Amsterdam, the Netherlands August 31, 2023 – Switch Datacenters, the leading sustainable wholesale and build-to-suit data center operator and developer in Amsterdam, has announced two new senior leadership appointments to support its rapid growth.
Pieter Duijves, industry veteran, previously former EMEA Senior Director of Operations with a global competitor of Switch where he was responsible for the operations of over 20 European data centers, will take the newly created role of COO, Chief Operating Officer at Switch Datacenters and build out the companies’ operations team and processes to enable further growth.
Geurt Woudenberg, already onboard since March 2019, will become Chief Construction & Engineering Officer and will focus on the design, build and engineering of data center infrastructure for Switch Datacenters in current and future sites.
“With the planned opening end of this year of AMS4, a sustainable, high density flagship with capacity for 15-18MW located in the Science Park South area in Amsterdam, we have reached a new phase in our 13 year history of developing and operating high quality data centers in Amsterdam”, says Edgar van Essen, Managing Director of Switch Datacenters. “We have successfully pre-leased the majority of the capacity in our data centers to fast growing, industry leading customers, all of whom require industry leading professional services and support from our technology and sustainability leading sites. In parallel, Switch is developing new sites and upgrading existing ones to cater for customers with AI applications and high power density requirements.‘’, says Edgar, “we therefore recognised the need to strengthen the leadership team with the most experienced people in the market to lead and drive the skill sets and increased level of professionalism required to ensure the most reliable operations together with a sustainable, reliable, fast and modular construction and design.”
‘’I am happy to join Switch Datacenters and am truly impressed by their capabilities, vision, drive, projects under development and continuous drive for sustainable innovation in data centers”, says Pieter Duijves, “The opportunity came exactly at the right moment for me and I am keen to bring in my 15 years of leading operational excellence in data center operations and help steer the company to even faster growth in the coming years” .
‘’Over the last five years Switch Datacenters has grown substantially “, says Gregor Snip, CEO & co-founder of Switch Datacenters, ‘’and we are currently developing a sustainable portfolio with over 200MW of new capacity around Amsterdam to address the growing needs of our customers in growth areas such as AI / High Performance computing as well as build secure national zones for global cloud companies”
“The continuous growth of data usage is driven by the fast-growing IT industry and all people and companies in the Netherlands contribute to this growth by consuming increasingly large amounts of data and cloud-based IT services. It is in our charter to build extremely efficient data centers for these IT companies, that will have the lowest CO2 footprint and consume few natural resources, land and green power and also deliver as much as possible generated green heat back to our local society as a contribution to the national Dutch energy transition strategy from fossil to green. Switch Datacenters is one of the very few local data center players, who believe in and understand the local Dutch political agenda, technical innovation, and societal needs. That makes us unique in the data center landscape and is another key reason for growth.” According to Gregor Snip.
Pieter Duijves – Chief Operations Officer
Pieter brings a comprehensive international experience of over 30 years in the IT industry and over 15 years specifically in the data center industry. He held senior leadership pan European positions in AT&T, Global Crossing, HPE and NTT. Among other things he led the professionalisation of data center operations for large (> 300 MW) organisations with demanding hyperscale customers, ensuring a consistent customer experience across more than 20 sites. He was also a pioneer in sustainable innovation producing the first energy reuse concepts serving greenhouse farmers in a former company he founded.
Pieter joined Switch Datacenters on August 1, 2023 in the position of COO. He will work to support Switch Datacenters in extending the scale of their operation. He will bring its data center operations to the next level, serving Switch Datacenters’ large international clients.
Geurt Woudenberg – Chief Construction & Engineering Officer
Geurt is responsible for all technical design and actual construction of our data centers. He has over 20 years of highly relevant experience working in senior data center roles both in the construction and consulting industry with reputable companies like HPE, Imtech, Volker Wessels Telecom. In his former roles Geurt already has been building and designing over fifty high end data centers all over Europe working for global leading brands and governmental institutions.
Geurt joined Switch Datacenters in March 2019 and leads the many growth and site expansion projects within Switch Datacenters’ sites.
Edgar van Essen, Managing Director/Partner
Edgar has a long track record of international leadership in digital IT infrastructure companies across EMEA. During his career, he has always been at the forefront of technological innovation and challenging classic business models. Driven by curiosity, customer needs and with a sharp eye for strategic societal changes, he encourages change and structural growth with a long-term positive impact for all stakeholders.
Gregor Snip, CEO
Gregor is a long-term IT veteran and CEO / co-founder of Switch Datacenters. Before founding Switch Datacenters in 2009, Gregor was founder and CEO of several companies, amongst them a large hosting company. He brings a long and solid track record in data center site operations, innovation and development and is passionate about IT, technologies and design.
