AFCOM Data Center Industry Group Names New President

New president Tom Roberts most recently served as senior technical architect for data centers at Trinity Health, a $9 billion health care system where he was responsible for 25 data centers across nine states.

Data center management industry association AFCOM announced that it selected longtime data manager Tom Roberts, a 30-year veteran of the data center industry, as its new president. The announcement was made at the association's fall Data Center World conference last week in Nashville, Tenn.

Roberts' new responsibilities will include the growth and continual improvement of AFCOM's Chapter program and member services. In addition, he will serve as chairman of Data Center World events with direct responsibility for developing world-class educational programs. He also will lead AFCOM's Data Center Institute with a focus on thought-leading research and best practices.

Roberts' experience as a data center professional spans all facets of the data center, including IT and facilities management, computer operations and data center management. He most recently served as Senior Technical Architect for Data Centers at Trinity Health, a $9 billion health care system where he was responsible for 25 data centers across nine states. He was named AFCOM's Data Center Manager of the Year in 2011.

Started Michigan AFCOM Chapter

Roberts became familiar with AFCOM several years ago when he helped start up AFCOM's Michigan chapter and served as its president from 2003 to 2012.

"I'd been in the business more or less for 30 years, with different titles and tasks, and I learned a great deal," Roberts told eWEEK. "Then I came out to one of the conferences, and when you come to a conference, you automatically become a member, which is a nice thing. I looked at the availability of the education and the networking (between AFCOM members) and got fired up with the concepts and the core values that AFCOM has, and really wanted to take advantage of that.

"Now I think this is a chance for me to give back and maybe tie in some of the membership with what's going on in the industry and keep that educational base at a very high level for everybody."

Roberts has attended more than 13 Data Center World conferences and most recently delivered the keynote at AFCOM's Data Center Symposium in Australia. He has served on the Data Center Institute Board, AFCOM's research think tank, since 2004.

After 20 years working key roles at AFCOM with the most recent 10 as AFCOM's president, Jill Yaoz is stepping down to pursue new ambitions including the start of a family.

Impressive Domain Expertise

Roberts' domain expertise combined with his long history with AFCOM makes him uniquely qualified to lead the association, Yaoz said.

Go here to see a blog with highlights from DCW 2012.