7×24: A Forum You Can’t Find Anywhere Else

Thomas Jacobik is the operations manager of global data centers with Apple. But he’s wearing the hat of president of the Carolinas chapter of 7×24 today in welcoming readers to this premier edition of the Exchange newsletter, End to End.

Tom works for one of the top companies in the world, but he gains from the information exchange that only 7×24 can provide. If you are looking for best practices and trusted review of new trends, 7×24 is the place to go.

“We give a lot of best practice review in terms of new trends in cooling, power delivery, or in monitoring and management of mission critical systems,” Tom says. “One of the value adds that the organization delivers is that all the presentations are vetted through our Thought Leadership Committee. They are reviewed to make sure that they are based on technologies or changes in the industry and are not sales pitches. When end users go to a presentation, they’re going to get something that is relevant to the industry, relevant to what they’re working on in technology, in legislation, or in process and procedure, but it’s not going to be cloaked as an entry to a sales pitch.”

And the information comes from top companies in the mission critical field. Representatives from Google, Facebook, Microsoft, AOL and many others attend chapter meetings. “They will actually share some compelling information on what they’re working on and the new strategies they are using in their mission critical environment,” Tom points out. “That’s not delivered and walked away from. It’s actually used to spur communication and commentary on the direction these companies are going in, whether it’s the right direction, what the benefits are, and how it works for small organizations or for large ones. So you don’t just get one vendor telling his story, you get multiple vendors telling their stories. You have a chance to talk about how to take that information and make it applicable. It really helps a lot of companies find different ways to improve on their effectiveness or efficiency of their organization.”

"The high percentage of end users in the chapter—about one quarter—is of particular value to members. It means that the content of the meetings and publications is invaluable." What members take away from this exchange isn’t “something you’re going to get from a guest speaker,” Tom says. “It’s not something that’s going to be available by watching a video or going to a vendor presentation. What you’re going to get is real, it’s consistent, and it’s backed up by the people actually using the technologies, not the people trying to sell it.”

Tom hopes this newsletter will help keep the member community informed of new trends, technologies, and influences. He intends to whet members’ appetites with the kind of content shared in meetings and believes that if readers get a snippet of what a meeting is like, they’ll be enticed to attend. They’ll realize that 7×24 is a unique opportunity to network with others who share similar goals and challenges. “Like the rest of our organization, this newsletter’s success will be based on the input and support of the entire 7×24 community,” he notes. “It’s one more great avenue to share insight and trends in the mission critical space.”

Thomas Jacobik is the operations manager of global data centers with Apple.

See Article 1: Build the Best and They Will Come
See Article 2: Casting the Net for Future Mission Critical Workers