Robert Hicks of 365 Data Centers: How to Optimize IT Resources Through Infrastructure, People, and Processes

Originally posted on Authority Magazine

An Interview With Rachel Kline

Communication… Open and honest dialogue within teams, cross-teams, and up to and including executive leadership, is critical in achieving maximum efficiency and alignment to business objectives.

In the dynamic realm of Information Technology, resource optimization stands as a cornerstone of efficiency and innovation. Balancing the triad of infrastructure, people, and processes is crucial for IT organizations to thrive and to provide consistent value. Yet, how can IT leaders ensure that every resource is utilized to its full potential? How do the principles of modern infrastructure align with human capital and streamlined processes to ensure that IT departments are agile, robust, and forward-thinking? As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Robert Hicks.

As an industry veteran, Bob brings to 365 and its customers 35 years of Infrastructure-as-a-Service experience in operations, sales, and executive management. As COO of Data Based Systems International (DBSi), a dominant regional colocation provider, he led its customer growth, operations, and facility expansions for about two decades prior to its sale to Xand. He then held operating and customer-facing senior leadership positions at Xand, TierPoint, and Recovery Point Systems, increasing enterprise value at each organization by demonstrating a commitment to customer success and infrastructure resiliency.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share your personal backstory with us?

Mystory starts in a small town in Pennsylvania, where I grew up in the best of times. Fast forward many decades, I am the proud husband to my wife Michelle for 33+ years, and proud father to our three children, who have all grown to be wonderful and productive adults. Michelle and I split our time between our homes in the native Lehigh Valley, PA region and Naples in SW Florida. No grandchildren as of yet, but we anxiously await the call!

Let’s talk about how to optimize IT Resources. How do you assess the current state of your IT infrastructure? What metrics do you use to measure its efficiency?

As a data center and network services provider supporting 20 data center locations and 125 Points-of-Presence, our IT infrastructure requirements extend well beyond that of a single entity “in-house” solution. 365’s team of highly experienced professionals is tasked with managing current customer demands while maintaining a vision on expanding our customer base and forecasting this incremental need.

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