Member Article

Behind the business with Node4

Andrew Gilbert, managing director of Node4, takes Bdaily behind the business.

What key challenges has your company recently faced?

A key challenge many companies face is finding the right employee for the job. It is vital to find employees who fit in with the culture of the business. As a company we try to find people who have the capacity and the willingness to learn rather than people who have a long list of qualifications. Sometimes having the right qualifications doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be great at the job. We give a lot of thought to personality and attitude when deciding on a candidate. It’s generally hard to find a candidate who fits all the criteria.

What is your biggest achievement over the past 12 months?

Our biggest achievement over the past 12 months has been the launch of the n4Cloud. It utilises our four existing data centres and allows organisations to select which services they require and outsource the hosting of their infrastructure, applications and services. n4Cloud offers a more tailor-made ‘pick and mix’ business solution built around the customer.

What is your biggest focus for the coming year?

Our top priority for the coming year is to increase the adoption of cloud computing. Going forward there are many flexible options available, such as the hybrid cloud. We want the hybrid cloud to gain momentum amongst businesses as this brings clear benefits and cost savings for our customers.

There is still some way to go, we believe that the popularity of cloud computing will increase throughout 2012 and 2013. Market analysts IDC are predicting that global cloud computing spend for 2012 alone will be £23 billion making the cloud computing platform one of the fastest growing aspects of the IT industry.

If you had to choose one top piece of advice for someone just starting out in business, or is
currently operating within your sector, what would it be?

The top piece of advice I would give to anyone is to seize an opportunity; if they have an idea they must put the wheels in motion. Many people continue to have great ideas for businesses yet not many have the courage to implement their ideas. In this current economic climate, when unemployment is so high, starting up a business is becoming a popular option for many people in all sectors.

I started my company at the age of 23. I saw a gap in the market and seized the opportunity to empower businesses to save money and work more efficiently through the use of technology. This vision worked out for me as Node4 is now the UK’s largest independent provider of local data centres.

Can you share with us your view of the current landscape of business, in this region or generally and where your organisation sits within it?

The current landscape is very tough for businesses, especially with the UK falling back into recession. Many businesses are stuck in a catch-22 situation of trying to enhance performance while cutting costs.

Node4 strives to make businesses more productive but at the same time, making their costs manageable. The cloud computing platform enables businesses to transform up front capital expenditure into more manageable operational expenditure and enables them to choose to pay only for those services they need. Businesses who adopt cloud computing will become more efficient and productive at the same time as making savings on the usual cost of expensive hardware and services.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Andrew Gilbert .