Founded in 2019, OVERWATCH is a professional services, recruiting, and consulting business that focuses on the data center industry – and a DataBank partner. The company draws from an untapped talent resource—U.S. military veterans—so they can bring the same discipline and integrity to serving the data center industry as they once brought to serving our country while in uniform.
It’s not just another recruiting channel. OVERWATCH believes the industry isn’t lacking intelligence or direction but could greatly benefit from the leadership, discipline, and courage to meet customers’ expectations and help data center companies thrive. Recruiting veterans becomes an important win-win for both parties: finding a new purpose for veterans (which can help reduce current suicide rates) while helping the data center provider grow.
At DataBank, we are in complete alignment with this business model, in part because many of our employees are veterans themselves, so they understand how challenging it can be to transition into civilian life. We are proud to be a partner with OVERWATCH and we’ve already benefited from our relationship with them. One recent success: the hiring of Brandon Perez-Lee who now works as a data center technician in DataBank’s two San Diego facilities.
This is Brandon’s story:
Military Background to Civilian Life
“I shipped out to basic training a few months after graduating high school because I knew military service was something I always wanted to do, and I wanted to make my family proud,” said Perez-Lee. He served in the Army for a little over six years and completed deployments in Germany, Poland, Kuwait, and Latvia.
As he transitioned out of the military and began to think about what came next, at first, Perez-Lee didn’t know what he wanted to do. As he researched careers, he became interested in the technology industry because he had real-world experience using and troubleshooting many different digital systems in his position as a Tank Commander. To follow his passion, he enrolled in an accelerated computer science program to begin a new path away from the military.
Yet, as he applied for some jobs, he wasn’t getting offers because his experience didn’t seem to be a traditional fit for what the companies were looking for. All of this changed when he came across a job posting from OVERWATCH for a data center technician position with DataBank. The OVERWATCH recruiter quickly contacted him and got the ball rolling to set up interviews, and, ultimately, he landed the position at DataBank.
Now, Perez-Lee has nearly six months experience as a data center technician in DataBank’s SAN 1 and SAN2 data centers. In his role, he combines the discipline and leadership focus with new technology skills to monitor vital infrastructure, prepare to respond to emergencies related to generators and other power supplies, and serve as a frontline contact in providing top-notch customer service.
Perez-Lee is interested in the data center industry and plans to continue to grow his role within DataBank and he credits this success –and opportunity– to the DataBank-OVERWATCH partnership. “OVERWATCH has given me the opportunity to put my feet on the doorstep of that exact interest, and I couldn’t be more grateful for how they connected me to DataBank.
To learn more about our work with OVERWATCH, watch our recent CISO Corner podcast episode #13, “OVERWATCH: Hiring Veterans for the Data Center” or contact us today.
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