Doug Recker of EdgePresence
An exclusive Tech Tribune Q&A with Doug Recker (founder and president) of EdgePresence, which was honored in our:
Tell us the origin story of EdgePresence – what problem were you trying to solve and why?
EdgePresence was born from our leadership team’s days at Colo5 Data Centers (prior to founding EdgePresence in 2017, I founded Colo5 Data Centers, which was later acquired by Cologix, Inc. in 2014). We knew there would one day be a need for an extension of the network, storage, and new applications driving technology further out. Across industry sectors, there is a critical need for increased points of presence (PoPs) and data center infrastructure to be offered as a more widely distributed model. When combining new and existing PoPs with the Edge, this will indeed satisfy demands – both in the traditional colocation sense, as well as in the cloud (mobile).
What was the biggest hurdle you encountered in your journey?
The biggest hurdles we have encountered are largely around timing and acquiring the funding needed to do it right. Here at EdgePresence, we were fortunate enough to tap into our original investing sources, along with traditional, well-established data center partners behind us. Another obvious challenge we experienced was the COVID-19 pandemic, but we chose to face it head on and fight through the issues it brought, and aimed to come out of it as a strong leader in the space. During this process, we learned a lot on the deployment side, requiring us to pivot and make any necessary changes we needed to in order to continue meeting and exceeding our customer needs.
What does the future hold for EdgePresence?
We feel the future is going to encompass a lot of tremendous growth for EdgePresence. We recently secured an exciting contract with a nationwide Mobile Network Operator (MNO) and we are going to see a lot of growth nationally in deployments throughout the next several years based on that alone. And then we have our core growth strategy that we are still following, as well as some other initiatives and projects with key partners that we are developing very rapidly. Another thing that is going to lend to our growth in the next couple of years pertains to the next-generation technologies and applications that have been incubated and tested within labs and other small environments, but now are getting ready to embark on the deployment phase, which is really going to substantially support our growth within the Edge space as well.
What are your thoughts on the local tech startup scene in Jacksonville?
Jacksonville has been a growing tech scene since my team and I started our first successful technology venture in the mid 2000’s, and it’s been thriving ever since. Specifically, the fintech, healthcare, and insurance sectors have always spawned great tech companies from this city and the startup culture here has not stopped. These companies prove that Jacksonville, along with the great state of Florida, is on the map when it comes to the startup tech scene. We are proud to be part of this tech community, day in and day out, and look forward to seeing it continue to flourish.
What’s your best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Follow your dreams, build a team who you trust around you, and never give up. Even when times get tough, as they are bound to do, stay positive and focused and don’t be afraid to rely on your peers and mentors.