Compass' Sharif Fotouh has been recognized as one of the most influential executives in the edge computing industry by Data Economy Magazine in its first annual "Edge 50" list. Data Economy Magazine instituted the Edge 50 list this year to showcase the "50 personalities who are leading edge computing through charting new innovations or technological breakthroughs, sheer investment or business acumen, or exceptional entrepreneurial skillsets."

Fotouh, an ex-Googler, is the founder of EdgePoint Systems, which is now part of Compass Datacenters. Fotouh is responsible for the company's edge data center solutions as part of Compass Datacenters' comprehensive core-to-the-edge offering to customers. He is recognized across both the information technology and the data center industries as one of the preeminent experts on edge computing. He has more than 10 years of tenure leading large data center and technology teams, including founding and leading Google Fiber's national network facilities and deployment engineering program.

"This recognition of Sharif is extremely well-deserved, given his long-standing leadership in edge computing before there was even a name for it. He has been at the forefront of creating distributed data center infrastructure for a decade, charting a course for IT infrastructure at the edge of networks when there were no maps to guide him," said Chris Crosby, CEO of Compass Datacenters. "The work he did at Google and EdgePoint systems is even more impressive in retrospect given how those projects provide a blueprint for the work that the industry is doing today. We are very happy to have him on the Compass team where he will continue to have a major impact on the industry."