IDCA Chairman Keynote speaker at CapRE’s Data Center & Cloud Infrastructure Forecast 2019
Building a better world for all...

Washington, D.C., February 1st 2019: International Data Center Authority (IDCA) today announces that Chairman of IDCA, Mr. Mehdi Paryavi, was the keynote speaker at CapRE’s Data Center & Cloud Infrastructure Forecast 2019 on the subject of "International Adoption of Cloud in Tandem with the Digital Economy".

During the event Mehdi Paryavi provided first-hand thoughts and insight on the status of the Cloud industry, 2019 forecasts of Cloud adoption within various global regions, the past and the future and how our industry will evolve. Mr. Paryavi, in his speech, provided industry's state of affairs on How is private enterprise adopting cloud infrastructure in the various global regions? What countries are “leading the pack” and why? What are obstacles, and perceived obstacles to cloud adoption in the U.S., and why? What is the most significant change coming in 2019 on the provider side? How is enterprise end-user mindset likely to change in 2019? How will the U.S.-Chinese trade war impact the data center industry in 2019?

Prior to the key-note address, Mr. Paryavi sat 1-on-1 with an exclusive interview with CapRe's Josh Anderson where he provided insights into daily activities of IDCA.

"The IDCA provides guidance to the “data” center industry. We are pioneering the digital economy and digital transformation as effectively as it gets. Note that, we typically put the “data” in quotations though because we are more focused on that aspect. Unfortunately, the traditional way of looking at data centers is more about the UPS and generators and everything but the actual data and what deals with data, which is what data center is built to facilitate. So we advise on power and cooling etc., but we also pay attention to the IT infrastructure and the actual data being transmitted to and from these facilities. The way we advise and provide guidance in the industry is by providing standards. We constantly research and develop standards for the industry. We have an open door policy to bring professionals from around the world to join our committees to help build their own industry through a collective effort. Experts from Expedia, Microsoft, AIG, LinkedIn, Visa, Bloomberg, Comcast, CBRE, Adobe, etc. have gathered in one place to make a difference, to share their experiences and try to fill the gaps in the industry based on their knowledge and know-how.", Mr. Paryavi said.

Asked what the biggest challange facing the industry is, Mr. Paryavi said: "There is an immense lack of knowledge and understanding in our industry. If we can differentiate between facts and hype, we can go far. There are lot of hyped up terms, predictions, trends, and analysis – Cloud, Edge, AI, IoT, globalization, Digital Economy, but in reality, not many realize what they actually mean or entail nor their effective implications for our industry."

IDCA Chairman full interview:

CapRe: Thanks for chatting with us today, Mehdi. Please share with our readers what the IDCA is all about.

Mehdi Paryavi, Chairman, International Data Center Authority: The IDCA provides guidance to the “data” center industry. We are pioneering the digital economy and digital transformation as effectively as it gets. Note that, we typically put the “data” in quotations though because we are more focused on that aspect. Unfortunately, the traditional way of looking at data centers is more about the UPS and generators and everything but the actual data and what deals with data, which is what data center is built to facilitate. So we advise on power and cooling etc., but we also pay attention to the IT infrastructure and the actual data being transmitted to and from these facilities.

The way we advise and provide guidance in the industry is by providing standards. We constantly research and develop standards for the industry. We have an open door policy to bring professionals from around the world to join our committees to help build their own industry through a collective effort. Experts from Expedia, Microsoft, AIG, LinkedIn, Visa, Bloomberg, Comcast, CBRE, Adobe, etc. have gathered in one place to make a difference, to share their experiences and try to fill the gaps in the industry based on their knowledge and know-how.

CapRe: And you also educate the industry.

Paryavi: Yes. We educate and certify thousands of professionals worldwide. And I can’t think of any major company that we haven’t trained – from VPs to architects and technicians.

CapRe: And what do you do at IDCA and across the industry?

Paryavi: What I do personally there is that manage the board. I provide high level guidance and vision to the organization. I travel around the world meeting with government officials and key corporate and industry decision-makers where our input and guidance can provide effective measures for improvement.

CapRe: We’re looking forward to seeing you and hearing from you in Dulles. What do you plan to talk about in your keynote presentation?

Paryavi: In Dulles, there is a list of items that I will speak about. The status of the industry, the past and the future and how things will evolve, as well as the Cloud and infrastructure, which countries are leading the pack and why, even how our political arena might such as the U.S.-China trade war might impact our industry. Of course I’ll be open to questions and would like to see a dialog concerning the above.

CapRe: Let’s zoom out a bit. What do you think is the biggest challenge, or opportunity, facing the data center industry?

Paryavi: This is something I always say. It may sound ordinary but it’s key. The biggest obstacle and, at the same time, opportunity is knowledge. There is an immense lack of knowledge and understanding in our industry. If we can differentiate between facts and hype, we can go far. There are lot of hyped up terms, predictions, trends, and analysis – Cloud, Edge, AI, IoT, globalization, Digital Economy, but in reality, not many realize what they actually mean or entail nor their effective implications for our industry.

CapRe: Tell us more about that.

Paryavi: Here’s just a quick example — serverless computing. The majority of people in the industry think it’s computing without servers, as in we won’t have servers and therefore won’t need data centers. To an average reader, and I’ve seen in certain articles, conclusions are made as to the death of data centers, whereas we are entering an era whereby the need and urgency for proper data centers have never been greater. But these notions could be misleading. Serverless computing, for instance, just means that the average application owner won’t be dealing with servers, rather deals with SLA providers that are being outsourced. Someone will still have to take ownership of the compute. Those technologies and buzzwords and “special effects” are all hyped up to meet certain marketing agendas or simply help a writer complete his/her blog. But there are facts all around us that we need to realize, acknowledge and address today.

CapRe: What is one of those facts?

Paryavi: For example, the CIO doesn’t have full visibility of his/her ecosystem. A typical CIO cannot see visibly and accurately what each transaction through-put on the company’s application costs and needs are – in terms of rack usage in Us, KW of cooling and power, manpower per KW or MB, bandwidth, so forth. It’s all based on assumptions and projections, certain inputs received from staff members and the team who typically do surface-driven surveys, mainly due to their lack of holistic vision and mission of the full stack. These assumptions keep piling up as you go up the application delivery ladder and by the time it reaches the CIO, he/she will have a clouded and vague assessment of the infrastructure he/she is held responsible for. Therefore, decision making becomes a challenge and at best an educated guess.

CapRe: So decision-making is difficult.

Paryavi: Yes. And the root cause of this comes from “knowledge”. And when I say knowledge, we can tackle it from many perspectives. Lack of knowledge (human capital), visibility of knowledge (using the right tools and schemes to measure), and even how detail and how often you conduct your assessments, and last but not least dealing with knowledgeable vendors and clients. We’re in a fast-moving industry and people are busier trying to catch up than actually learning. They’re more engaged with diversifying tools and gadgets rather than comprehending the actual needs of their infrastructure, the industry, and their customers. Therefore, people are usually puzzled by what their next move will be. In short, the more knowledgeable you are, the faster you evolve and the further you can take your organization.

CapRe: So what’s the last word? What should people keep in mind as they anticipate your remarks at CapRE’s Data Center & Cloud Infrastructure Forecast 2019?

Paryavi: I think that if people read up on what we do and how we do it, we will be more than happy to receive their application and have them join the movement. There are a lot of ways to get involved with us. We’re more than happy to have a dialogue to address any questions or concerns.

CapRe: Thank you, Mehdi. We’ll see you soon.

About IDCA Chairman - Mehdi is Chairman of International Data Center Authority (IDCA). He provides guidance to the IDCA affairs and data center industry via his active presence, in-depth knowledge, diverse expertise and see-through vision. Mehdi’s thoughts are always highly educational and boldly progressive. When he speaks, he delivers exceptionally unique set of eye-opening speeches and lectures that are always life changing. He lectures globally and represents IDCA in summits, seminars, symposium and webinars. Meeting with governmental delegations, including Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Ministers with regards to data center and cloud strategies, national standardization and education programs as well as discussions with C-Levels across the corporate arena are integral portions of Mehdi’s active role at IDCA. He oversees the developments of the IDCA boards and committees. He provides insight and supervision to the development of the data center standards and utilizes his know-how, expertise and forward-looking strategies to empower and enable the development of the data center industry. More on IDCA Chairman: https://www.mehdiparyavi.com/about-mehdi/

About IDCA - Headquartered in Washington D.C., the IDCA was established to streamline, structure, educate and give direction to the information technology, data center and cloud industry. IDCA’s core mission is to aid in standardizing the feasibility, approach, selection, design, implementation, documentation and operation of data centers via modern-day processes and methodologies. IDCA is paving the way for professionals in power, cooling, network, system, storage, software, application, physical security, IT security, civil, architecture, telecommunication, structured cabling, safety, business continuity, operations, management, engineering, finance, legal, sales, marketing, HR, virtualization and cloud to all gather under one roof, with one mission, and for one industry. Thus far, thousands of professionals from both the government sector, such Department of Social Security, NASA, the U.S. House of Representatives, Department of Education, U.S. Courts, Department of State, as well as major conglomerates such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn, AWS, MLB, Experian, Ericsson, eBay, AOL, Salesforce, Digital Realty, Visa, MasterCard, The World Bank, Verizon, AIG, T-Mobile, Expedia, Time Warner and others have been educated, trained and certified by IDCA. More on IDCA: idc-a.org

About CapRe - CapRate Events, LLC (CAPRE), a digital media and events company, was launched in June 2011. More than 15,000 senior-level executives have attended and participated in our conferences and webinars. CAPRE specializes in property-specific conferences, and is the organizer of The National Data Center Summit Series, The National Healthcare Real Estate Series, The National Multifamily Investment Series and The New Jersey CRE Series for New York and New Jersey commercial real estate. Our conferences and webinars are well-attended and offer introductions to both established and emerging firms. https://www.capremedia.com/about