Poised for strong growth in the expanding colocation industry, Denver’s FORTRUST has increased staff by 20% over the past year. Company expansion is attributed to client demand and continued growth in the colocation and data center services industry.

Approximately 29% of FORTRUST’s employees are military veterans, whose pertinent skill set is perfectly suited to the mission critical roles required in the data center and colocation services industry.

Since opening their company doors over 13 years ago, FORTRUST has maintained an uninterrupted critical systems uptime record, an industry rarity attributed to regimented process and procedures and finding the right employee for the job.

“We are pleased to have our company and employee growth reflect the hard work and dedication we commit to our clients,” says Josh Moody, senior vice president of sales and marketing. “Industry growth is constant, in large part due to the cloud initiatives and virtualization that are driving demand for resilient colocation facilities. Now more than ever companies and service providers need a data center they can rely upon.”

For a data center, maintaining continuous uptime is paramount to their success. Loss of power or cooling can cost clients thousands of dollars in seconds, not to mention the irreversible damage done to the reputation of the data center. One of the leading causes of data center downtime is human error.

FORTRUST has found the most effective way to mitigate against human error and reduce the risk of downtime is to hire veterans. The skills, training, education, experience, qualifications and disciplined mindset have proven a perfect fit. Veterans exhibit attention to detail, process discipline, and a procedural-based structure – the precise skillset necessary to succeed in the data center industry.

“The skills I gained while serving in the military for 16 years have directly translated to my role in countless ways,” explains Rob McClary, senior vice president and general manager of FORTRUST. “Hiring veterans is a win-win because we support those who have served.”

McClary developed and implemented the process controls and procedures that support FORTRUST’s continuous critical systems uptime. He was selected as a 2014 finalist by AFCOM for Data Center Manager of the Year and authored an eBook detailing strategies to minimize the potential for unplanned downtime in a data center.

Additional open positions are currently available, and FORTRUST plans to continue on a trajectory of growth throughout 2015.