Kiva Systems -> Amazon Robotics, Amazon's Automation Research Group

Amazon acquired Kiva Systems in 2012, then went dark.  No new customers mentioned.  Sales staff was let go.  Now in August 2015 www.kivasystems.com will point to Amazon Robotics https://www.amazonrobotics.com/#/

A recruitment video is here.  https://www.amazonrobotics.com/#/vision

Here are the current open positions.  Sorry for the formatting, but too much time to clean this up.  You get the idea of the hiring amazon is doing.  https://www.amazonrobotics.com/#/careers#open

Google, Facebook, Apple, and so many of the other high tech companies with huge data centers have robotics efforts.  A huge data center behind robotics makes so much sense.

• Open Positions Department Location Big Data Senior Technical Product ManagerSoftware EngineeringNorth Reading, MACommodity ManagerManufacturing JobsNorth Reading, MAEmbedded Systems EngineerHardware EngineeringNorth Reading, MAManufacturing Engineer-MechanicalManufacturing JobsNorth Reading, MAPrincipal Process Engineer and DesignerSolutions and Deployment EngineeringNorth Reading, MAPrincipal Software EngineerAdvanced Program TeamsNorth Reading, MAProcess Engineer – OperationsManufacturing JobsNorth Reading, MAQuality Engineering TechnicianManufacturing JobsNorth Reading, MARobotic Software Support EngineerGlobal Technology Operations (GTO)North Reading, MARobotics Deployment EngineerSolutions and Deployment EngineringNorth Reading, MAScalability Technical Program ManagerGlobal Technology Operations (GTO)North Reading, MASenior Embedded Engineer – Vision SystemsHardware EngineeringNorth Reading, MASenior Software Engineer on Movement TeamSoftware EngineeringNorth Reading, MASimulation EngineerSoftware EngineeringNorth Reading, MASoftware Development EngineerSoftware EngineeringNorth Reading, MASoftware Development EngineerSoftware EngineeringNorth Reading, MASoftware Development EngineerSoftware EngineeringNorth Reading, MASoftware Development EngineerSoftware EngineeringNorth Reading, MASoftware Development Engineer in TestAdvanced Program TeamsNorth Reading, MASoftware Development Engineer, In TestSoftware EngineeringNorth Reading, MASoftware Development Manager - Configuration ManagementSoftware EngineeringNorth Reading, MASoftware EngineerSoftware EngineeringWestborough, MASoftware EngineerSoftware EngineeringWestborough, MASoftware EngineerSoftware EngineeringNorth Reading, MASoftware EngineerSoftware EngineeringNorth Reading, MASoftware Engineer –Schedule TeamSoftware EngineeringNorth Reading, MASoftware Engineer, StationAdvanced Program TeamsNorth Reading, MASoftware Engineer, Systems IntegrationAdvanced Program TeamsNorth Reading, MASoftware QA Automation ManagerSoftware QANorth Reading, MASolutions Analytics EngineerSolutions and Deployment EngineringNorth Reading, MATechnical Content ManagerGlobal Technology Operations (GTO)North Reading, MATechnical Program ManagerSoftware EngineeringNorth Reading, MA

Mystery of Why 4 Technical Leaders have left Digital Realty over 5 years

Jim Smith and David Schirmacher have left Digital Realty Trust.

“Jim Smith, who has been the data center provider’s CTO since its founding more than a decade ago, is leaving the company, a Digital spokesman said.
...
Another major departure from Digital announced Tuesday was David Schirmacher’s. After more than 3.5 years as senior VP of operations, Schirmacher was appointed to lead design and construction in January of this year.”

I would always chat with Jim and David when I saw them at data center events.  Then, I thought about Chris Crosby another person I would enjoy chatting with left in 2011.

““During his tenure, Chris tirelessly focused on growing our business and played a key role in developing our data center products and most recently new market opportunities,” said Michael Foust, Chief Executive Officer, in the company’s press release. ”

Then I thought of Mike Manos leaving Digital in 2010.

All four of these data center executives are tops in technical and operational skills to build and run data centers.  When you go through the list of people Digital is hiring you don't see someone with these skills.

This is a mystery to me.  As the largest data center provider you would think having the top data center talent is a priority.  So what is the top priority for Digital?  In the announcement of Jim and David leaving is the hiring of Chris Sharp from Equinix where he focused on the Cloud.  But, some of the biggest tenants of Digital run some of the biggest Clouds.  Does Digital want to compete against its Cloud customers?  If youwant to build data centers specific for the Cloud you would keep the data center executives so its not that.

I don't have a clear answer to this mystery.

Story of Wood Stone Oven - why cooks love the oven

I use my Wood Stone over 2-3 times a week, cooking salmon and chicken so much more than pizza.  Bacon comes out the best, but means I need to need get up early to heat up the oven before I cook.  I have cooked many meals for my friends and family.

To give an idea of the oven check out this video.