As part of the group that founded Data Foundry, CTO Edward Henigin has been a member of the data center industry for some time and been witness to the many changes that it has gone through. This includes expanding densities, emerging markets and the overall growth of data—all topics that he got to dive into with his recent interview with David Liggitt, CEO of datacenterHawk.
Before digging into the state of the market, Henigin recalls his beginnings in data centers, stating, “It’s kind of like falling down stairs, you just start and then it goes on its own.” With the unrelenting drive to evolve constantly, pivot quickly and keep pace with rising customer demands, it’s likely that many of his peers in the industry would agree. The digital world has come a long way from Henigin’s experience of first being introduced to the internet in the early 90s, and that idea of near real-time virtual communication across vast distances has shifted from a novelty to an expectation — even a necessity.
Today, Data Foundry, a company that started on the internet side focusing on consumer ISP, has grown alongside expanding global networks to establish itself as a leading colocation provider. When asked to outline the Data Foundry portfolio, how services are being delivered and how these things have changed, Henigin observes, “It’s such a different world today. We lived and sold out of the acquired facilities that we had... and then in 2009, we launched our greenfield project in Austin.” The project was a 40-acre property that was developed with the best designers and construction entities that the company could find. Using strategies the company had seen across the world in other data centers, Data Foundry was able to successfully hone its data center business, starting with the Texas 1 facility and eventually expanding to 6 locations across Houston and Austin.
This regional Texas focus, aside from being a part of the company’s core identity and dedication, comes down to a firm belief in the capabilities and potential of ‘fly-over’ markets. While destinations like Dallas and Virginia garner much of the industry’s attention, local business needs can be served well from Houston and Austin while providing the added benefits that come with keeping workloads close.
As Liggitt notes, Houston is a massive market full of industries and businesses that are continuing to evolve, adapting to heightened demands and implementing new digital transformation initiatives. This not only creates a host of data needs, but it creates a host of opportunities for data center partners like Data Foundry who are ideally positioned to meet those requirements. This is exactly why Texas provides the perfect backdrop for Data Foundry and its mission of consistently excelling on behalf of its customers.
