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keenly aware of the skillset that these veterans have
developed inservice,andthequalitiesofdiscipline,precision
andamission-criticalmindsettheybring.Thesearethesame
qualitiesneededbythedatacenter industry.Theonlymissing
piece is technical training and hands-on data center
experience.
So I setout to formacompany thatwouldprovehowquickly
veterans (particularly combat-trained personnel) could
masternew tasksandadapt their alreadyconsiderable skills
to thedatacenterenvironment.Thisconceptmaterializedas
Salute, Inc.
).
THEMISSION
InJanuary2013, thecompany launched, foundedonthecore
value thatwewouldbuilda 100percent veteranwork force.
The goal was to provide high-quality services that would
quickly prove the value of veterans in the data center
environment, and serve as a gateway for them to enter
careers in the industry.While theywork for Salute Inc. the
veterans alsopursue their choseneducation trackusing the
VA educational benefits they earned. By combining the
experience they gain from working in data center
environmentswith their educational attainment,weprovide
ameans fortheseveteranstoascend intotheirchosencareer
path inour industry.
Astheybecomemoreseasonedandmoveontoemployment
with data center firms, Salute Inc. backfills our teamwith
moreveterans, fuelingacontinuousdevelopmentprocess. It
mayseemcounterintuitive,butweconsiderakeymeasureof
Salute’ssuccesstobeahighattritionrateamongemployees.
Salute’s training programs and supply chain model are
intentionallybuilt tosupport30+percentattritionperyear.
A common theme inmilitary training is “crawl, walk, run”.
Adopting this approach, we launchedwith a single service
offering: critical environmentscleaning. Saluteestablisheda
trainingprogram to teach trainees how tooperate inadata
centerandhowtoproperlyclean.Thecurriculumextensively
covers equipment, the process, reporting, safety, and
methods of procedure. Our veterans quickly become
proficient in theseskillsandbeginexecuting facilitycleaning
projectswithmilitaryprecision. This initial service offering
provedtheconcept—withinninemonthsof launchSalutehad
cleanedoveronemillionsquare feetofdatacenterspace for
amarquee listofclients.
PROGRESS
Buildingon this initialmomentumandspurredby thequality
of veteransweattract, Saluteadded installation services to
its offerings. We quickly found a niche installing hot aisle
containmentsolutions forourcleaningclients, receivingvery
positive feedbackon theconsistent performanceandvalue
that our teamswereproviding. In late2013, wewereable to
addveterans to the teamwhoare subjectmatter experts in
both wet cell and dry cell battery maintenance, and have
developed a training and services program for this key
offering. The progressive skills required to move from
cleaningto installationtomaintenanceallowsourveteransto
gainexperience inmultiple areas that, combinedwith their
formaleducation,makesthemattractiveapplicants forentry
level positions in data center operations and technical
services roles.
In January, wedefinedkeymeasuresof success and set our
goals for 2013: to hire 50 veterans and gain industry
recognitionand support. At thebeginningof theyear, these
goalsseemedaggressive,yetbytheendof2013,weachieved
the following:
•59 military veterans entered the data center industry
throughSalute
•Uptime Instituteand451Group recognized thevalueofour
concept and initiatedveterans’ programs for the industry
thatarecomplimentarytoSaluteandwillprovideadditional
career support formilitaryveterans.
•Weestablishedcapabilities toeffectivelydeployanywhere
in theU.S. andexecutedprojectswithmilitaryprecision in
IL,CT,NJ,TX,MA,WY,CA,WA,OH,andWI,deliveringatotal
of 1.9Msquare feetofcleaning.
•Weexpandedour serviceoffering to include containment
installations and successfully completed three large
projects that resulted inover 1,000kW inenergysavings.
•We are poised to launch batterymaintenance services in
2014.
Expanding our service offerings
establishesaprogressivepath for
veterans to gain additional skills
and experience, preparing them
for long-term careers in the
industry. Salute will continue to
demonstrate value that veterans
bring to our industry as they
quickly learn to provide high-
quality, high-valueservices.
UPTIME INSTITUTE&
SALUTE INC.
As Salute was beginning to
establish itself, the executives at
Uptime Institute learned of our
effortsandaskedmetopresentto
the Uptime Institute Network, a
knowledge community of data
center operators andexecutives.
The response was very positive.
Leeandhis teamonhis 50thbirthday,BaghdadCross Swords 2009
