We’re in the top 3!

Interview with Roger Süess, CEO, conducted by Pia Hurni-Schmid, Marketing.

Roger, you just recently took over as CEO of the Green Group. How did a Swiss SME like Green manage to make it to a top-notch spot on the colocation market?

Being a Swiss company, we don’t always operate under the same conditions as international market players, but we also don’t deal with the same obstacles, either. Our organization’s size is one of our key advantages. We’re small and agile so we can respond swiftly to our customers’ needs. Plus, our decision paths are short and we’re closely familiar with our local market, which helps us achieve things nobody seems to think are possible.

If you ask me, our employees are another big factor. Everybody here is encouraged to view themselves as co-owners of the company and to act accordingly.

We also set great store in our adherence to project deadlines – something that our extremely large customers have already noticed, by the way. If we need to meet deadlines, my team rolls up its sleeves and isn’t afraid of working a night shift now and again

This has also helped acquire international hyperscale customers.

Are there any other factors that set us apart?

The market is in a state of upheaval, with our customers digitalizing their processes and looking for solutions that let them respond quickly and flexibly to new challenges. We offer a pathway into the cloud, which includes the entire ecosystem surrounding our data centers and beyond. At Green, these companies will find nearly 40 carriers, Infrastructure as a Service, public clouds and software solutions. In this data center ecosystem, customers can either operate their own hardware in a secure environment or purchase a provider’s services directly. All those connections can be established at low cost and across short distances.

Plus we have strong financial backing from InfraVia Capital Partners. Given banks’ current interest rate policy, they’re happy to invest in our operations. That makes us flexible when it comes to undertakings like the new building for our Zurich West 3 facility, Switzerland’s first high-density data center.

That capital helps us respond swiftly to the market and continue pursuing our growth strategy. The plans for the next stage of expansion are already in the bag. I also think it’s important to strengthen the organization at the same time. New positions are created as needed based on market growth and customers’ requirements.

Do you plan to challenge the leader named in the ISG study?

I’m not going to reveal our strategic alignment and vision right now, but I can say is this: We’re the right partner for smart customers who have a conscious desire to implement new trends to benefit their companies or to create new trends for the entire world.

Throughout it all, strengthening and fostering my team takes top priority. I encourage every employee to contribute their ideas and promote dialog, including between teams. I do all this with the goal of creating a new corporate culture where work is fun. People who enjoy working are better performers and that, in turn, boosts our customer satisfaction. 

^{Source: https://www.computerworld.ch/business/rechenzentrum/schweizer-colocation-boom-1729938.html}