Thank You, Rich Miller

I know that I am often guilty of using a tongue-in-cheek tone in many of my blog posts…but for this post I am going to crank up the sincerity machine to say thank you and bon voyage to someone who I feel has quietly, unassumingly been one of the most influential people in the data center industry for well over a decade. I’m talking about Rich Miller, the founder of Data Center Knowledge, who recently announced that he is retiring from DCK. Rich made the announcement without any fanfare, but I think the entire industry owes him a debt of gratitude and I want to share some thoughts about the impact he has had.

Rich has been one of the true visionaries in the data center industry: At a time when the data center field was mostly seen as an adjunct to the telecom or the server/storage hardware industries, Rich was one of the few who saw an industry with its own identity and with growth potential. Rich also realized that this emerging industry would need a forum that would give it a unified voice. Rich started Data Center Knowledge as a hub for this emerging industry, and from very humble beginnings he built it into the undisputed voice of the industry. It is the not only the go-to resource for everyone in our industry; it is also the first place people outside the industry (including other journalists!) go to keep tabs on the most important things going on in the data center world.

Just like many of us, Rich is an entrepreneur and an innovator. Rich started his own company, built it with his smarts, hard work and aspirations, and made it into one of our industry’s true success stories. I think that is one of the big reasons why he has understood our industry so well and why he has always had such keen insights. He’s one of us.

Finally, I want to thank Rich for being so generous with his time, support and curiosity over the years. He’s one of the brightest people in our industry, and he has been tireless in seeking out new stories to tell, discovering interesting companies to highlight, and finding fresh voices to give a soapbox to. He did it all with good cheer and enthusiasm for the industry—always with journalistic principles that bigger media companies could take a lesson or two from.

Rich, thank you for all these years of service to our industry. I can’t wait to see what you work on next.