 Welcome to JSA TV the newsroom for telecom and data center professionals I'm Barb Mitchell coming to you today live from the floor of PTC 23 in beautiful Honolulu, Hawaii The Sun is shining outside. We're inside right now, but we'll we'll be out again. I'm joining me today here Is Scott Willis CEO of Dart Points? so Welcome first of all It's busy week so far. Thanks, Barb. I appreciate you having me and you're right. We are we are here enjoying the weather It's beautiful outside. It's been a great week So I I think I don't know quite what the number is here, but I think we're pushing record attendance at the conference It's been some great discussions great meetings Both with customers prospective customers colleagues. It's been so far I the show has been great and it's been it's been a wonderful experience. Yeah Yeah, it feels a lot like, you know, we're Record breaking they're saying but like even more than any pre-pandemic numbers that we're experienced at this show You can really feel it right and there's so much happening for everyone And I know there is for Dart Points and before I know you have some news before we get to that I want to just just for our viewers who may not know just talk a little bit about about Dart Points Yeah, sure. So for those of you that don't know Dart, Dart Points. We're we're an edge owner operator of Data centers, right today. We've got Markets largely focused in the Midwest and the Southeast part of the US. That's where we're that's where we're positioned today We we're really we're really all about Serving our customer needs. It's really when you know when you when you talk about edge It can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people, right? So maybe putting a little bit definition around that but we're focused on bringing world-class solutions and Delivering the same capabilities the same solutions at the same price point in the same performance level that Customers get in some of the tier one markets because again our our data centers are focused and we're growing in really smaller tier two Tier three and some tier four markets. So that's really who we are It's where we're focused And it's really what we're all about as we as we look to bring products and solutions that meet the needs of our customers Yeah, and I think I alluded to it before but you have some breaking news today I mean perfect time to announce with all you know the entire industry together a lot of the industry together here And and tuning in to what's happening this week for those, you know, who aren't here They're they're watching what what's coming out what, you know, what sorts of announcements are happening What what's happening with their points? Yeah, so we're we're excited about that So it went out today. It actually hit the wire today We are we are launching a bare metal solution into the market for our customers And let me let me get spin it back a little bit 22 was really a really busy year for dark points We rolled out a lot of products, right? We're focused in co-location We're focused in hybrid cloud and we're focused in managed services And so strategically as we build our portfolio and I talked about the focus we have around our customers Introducing bare metal as an extension of of what we've already launched in in 22 is really supportive of the vision We have for the company and how we're how we're looking to grow it's a little bit it's a little bit different because we're we're We're looking at it in a way that we're going to create a market or attempt to create a market with our better bare metal solution It's really a solution that is going to bring capabilities into the market That's targeted at more at mid-market customers So we're not really building a platform that's targeted at the top of the pyramid And some of the really large big global corporations ours is really pointed at what we believe the needs Of the customers that are in The markets that we serve and it's bringing a bare metal solution that can meet the needs of really a customer That's that's that's floating between Traditional co-location where they have to spend their capital, right? They have to bring that in a co-low environment and they may not be quite ready to move fully into a Either a public or a private cloud environment, and so it's it's it's targeting that segment of the market and really again Identifying the need that we see in the market and trying to serve that need And Scott, I know I know that you're actually I mean not only doing this for dark points But you're providing thought leadership to the industry yesterday. You were on a panel talking about I think I believe edge data centers It was yes. Can you give us a few highlights? Yeah, so Here's here's really it was a great discussion. Yeah, so I had some great colleagues on there and it was really focused in Really three general areas one is the the first topic was was really talking about what is the opportunity? Within edge, right? It was talking about workloads It was it was talking about how the how the industry is evolving towards edge compute It's talking about delivering solutions from a data center perspective at the point of need at the point of demand So that that's probably was the first thing great discussion good topics there the second part really touched on How the how the from a from a data center perspective how it's evolving to meet not only legacy needs of the customers but forward Leaning needs and how do we solve for that? Lord the largest part of the discussion was really built around density and how Customers are continuously demanding in a smaller footprint within a data center more density And what are the challenges from an operator perspective? And then probably really the last and third thing that we really spent quite a bit of time on was sustainability Was around power right? What's the future need going to be from a data center operator perspective? And how do we how do we do this in a more sustainable way? So those were really the three major themes that came out of the discussion and enjoyed it It was it was great interaction with the audience and it was a good discussion That's great I've popped into some of these panels and and the it's quite impressive. I think the content that's delivered here It's you know, it's great that you were able to be part of that You know what you have to say is so important and I so sort of switching gears to I you know I always say, you know, everyone's coming together here at PTC to hear from people like you and others and and share thoughts on On what's to come and and some trends and solve for some of the things that the industry's facing But it's also a nice time to really you know kick off the year for a lot of organizations And so when you sort of look towards the the right remainder of this year, I'm sure you have plans in place What what can we expect to hear from dark points over the next sort of six to 12 months? Yeah, we do and I think you you described it well, right? This this this conference can serve as a bit of a is a bit of a launching pad You know what what I think you can really look for In in 22 we first of all we had a really strong year right especially from a a Booking's perspective, right? We had we had really what was the strongest year in our history So we're excited about the tailwinds and the momentum. We had a really good Fourth quarter We're expecting a really strong Q1 and so we're really building a platform to leverage off of that I think around some expectations Over 22 22 was a real significant year of investment in our portfolio We introduced a lot of products a lot of capabilities around hybrid clouds security I just talked about bare metal. I think what you'll see in 23 is is a year of not not so much focus around new products, but extending the investment we made in 22 and really growing and and Leveraging that investment and really trying to drive into the market the types of solutions that we think our customers are telling us They need and getting return on the investment we made in 22. So I think from a from an expectation We're in a little bit of a choppy market, right some of the macro headwinds out there are real and and we Keep a close eye on that but a lot of the fundamental Indicators that we look at as we try to drive and build this business are positive and we're excited about the tailwinds and the momentum As we look forward into 23. Yeah, great Sounds promising sounds exciting and we we always you know, yeah We always look forward to catching up with you and you know hearing what's coming So we'll you know, I'm sure we'll have opportunities throughout the year if if not, you know, certainly here next year We'll be hearing. You know, we did all this come to fruition and and what more what more that you hadn't even anticipated yet Did you end up? You know being able to to act on so anyway, thank you. Thank you so much for joining us Not everyone can be here. So for those who who aren't able to meet with you in person here How can they connect with you? Really, it's it's it's what I've what I've said before in these. It's really our website is our is really our entry point into dart points so WWW at dartpoints.com all all the information that I've talked about and that we put out in the public domains on that site So that's really the first entry point is as you look to to learn a little bit about dark points. Perfect. Thank you so much Thank you. This is a great chat. I've really enjoyed it and thanks Scott for joining us And thank you viewers for tuning in to JSA TV coming to you live from the floor of PTC 23 Mahalo