As the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh is the natural choice for a great deal of technology investment. A range of smart city projects have tackled issues such as digital inclusion, air quality and improved local government service delivery. The Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre (EPCC) is one of the leading supercomputing centres in Europe and the city is home to the largest technology incubator in the UK: Codebase.
Amidst such intensive development, Pulsant has been a stalwart of the regional digital scene for more than a decade, following the acquisition of Scolocate in 2012. Joe MacInnes, manager of both the Edinburgh Newbridge and Medway facilities has been the operational lynchpin across two datacentres in the portfolio, for just as long.
“I have grown as the digital landscape in Edinburgh has expanded,” Joe explains. “I began at South Gyle as an infrastructure engineer and – across legacy organisations and now Pulsant – I find myself in the middle of one of the data capitals of Europe.”
It is no surprise that Joe is kept incredibly busy: “It may sound cliché, but no two days are the same – and that is precisely what keeps the role interesting. The variety of the challenges that arise means we must constantly adapt and learn.
“I am very lucky in that my team is often most energised when presented with new challenges. The opportunity to show off their engineering skillsets, combined with the freedom to ‘run’ with projects and showing them the positive impact of their ideas and hard work, has created a fantastic team.”
Joe has also led impactful changes on the commercial side of the business. “It is important to recognise when things are not going as they should. When assessing Medway, it became clear that the main client felt they, weren’t getting the focus they needed.” By stepping in personally, Joe resolved many issues and is now point of contact for a keenly collaborative relationship.
This partnership is built on close working communication at every opportunity. MacInnes continues: “There are some customers with whom I have regular meetings onsite or whom I will bump into, on the DC floor. These are great opportunities to get to know them better. This knowledge is the basis of making sure we offer the right options to them and the better our knowledge, the more accurate that fit.”
Beyond this whirlwind of activity, Joe is often to be found at the latest sporting fixture for his children, or, on rare occasions, the golf course. But even here, he sees connections to work: “Scotland is known the world over for its golf courses. But as businesses continue to evolve digitally, we are developing the same reputation as a digital destination.” MacInnes concludes.