The data, information, and communications industries are rapidly growing as we are living in a more digital age. As these industries grow, companies are emerging as market leaders to provide their clients and the general public with instantaneous communication systems that connect us around the world. Shannon Hulbert, the CEO of Opus Interactive, sits down with us to share more about the sustainable cloud infrastructure they have built, and how they are working to be the leaders in cloud infrastructure.
Who is Shannon Hulbert?
Shannon was named to Mirror Review’s Top 10 Most Prominent Leaders in Cloud Computing. An advocate for Women in Tech and STEM initiatives, she spent the past 10 years in the cloud and datacenter industry providing the strategy and vision for Opus Interactive. The company has achieved 30% growth year over year for the company since 2012 and was named to the Inc 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in the US for the past two years.
Prior to Opus Interactive, the NCAIED 40 Under 40 Award recipient was in the energy-efficiency industry for 8 years and worked on numerous utility energy-efficiency programs across the nation, including 6 ENERGY STAR award winning programs.
What is Opus Interactive?
The Opus team has spent over 25 years honing a mix of hybrid cloud and enterprise colocation solutions that they deliver from world class data centers located in the most connected places on the planet. Opus Interactive began as an IT division in a creative agency in 1996. Joining HPE and VMware’s Partner Programs in 2003, they began working with what was then called “virtualization”. The OpusCloud launched in 2005.
Tell us about you and Opus Interactive:
As an organization, Opus Interactive, serves as stewards for our customers critical infrastructure. We are committed to delivering sustainable IT – from supply chain to continuous optimization. I’ve been helping to build out the information superhighway (aka cloud and data center industry) since 2011. Prior to that, I spent 8 years in the utility industry, focused on demand side management. Basically energy-efficiency and renewable energy for products, homes, commercial buildings. This follows a long path that includes work as graphic design, wild land firefighter, and mill worker. I grew up on the Yurok Indian Reservation – without energy or phones – in a village referenced by mile posts signs as the End of the Road. So, you could say, my journey has been from the end of the road to the information superhighway.
What is one action item that people can take away from this conversation?
The data center and cloud industry are leading positive change on climate action through sustainable operations and industry adoption of renewables, automation, design, and energy-efficiency.
Where do you see your industry going in ten years?
Hard to predict – if you build it they will come. Volume of data/information created, captured, copied, and consumed worldwide will reach 79 zettabytes this year. By 2025, it’s predicted to be 181 zettabytes. Data volume is increasing, along with compute power, but so is efficiency.
What are you most proud about when it comes to building sustainable cloud infrastructure?
OpusCloud is climate positive. Hosted in world class facilities with 100% renewables, Opus is committed to building sustainable IT solutions. We do that in a variety of ways.