Tier IV Data Centers & the Tooth Fairy
So my son lost his first tooth last week. As any parent knows, this is a monumental occasion in the life of a five-year-old (and his parents). On the night of the “big event” we finished reading our stories and our conversation turned to the impending arrival of the Tooth Fairy. He had all sorts of questions: where does she live, how does she know where to go, what does she do with the teeth…and so on. As parents we answer to the best of our ability and wonder if what we are saying actually makes sense to a pre-kindergartener.
Finally, with tooth securely ensconced in a special “tooth box” (with pirate motif), and tooth box securely hidden under the pillow, my son drifted off to sleep. As I lay there I marvelled at the simple trust that young ones give their parents. At the simple joy that they get from the act of hiding a tooth for a mythical lady to find. It brought a smile to my face. As I stared at my sleeping, toothless wonder, I felt a little sad thinking about the day when kids “figure it out”. They learn that mom and dad are the tooth fairy. As the parent of older kids (and in the midst of my “second rodeo”) I know for a fact that kids survive when the learn “the truth”. My son will be just fine, but it is sad nonetheless.
Last week we lost a colocation deal. Like most companies, we like to do a debrief with the prospect to find out what we could have done better. Was our price too high? Was our location not good for the client? Did the salesperson commit a social faux pas? We like to know this data because it helps us grow as a company.
The after-action for this account surprised me. I have to admit, this was a first. The prospect said that all things being equal (our price was neck and neck with the competitor that won the deal) they felt like they had to pick the Tier IV data center.
WHAT? Tier IV! In Dallas? My first thought was that there was a new player in town that I had missed.
I am not aware of commercial Tier IV data centers in this market. I mean “fault tolerant”? Active-Active? That’s Two-each, N+1 data centers in one. I call bull.
We asked the prospect why the Tier IV data center was not more expensive than our data center. He didn’t seem to know. All he knew was that Tier IV must be better than Tier III right? Such a bargain he got!
So what are we to do? After some research I am aware of two competitors in the market that ACTIVELY claim and market Tier IV data centers. Well I am not going to do much because Horizon refuses to play that game, even if it costs us deals.
The difference between my son and the “Tier IV buyer” is that when my son finds out there is no tooth fairy, he will be fine. I wonder how the prospect is going to be when he finds out he doesn’t have a Tier IV data center?
For the life of me I do not understand why prospects don’t want to see “one-lines” or to VERIFY what they are buying. You want to see Horizon’s infrastructure design? Go to Digital Realty Trusts website, we have two of their data centers. No smoke and mirrors, the design is tried and true (and it works by the way). Go to Powerloft’s website, see our design there. We don’t hide it, we are proud of our products and services. We pick builders that build great infrastructures.
So son, there is no tooth fairy. You will grow up, learn this fact, and you will still love your parents, the earth will continue to turn and you will suffer no downtime.
Mr. “Tier IV” customer, I hope your world continues to turn and that you suffer no downtime either, because you were sold a bill of goods.
And finally to those folks marketing thier “Tier IV” data centers: you are not helping our industry one bit by misleading the consumer, big thanks from those of us doing it the right way.
