BDK Team Spotlight: Data Center Operations Team

BDK is a managed service provider and IT services & consulting firm. We provide a full range of IT services with one goal in mind - to be a strategic technology partner that helps our clients achieve their business objectives. 

BDK’s “Team Spotlight” blog series highlights the different departments throughout the organization, each of which play an integral role in ensuring premiere IT services and support for our customers. This week’s blog features our Data Center Operations team. Brian Kimball, Vice President, Chief Technology Officer, and Data Center Operations Manager shared the following insights about his team and what makes them a critical component of BDK’s business. 

1. What is the Data Center Operations team's primary function at BDK, Inc.?
   The Data Center Operations team at BDK is responsible for maintaining the hosted server infrastructure for our customers. This entails making sure all equipment is running online and up to date, conducting integrations with other cloud services and customers, completing any server migrations from on-premise hosting to cloud hosting, and completing advanced network items/assisting the managed services (MSP) team, when needed.
   
   
2. Who is your team comprised of?
   The Data Center Operations team is made up of system administrators and network administrators, with more than six decades of IT experience. System administrators manage BDK’s servers and hypervisors; if there is an issue with the hosted server, they work directly with our clients to resolve the problem. Network administrators establish connections between BDK customers and hosted infrastructure/other cloud services. Both sets of administrators are also in charge of updating and configuring hardware used for hosted operations.
   
   
3. What is the best part of being part of the Data Center Operations team? 
   The best part of being on the Data Center Operations team is being able to configure the equipment and store in the data center. To ensure we provide our customers with the best of the best, BDK always uses cutting-edge technology, including new high-powered equipment, best practices and processes, uses problem solving around redundancy to make sure everything works well, and consistently visits our data centers in Reston, VA and Denver, CO to ensure everything is working as it should.  
   
   We also get to learn about what some of the public cloud providers (e.g., Azure and CloudFlare) and how to integrate those with the private cloud. The learning opportunities and hands-on experience are ample on this team—helping further individual and company growth goals.  
   
   
4. What should BDK customers know about the Data Center Operations team?
   The administrators and engineers we have on the Data Center Operations team at BDK are the best at their craft. The team consists of high-level IT experts who are intelligent, talented, and able to pick up on new technologies quickly. The more than six decades of IT experience our employees possess demonstrate their general thirst for doing this type of work and continue to grow and shift as the industry does and needs for our customers evolve.
   
   
5. If you could pick a mascot to represent your team, what would it be and why?
   If the Data Center Operations team had a mascot, it would be an owl. Very wise, adaptative, and (sometimes) having to work at night, our team does what is needed to get the job done for our customers. 
   
   

Check back next week for more BDK “Team Spotlight” features. To read more of our content and learn more about our team, click here.