Datacenters are the backbone of the IT, Technology and Telecom sectors, and they are also now seen as the engines of digitalization and IT automation. As countries embark on digital transformation the need to create more datacenters arises, said DATALINK CEO Eng. Ayman AlJohani. Eng. Ayman added: “Datacenters have never been more important then today, and my company is at the forefront, helping Datacenter Infrastructure companies to keep businesses operational and vital services running smoothly. DATALINK is the national leader in Saudi Arabia when it comes to the design and full-life operational maintenance of datacenters.” Eng. Ayman said, while reiterating the importance of datacenters in an interview. The Coronavirus crisis has left important lessons that the future requires resilience and digitalization where organizations adapting since the start of the pandemic and Datacenters are one of the corner stone of this digitalization and business resiliency. Globally accepted that Datacenters are classified as critical infrastructure and expectations have never been higher than today in terms of operational sustainability and service availability which Datalink is a leading in operating and maintenance of datacenters based on international best practices in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. “DATALINK delivers mission-critical services, which combine technical expertise, international best practices and subject matter experts.” Q: How important are Datacenters? A: The development in the field of digital transformation and the growing trend to use electronic transactions in the world has led to the need to establish more datacenters in order to keep pace with the rapid development and the inclination to digitize all activities. But it is also necessary to ensure that datacenters are managed because they operate around the clock, seven days a week, having an environment built around a controlled temperature and provide backup power sources to ensure that data is stored and used safely in an uninterrupted manner. In any system, the datacenter, is the pulsating heart and engine of this system, so managing datacenter is a must for the smooth digital functioning. DATALINK specializes in maintaining the stability of datacenters to ensure their preservation, any malfunction that occurs in the datacenters may cause serious problems that could affect the workflow or even cause serious service disruption. Q: Can you highlight the company"s future plans with regard to datacenters? A: DATALINK company is working to attract distinguished graduates and conduct workshops to localize expertise in this field such that the growing national company could rely on national competencies. With new areas of technological revolution, especially artificial intelligence, making an impact in our lives, DATALINK will be focusing in this area of expertise. It is among the company"s future goals because it is one of the modern and required technical sciences set to drive the labor market while also helping in reducing cost. Q: What are the major problems facing the sector? A: The critical issue in this sector is to acquire & maintain the competencies & knowledge in datacenter operations — a critical area that requires to work around the clock seven days a week. It also involves building partnerships with global manufacturers to be in the know of innovative trends while also seeking transfer of technology & operational knowledge. During the coronavirus period, DATALINK worked around the clock to operate databases for various systems and adapted to the shift to work remotely in the majority of entities. This change in work patterns established the fact that businesses’ reliance on databases was the basis of the working of different systems. Q: What are the reasons for success of DATALINK? A: Major reason of our success is the vision and support of our government and leadership to the national companies through local content and facilities offered by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Also, the company focused on maximizing the knowledge, expertise, and competencies in datacenter operation domain through continuous training and synchronizing with global updates and development in this field. This is in addition to building an ambitious Saudi team working around the clock to develop their potential. Q: What is your advice to young Saudis who intend to enter this field? A:My advice to Saudi youth is that this field is one of the rare and distinguished specialties locally and globally. With the explosion of data consumption, digitalization, 5G, IoT, Smart Home, Cloud, Datacenters have become one of the primary engine and hosting location of all services and solution. Building and maintaining Datacenters at international standards is becoming top priority agenda of many nations and Datacenter Infrastructure companies. They should realize that the world is moving strongly in this field with some international companies seeking to establish datacenters in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in addition to local companies. Q: What reasons do you attribute in building this success? A: First, after God"s blessing, care and commitment have been the basis for success followed by teamwork, building a good working environment and choosing abilities and skills to benefit from experiences in each discipline. In my belief to succeed in any business, one must master it inside and out, know all its details, and we (Me & my team) have worked hard to achieve it.