Duke S. Skarda, newly appointed vice president of information technology and software development at The Planet
In an email Q&A with the WHIR, The Planet’s Duke Skarda discusses his new role at the company as vice president of information technology and software development, and what the company has to do to make The Planet truly global.
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Last week was Duke S. Skarda’s first as vice president of information technology and software development for IT hosting provider The Planet (www.theplanet.com).
Responsible for the company’s entire span of IT activities, including core IT operations, and software development and implementation of customer-facing solutions, Skarda is the new resident senior executive at The Planet’s Dallas offices.
His appointment follows a decade working for fiber-optic services provider Level 3 Communications (www.level3.com), where he held a series of positions including senior vice president for the content markets group, where he led engineering and IT development for its content distribution network platform and IT support systems.
The Planet chairman and chief executive officer Douglas J. Erwin says Skarda’s expertise in the telecommunications industry will help The Planet as it expands its products and services, and grows its global footprint.
In an email Q&A with the WHIR, Skarda, still new to his role, answers some questions about the transition to this position and what he plans to continue The Planet’s growth.
WHIR: How much of a transition will it be going from fiber-optic-based services provider Level 3 to hosting provider The Planet?
Duke Skarda: Like Level 3, The Planet is looking to develop new technologies that provide automation across the company, whether it’s a customer application or one designed expressly to enhance our own operations. We’re targeting opportunities to improve our efficiencies, and to benefit from cost-effective technologies and processes to run the business. I’ve spent the last 10 years working on these types of applications, and I believe that we can leverage them very well here at The Planet.
In terms of transition, I’ve come to a very welcoming environment with a lot of opportunities. I like the tremendous customer focus here at The Planet and the fact that it’s a smaller company, which makes it easier to make a difference in the business.
Having been involved in long-range systems planning during your time at Level 3 – perhaps it may be too soon to ask – but are you already working toward specific goals in your new executive role?
DS: During the interview discussions, we talked at length about specific goals, so it’s never too early to ask about those. We have a couple to start, including finishing up the integration of the legacy environments from the two pre-merger companies. We’ll be updating the infrastructure with new, best-in-class back office systems. The IT and development organizations will be focused on value-creating systems and platforms that help us to serve customers better and faster, with more reliability.
The Orbit customer portal is another priority, particularly since it’s an important tool for companies that use our products and services. The team here has been working hard to finalize our next generation of Orbit. It has been in beta for a few months, and we’ll launch to full production soon. With this release, we have focused on streamlining our customers’ operations through improved automation and usability.
What trends do you see in the hosting market and how do you see The Planet poised to take advantage of them?
DS: There are two trends that are getting the most attention these days: cloud computing and virtualization. We’ve announced our Storage Cloud platform and partnership with Nirvanix, and we’ll be expanding our portfolio to offer more capabilities. There’s also our next-generation virtualization platform. I don’t want to pre-announce exactly what we’re doing, but there’s a lot of work underway.
What do you look forward most to your position at The Planet?
DS: As I mentioned, The Planet’s size is very appealing. Working with an experienced management team with a successful track record of merging the two companies over the past three years was also key to my decision. There’s a lot of momentum here, and we’re continuing to grow. In fact, we’re opening our new 106,000-square-foot data center, the fifth in Dallas, which provides expanded colocation services.
The IT and development organizations are core to The Planet, and both provide a real and sustaining influence on the company’s ability to deliver cost-effective services to the company. SMBs need cost-effective technologies that let them compete with bigger, better-funded companies, particularly in today’s difficult economic environment. With our size, our scalability and solid financials, we’re able to offer strategic value in helping them run their businesses.
I’m from Texas, and Dallas is home to my family. We lived here before moving to Colorado, so it’s great to be back.
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