Chris Crosby Joins Data Center Systems as CEO

Data center industry veteran Chris Crosby will join Data Center Systems as President and CEO and will have a significant ownership stake, the company said today. Crosby joins Data Center Systems after six years in leadership posts at Digital Realty Trust, the world’s largest provider of wholesale data centers. Data Center Systems founder and current CEO Kevin Ehringer will work alongside Crosby in the new role of Chief Technology Officer and Chairman.

Data Center Systems specializes in structured cabling solutions for large data centers. Crosby says this is an area of data center operations with enormous potential for improved design.

Parallels to Digital Realty Experience

“The parallels between Data Center Systems today and Digital Realty Trust prior to the company’s IPO are remarkable," Crosby said. "Both focus on a segment of the IT stack that is ripe for an innovative company to cut through long-standing inefficiencies and offer a solution that saves customers a huge amount of money on their data center projects while delivering a better environment for the customer. The infrastructure solutions that Data Center Systems has pioneered have the potential to impact the industry as much as the wholesale datacenter model that Digital Realty Trust did.”

Crosby says many existing products haven't kept pace with shifting requirements for managing traffic within a data center. “Large companies can spend tens of millions of dollars on cabling and data center infrastructure as they build out and fill their data centers," he said. "The typical approach they use for this can be frustrating, costly and unwieldy. Simply put, it takes too long, too many resources, and too much money to get infrastructure in place to bring servers and storage online, regardless of whether it is in an existing data center or brand new facility. Data Center Systems has developed a tailored solution that can save companies millions of dollars on their data center infrastructure as well as a significant amount of time on implementations.”

Focus on High-Density Facilities

Ehringer said Date Center Systems has gained traction in enterprise data centers with high-density footprints. "We really shine in facilities where they have 20 or more director class switches," said Ehringer, who has been designing cabling systems since 1994. "That's the environment with the port density is enormous. Our customers have large amounts of storage.

“Chris is one of the most respected people in the data center industry not only because of what he has accomplished in his career but also because of his integrity, passion and intelligence," Ehringer added. "This is a perfect situation for both Chris and me. I will be able to focus on things I am passionate about, determining our customers’ needs and using those insights to develop state-of-the-art solutions that exceed their expectations. In his role as President and CEO, Chris will put his business acumen and boundless energy to work driving the company’s growth. It’s a great fit, and it positions Data Center Systems for a very bright future.”

Crosby has nearly two decades of experience in the data center industry. Prior to joining Digital Realty Trust, Crosby held posts at Proferian, CRG West (now CoreSite) and Nortel Networks. Crosby earned a B.S. degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

"One of the great things is that we already have a very solid company," said Crosby. "This is no start up. We'll be funding our growth out of our cash flows. I am so looking forward to doing this."