Data Bank Report June 2023 | Page 20

DATABANK
He adds : “ It involves supply chain , contractor availability in certain markets and taking a task from A to Z in a very tight timeframe and bringing it in on time and on budget .
“ Myself , my team , the organisation , we get a rush out of that . There are competitors that are able to do it but there are also a lot of folks who are not able to accomplish this , and it day-in , day-out – especially over the past few years , with the pandemic and multiple supply chain constraints – is a major achievement .”
He reveals that , post-pandemic , “ we ’ ve had to micromanage down to a level that was not needed before ”, and that there is another big difference to the way his team operates .
“ The customer is not always right any more ,” he says . “ Instead of demanding something and getting it , we now have to work more as partners – with our vendors , contractors and subcontractors .”
And , of course , there are other changes and challenges in expanding a business in a post-pandemic world , not least of which is labour problems , Qorri explains .
“ There ' s not enough workers to cater to all the projects going on . Bringing in the right subcontractors to build-out a facility is a challenge . Unlike in warehouse environments , automation is not an option . You need physical labour . Technology is advanced – you need guys in the trenches to be able to execute .”
But whatever the challenges that DataBank faces , it does not face them alone ; its ecosystem of partners is crucially important , says Qorri .
“ DataBank has a slew of different partners ,” he says . “ We ' ve got vendors that
we partner with from both thermal and power sides . Vertiv and Powersmiths are very strong partners of ours on the power side , and Toshiba and Cummins with regards to support on the generators and UPS side .”
Hitachi is another “ huge partner of ours ”, from a transformation perspective , says Qorri .
" Our most strategic partners are our general contracting partners . HITT in Northern Virginia , Tishman in New York , Layton in the Southwest , and Brassfield and Gorrie in the Atlanta market .”
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