IDCA Hosts Data Center Standards Pre-Launch Preview Summit

Rockville, MD December 12th 2016: International Data Center Authority (IDCA) hosted leading members of the data center community at its global headquarter for an interactive pre-launch summit hosting the data center community for a public preview of IDCA data center standards before the official release. This summit also concluded IDCA's final Quarterly Technical Standards Committee (QTSC) Summit for 2016 and the last committee gathering before the data center standards launch. While all committee members are pure end-users in the data center space, this summit was a chance to allow a broader group of end-users, consultants, operators, thought-leaders, investors and even manufacturers to be present and look at the standard and provide their feedback before the final launch. The summit took place on December 1st and 2nd, 2016 at the IDCA International Headquarters. Organizations such as Expedia, Bloomberg, LinkedIn, U.S. House of Representatives, 7/24 Exchange, KPMG, Digital Realty and Visa were present in the IDCA Data Center Standards Preview Summit.

Member of IDCA Board of Directors, Carlos Travares said, "everything IDCA does is by the community for the community. What was incredible in this summit was transparency of IDCA and how willing it is to disclose what it is doing with the rest of the community." Travares continued, "Having the leadership required to cause the paradigm shift in the data center industry, trusting the end-users and the community to form their own future and take decisive measures for themselves, specially at this size and scale, is something that has been unheard of in data center industry and we are proud that we were the ones that made it all happen.

At the commencement of the summit, Chairman of IDCA, Mehdi Paryavi, welcomed the attendees and outlined IDCA's data center community goals and missions for the data center industry, once again. Next, Richard Zanatta, Director of Network and Facilities of the U.S. House of Representatives, conducted a data center workshop for the audience conveying the current status of the data center industry, existing standards and U.S. House challenges as case study, representing one of the most stringiest organizations in the world. Subsequently, Steve Hambruch, Chairman of the IDCA Technical Standards Committee, led the discussions, elaborating on the Infinity Paradigm®, the Application Ecosystem (AE) and the IDCA data center standards. The summit also included number of vigorous Q-A, feedback/discussions as well as networking sessions.

Todd Schreiber, Data Center Strategy - Architecture at Bloomberg, said "The caliber of people here is a fairly diverse group and definitely decision makers in the data center level and I am happy to be amongst them." The event took place on Thursday and continued onto Friday where all attendees received complete briefing on the upcoming IDCA standards and were able to ask questions, provide their feedback and participate in workgroup discussions.

Chairman and CEO at 7x24 Exchange International, Bob Cassiliano said, "what I like about the IDCA standard is that it takes a holistic approach to the data center.  It looks at all the different components that make a data center and also looks at all the standards some of which that have been out for a long period of time.  This will be an updated standard that can provide data center professionals, managers and executive management to make executive decisions.

During the event, the diversity within the attendees was evident. Professionals from business, IT, facilities, finance in capacities of data center engineers, architects, directors, even representations of Latin America, Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa were present at the IDCA summit. "The session has been amazing. We had some very pointed conversations on the standards.  Discussions were fantastic.  The good thing about it was that there was no ego's because we are all here for a common cause and solving a common problem," said Richard Zanatta of The U.S. House.

Director of Data Centers at Expedia, Christopher Neil said, "I really like the summit.  There is a good group in there, well read, intelligent across many different industries and we are having some very good conversations.  Everyone has been very great, especially the staff and I look forward in working with them.

Nicole Morris, of U.S. House of Representatives said, "I think the IDCA summit has opened up a lot of eyes for a lot of folks who aren't thinking about the application ecosystem in its entirety." She continued to say that, "the people who came to this summit are true data center professionals.  I think they care about the data center space, they have a lot of experience to add a lot of value with their opinions and the challenges they currently face.

DeWayne Moore, Lead Data Center Architect of Visa stated, "the IDCA summit has been exceptional.  The networking, also meeting peers, I feel like IDCA is family." Dikran Keshishian of TechXact Group - Member of Technical Standards Committee at the IDCA said, "what was amazing for me personally, was that most people here saw the IDCA standards for the first time, obviously, since it's not launched yet. But how fast they were able to grasp and see the true applications for the standards at their own workplace was beyond my own expectation, honestly. The reason for this, I think, is the especial emphasis we placed on making sure that the most complex and unsolved matters in the data center field, are finally resolved and communicated in a simple, logical and easy-to-understand manner.

David Schirmacher, President of 7x24 Exchange said, "clearly, IDCA have done a lot of work.  There is a lot of value in what has been done.  IDCA has been very open in laying out how they came to their approach but they also have been very open in accepting new ideas to make sure they haven't missed something.  So I find it practically unique in this discussion and the comfort of back and forth we have.

During the summit, IDCA technical standards committee members were present to answer questions and receive feedback. Committee members are active data center professionals with many years of experience, and impressive credentials as individuals. However, just as importantly, they are also representatives of their organizations, and their industry segments, each with unique challenges and perspectives related to the application ecosystem. Members include, but are not limited to Salesforce, Verizon, LinkedIn, AIG, Time Warner Cable, TechXact, CHRISTUS, U.S. Courts, U.S. House, MLB, and Department of State.

"If this was another standard written around some manufacturer's box I wouldn't be interested in it. It was time that someone came up with a true solution for everybody," said Steve Geffin, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Virtiv (formerly Emerson Network Power).

"The IDCA preview summit has been a great success.  The feedback from the summit has been positive and it looks like there is going to be great adoption throughout the industry," stated Eric Wendorf of LinkedIn.