(WEB HOS TINDUSTRY REVIEW) — Data center consulting firm and service provider PTS Data Center Solutions (www.ptsdcs.com) said this week that it has launched a new social media initiative intended to bring together small and medium-sized data center and computer room operators, and facilitate the exchange of ideas.
Employing existing social networking services, the project incorporates the newly created Computer Room Design networking group on LinkedIn, a Blogger site, a Facebook group and a Twitter feed.
Understandably, the company has certain promotional motives in creating the groups, but it seems to be a more well-intentioned effort to demonstrate “thought leadership” through real discourse, rather than to put forth any particular agenda.
The organization says the individual elements of the social media project will be hosted and moderated by PTS Data Center Solutions consultants and engineers, but will provide an open forum for sharing industry-related news, ideas, issues and experiences.
“PTS is excited to provide our peers with an online forum in which to discuss the planning, design, engineering, and construction of data centers and computer rooms,” says Peter Sacco, president of PTS Data Center Solutions, quoted in the company’s press release. “We hope that industry leaders will look at this as an opportunity to share knowledge, discover new services and opportunities, and expand their networks.”
According to the announcement, the Computer Room Design networking group on LinkedIn took off quickly, gaining more than 100 members in the first week. PTS says the discussion topics include best practices for consolidation, strategies for combating data center downtime and concerns about the Power Usage Effectiveness metric.
The group is reminiscent of the Data Center Pulse organization, though considerably less grassroots. A not-for-profit industry group, Data Center Pulse began as a networking group on LinkedIn. It is fairly restrictive in its criteria for enrollment, remaining exclusive to people actively involved in the operation of their company’s data center facilities. The group announced last week that it had reached 1,000 members.
