“When Things Change, Change Along with Them” Walter Scott, Jr.
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Volume 1, Issue 02
“When things change, change along with them.” Walter Scott, Jr.
Walter Scott Jr., Founder, Scott Data Center
Intention has been a driving force behind Scott Data Center’s (SDC) growth and development. Like many of you, a lot of thought, research, and consideration goes into our decisions and our investments. But things can change, and suddenly, you must pivot away from your original plan. And opportunities that hadn’t even been considered become available to you. This is how the current data center, from structure to business model, came to be.
Construction of the original data center in 2005.
In 2005, before SDC existed, we initiated the design of a classified facility, including data center requirements, to serve the needs of multiple defense and intelligence contractors seeking to work with the University of Nebraska Omaha cybersecurity program. We saw the investment in a collaborative environment where government, industry, and academia could come together for greater outcomes as a win for our community as well as our nation. This concept garnered the attention of General James Cartwright, then Commander of U.S. Strategic Command, who reached out to learn more about our model.
Pictured from Left to Right: Kevin Williams, Governor Dave Heineman, General James Cartwright, Walter Scott, Jr., and Suzanne Scott
Following many discussions with General Cartwright, we determined that the best course of action was to shift from our original intent of building for multiple entities and to partner with him and USSTRATCOM to build a home for the Global Innovation & Strategy Center (GISC). Like our first concept, the GISC was bringing together diverse entities and expertise, whether government, industry, or academia, to find solutions for our nation’s most pressing problems. The GISC opened its doors on our campus on September 1, 2006.
The Global Innovation & Strategy Center (GISC) circa 2006)
“I think it’s appropriate that a community, with this kind of history, is now home to an organization dedicated to shaping STRATCOM’s future.” Walter Scott Jr.
After five years of successful collaboration on our campus, USSTRATCOM determined that the GISC mission would relocate to the USSTRATCOM base. The departure of the Department of Defense from the highly secure, purpose-built facility on our campus presented a challenge: consisting of 50,000 square feet of data center, office, and classified space, there were very few ready-made customers that could easily move in.
Following a months-long process of research and discovery, visiting large- and small-scale data centers, and interviewing technology companies, we decided to invest in a total redesign of the building in order to become a high-density data center able to accommodate higher demand power and cooling requirements to meet the emerging demands and evolving technology needs of commercial clients. The addition of a 30,000-square-foot, 20-Megawatt Central plant ensured the long-term support of increased power and cooling demands.
And in the same way we approached the initial design, build, and accreditation of the government-purposed building, we wanted our data center to be built to the highest industry standards for that time and into the future. We determined that the Tier III requirements, as established and tested by the Uptime Institute (UI), would be our minimum standard.
The Uptime Institute approved and certified the data center design, and, upon completion of construction, conducted a week-long, onsite audit and review of the final structure. The validation included testing all systems, dropping core infrastructure to prove the redundancy performed as designed, and confirming that the facility was concurrently maintainable. We were honored to be the first data center in Nebraska and the second in the nation to receive both Tier III Design and Construction certifications.
Prime Rated Generators; Redundant Mechanical Chilled Plant
Few organizations have the advantage of developing and operating a purpose-built data center. The design and scalability of the infrastructure meet our client requirements today while having the flexibility to expand to support future density requirements. This scalable design ensures that our clients do not need to relocate as their business needs change. Moreover, we are proud to provide our clients with superior levels of security and protection for their own data needs.
And our work hasn’t stopped; we continue to seek ways and means to support the evolving work environment and serve our clients’ multi-faceted needs, whether it be in our facilities or through our top-notch customer service. We look forward to sharing how we continue to be unstoppable.
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“When Things Change, Change Along with Them” Walter Scott, Jr.2023-03-292023-03-30https://www.scottdatacenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/sdclogo-2.pngScott Data Centerhttps://www.scottdatacenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/walter-scott-construction-image.jpg200px200px
