Episode 016 - Atlanta's 55 & 56 Marietta Data Centers - Tim Kiser

This week on the I Love Data Centers podcast: Atlanta's 55 & 56 Marietta Data Centers, I interview Tim Kiser. Tim Kiser served as an Air Force B52 bomber pilot during Operation Desert Storm and is the founder and CEO of Colocation Atlanta (Colo Atl), a local provider of colocation and interconnection services out of the 55 Marietta data center downtown Atlanta. He was also the lead designer and engineer for 56 Marietta, which is the largest Internet Exchange (IX) in the region. During the interview, Tim discusses some of the lessons he's learned growing the Colo Atl business since 2001 and during his entire 25 years experience helping to design and engineer over 70 telecommunications facilities across the country. I found Tim's humility and approach to working with customers and employees enlightening and refreshing and know you will too! Tim Kiser Show Notes 2:16 Interview Starts 2:50 Where are you right now? 4:25 Tim’s upbringing and his first time with a computer 7:36 What inspired you to eventually take the entrepreneurial route? 9:28 Tim’s first in a data center 11:26 Starting Col Atlanta 13:26 Tim’s role with 56 Marietta 15:51 What makes 55 and 56 Marietta what it is today? 19:10 Are you the owner of the 55 Marietta building? 19:52 How big is the 55 Marietta building? 21:32 What inspired you to stay fixated only in the Atlanta market? 23:32 How Tim met Hunter Newby 27:00 What has shaped Tim into the man he is today and the way he conducts business? 30:18 Defining moments in Tim’s life that helped solidify his practice and deal with people 33:45 What was it like to go all in? 37:07 Did you make sure the tenants you were bringing on were unaffected from the major downturn in the market? 40:55 Karma in business 45:02 Tim’s most memorable failures he has learned from 50:57 Tim’s tips for managing a team 01:00:03 Tim’s long term plan for the future 01:05:20 How have you seen the industry evolve since you’ve been in it? 01:10:13 How has the growth within the Atlanta marketplace affected you? 01:14:11 What is the backdrop to your laptop? 01:18:20 When was the last time you had a client impacting event? How did you manage it, what did you learn, and what changes have been made because of that event? 01:21:11 Tim on Cloud Services 01:22:28 If you could go back in time and offer advice to yourself when you were just getting started in this industry, what would it be? Links mentioned in this episode: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtcommunications/