Executive Changes: C7, CBRE, Horizon

It's been a busy month for executive announcements in the data center and cloud computing sector. Here's a roundup of recent announcements:

Swenson Adds CEO Title at C7: Colocation and IT infrastructure provider C7 Data Centers, Inc.(C7) announced that Wes Swenson, who has served as President of C7, has been appointed CEO. Swenson is assuming the operational duties of Nate Hatch, who has been appointed to the position of Executive Chairman. These management changes reflect the growing nature and needs of the company and take place immediately. "Wes is a proven executive who understands what it takes to compete in the data center industry and has an extraordinary record of achievement," said Hatch, C7’s Founder. "I am confident that Wes has the ability to move the organization forward while focusing on strong performance on behalf of our employees, our customers and our investors. Wes is the right person to lead C7 into the next stages of the companies growth." Swenson will have responsibility for the operations of C7 Data centers, including all data center facilities and staff functions. Both men will work together in executive capacities to advance the mission of C7.

Pat Lynch joins CB Richard Ellis: CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. (CBRE) has announced that Pat Lynch, a veteran industry leader, has joined the company as a Managing Director of the company’s national Critical Environment Practice Group. Based in Denver, Lynch will be responsible for directing transaction management services for organizations needing data center and mission-critical facilities solutions nationwide. Lynch will work closely with Mitch Harris, CBRE’s Global Director of Critical Environments, who will concentrate on facilities management services for clients in that sector. The Critical Environment Practice Group currently has under management more than 86 million square feet of Tier I through Tier IV critical facilities and 10 million square feet of raised-floor environments. “Pat is a proven leader in the data center world and further strengthens CBRE’s ability to integrate our tremendous expertise in critical environments and site selection with other key services critical to clients in this space, including design, construction and facilities management,” said Christopher Ludeman, President of Americas Brokerage for CBRE.

McDougall to Focus on Federal Sales for Horizon: Horizon Data Center Solutions, which provides cloud computing services to businesses and federal agencies, is expanding its Federal Services Division and has named James MacDougall to its executive team as Vice President of Federal Sales. Last month, Horizon became the first company to receive its Authority to Operate as a cloud services provider to federal agencies. The ATO was granted after a lengthy eight month audit process that tested the stability and security of the company’s purpose built computing platform, vStructure IaaS. MacDougall, who has more than 20 years experience in information technology working directly with the federal government sector, will lead the company’s efforts to fulfill the needs of agencies as they shift their computing systems to the Horizon cloud. "James brings a vast wealth of knowledge and experience to our company to lead our Federal Services Division as we provide the secure virtualized services that government agencies require," said Lance Black, Horizon’s CEO.