Digital Transformation and the Data Center & Green Energy Connection

Andrew Schaap, CEO of Aligned Data Centers, knows the ever-increasing role data centers play in the interconnected world of digital and smart technologies. And he provided his first-hand knowledge and insights on the advances data centers are making in today’s digital transformation and clean energy best practices and utilization.

“If you look at the data center industry as a whole, it’s one that didn’t exist or existed in a much smaller or boutique fashion 20 years ago,” Schaap said. “Today, virtually everything we do is somehow connected to the web and somehow connected device to device, B2C, and computer to computer.”

The internet of things is also a large component of interconnectivity driving the need for data storage.

“All these devices and applications that we have are going back to a data center of some sort,” Schaap said.

Add the pandemic into the mix, and digital transformation’s acceleration growth means, more than ever, the need for data storage capacity is a primary focus for many companies.

“We had clients who came to us early this year just before COVID-19 started shutting down things and changing the way we worked,” Schaap said. “And those same clients have doubled, tripled or quadrupled their workload with us.”

If data centers and their users utilize a significant amount of energy, how is the energy industry taking advantage of data centers?

“We (the data center industry) are by far the group that is thinking the most about being carbon neutral,” Schaap said. “The focus on sustainability is incredibly high inside of the data center and technology user community. Ultimately, for the energy we do use, how do we get it from the most sustainable sources? We (Aligned Data Centers) happened to be owned by one of the world’s largest green energy producers. We have a parent company that believes strongly in the transformation of fossil fuels to green energy.”

Making efficient use of building space and focusing on using renewable energy helps achieve sustainability goals while keeping the world connected digitally.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @MarketScale
Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

gozeo
Joshua Titus with Gozio
April 15, 2025

Joshua from Gozeo joins Amy on Panda Perspectives to discuss how Gozeo is personalizing the patient experience through mobile solutions. Gozeo, a healthcare IT company, serves as a digital front door for health systems, helping engage patients, visitors, and staff. Joshua highlights the growing trend of personalization in healthcare, emphasizing how mobile platforms can tailor…

Read More
praia health
Scott North with Praia Health
April 15, 2025

Scott North, Head of Partnerships at Praia Health, joins Panda Perspectives to discuss how Praia is redefining patient experience orchestration. Spun out of Providence in 2023, Praia helps health systems retain patients by unifying fragmented experiences—like lab visits and pharmacy trips—into a single, seamless journey. Scott emphasizes Praia’s focus on long-term engagement, reducing patient leakage,…

Read More
fisher-titus health
Linda Stevenson with Fisher-Titus Health
April 15, 2025

Linda Stevenson, CIO of Fisher-Titus, shares why she helped launch the rural health community initiative at CHIME and how it’s creating essential momentum for collaboration. Speaking from VIVE 2025, Linda highlights the unique challenges rural hospitals face—from limited budgets to lean staffing—and the importance of collective action. She emphasizes how vendor education is key: once…

Read More
regional medical center
Nayan Patel with Upson Regional Medical Center
April 14, 2025

Nayan Patel, CIO of Upson Regional Medical Center, reflects on the unique challenges and opportunities rural hospitals face in today’s healthcare climate. Speaking from VIVE 2025, he highlights how tighter margins and staffing constraints push rural leaders to be incredibly strategic—often favoring cost-saving innovations and maximizing existing vendor capabilities over chasing new tech. Despite resource…

Read More