Interview with DCW Keynote Speaker Chris Crosby | Five Data Points

Interview with DCW Keynote Speaker Chris Crosby | Five Data Points

“So you’ve heard of Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, right?” Chris Crosby, CEO of Compass Data Centers, asked me towards the end of our chat. “We coined a phrase a while back, actually — it’s Scope 4. Scope 4 is what you avoid.”

Crosby’s attempt to re-categorize emissions here — including his coining of a key phrase, “Scope 4 emissions,” which has steadily gained traction throughout the industry at large — underlines his continued efforts to ensure sustainability (yet another buzzword that’s since become an industry-wide mandate) is at the forefront of every data center operator’s mind. His company, which offers to construct data centers with sustainable technologies such as reflective roofing, CarbonCure™ manufactured concrete, and water-free designs, proudly claims that one of its express purposes is to “design and build our data centers with the expressed goal of preserving the environment.”

In his upcoming keynote speech at Data Center World, Crosby is poised to enable data center leaders across the nation to similarly emphasize sustainability in their construction practices and daily operations. With a bold vision regarding the future of sustainability, Crosby will provide expert insights not only on how to enhance your de-carbonization efforts, but also on the non-carbonization principles of those risky yet avoidable Scope 4 emissions.

AFCOM: How would you describe the current state of the talent gap that has impacted the data center industry? What steps can data centers take now to mitigate this labor crunch?

Chris Crosby: I think there's a couple of elements to it. There's the sheer quantity of folks at the bottom that are necessary at the technician level, construction level, operations level, and network level. And then there's obviously also an aging out at the top, as it relates to folks like myself that have been in the space for some time. So you have to take it from a two-pronged approach. I think on the bottom level, you've got to stop looking for experience and start to design processes and systems that let inexperienced people understand them and enable them to be productive. At Compass, we view that as a really important element, where we can be a feeder system for the industry, and we can do very prescriptive elements with people who aren't necessarily qualified. Day one, you should get them the qualifications, get them the experience that's there, and in order to do that, you have to develop those types of programs. That's the first step.

The second step is, from the top down, how do you bring others into this space? Well, education is a big part of it. We've been part of a master's program at SMU to get people experienced with things from a data center systems perspective, but also just getting exposure to our space. Frankly, we as an industry don't do the best job of promoting our space. We run basically most of the economy, and yet data centers get a bad reputation out there versus what we actually contribute to society. I think we need to get a lot better as an organization and as a group just in self-promotion about the good that we do out there in order to attract the talent we need, because we would benefit heavily from talent from other industries.

AFCOM: What emerging trends should data center operators pay closer attention to in 2023?

Chris Crosby: Well, obviously AI has got some material impact on the industry. However, the scale of what we're doing and the potential NIMBY issues that have been going on I think are massively more important now, and the NIMBY issues in particular are becoming a very, very focused element.

Overall, I like to think about everything from a scale perspective. So how do we deal with the fact that there's a labor market that's generally saturated? How do we deal with the scale of what's necessary to really deliver on what the economy needs for these types of facilities? And yes, we can focus a lot about efficiency on smaller ones and whether or not enterprises should have them or not. That's a different question, but just on the sheer volume of what's coming between AI and then cloud and the like, there's just a tremendous amount coming from a scale perspective. So I was trying to figure out how to solve for scale. I think that's one of the things we don't talk a lot about is that human element. How do you solve for scale with the human element?

AFCOM: What should the data center industry do to encourage and bolster a more diverse workforce?

Chris Crosby: Well, at a high level, after personality type, which I believe is the first type of diversity that's out there, from a scientific perspective comes gender, right? And on the gender side of things, how you write your job descriptions matters. If you put too many qualifications into a job description, eight out of 10 women may not apply, whereas eight out of 10 men would.

And then similarly, when you're looking at promotions and whatnot within the data center industry to get people there, you've got to have review processes that maybe draw out questions that similarly cause a disparity in men vs. women applying or succeeding. That's where we've been successful with bringing a lot of women not only into this space, but also into senior positions at the company.

The second element that comes into play has to do with that talent gap and just building processes and systems that attract anyone. You don't need to come with the qualifications that are there, and I think that's a really important aspect. So I think there are structural changes that can be made in terms of the “old school” tech way of writing a resume or a job description. And you also just have to really be intentional about trying to attract folks without experience as opposed to those with.

AFCOM: What recent sustainability trends have made you the most excited?

Chris Crosby: So we coined a phrase a while back internationally, and then we went public at it. It’s “Scope 4.” You’ve heard of Scope 1,2, and 3 emissions. Scope 4 is what you avoid.

I think that’s the most important trend in sustainability. The elimination of waste like that is one of the biggest impacts that we can make. There’s an important aspect to ask, which is “What are you doing to improve?” How do you eliminate waste throughout the whole process? How do you eliminate the need for things?

AFCOM: What are you the most excited to see or do at DCW?

Chris Crosby: The people. That's the aspect that matters the most to me — seeing people and getting to interact with friends and colleagues I haven't seen for long periods of time. Then, I’d say just getting exposed to new ideas and new thought processes. You only get that through interaction. You don't get that from sitting in your office, and that's my favorite part about it. It bookends your questions. It was the most important part about what we need in our industry — we need more of that people interaction. That's what makes the world go round.