Harold Simmons - Chapter Secretary

Leading-Edge Information

​​Keeping members updated on related developments in allied industries and market sectors affecting end-to-end reliability of mission critical facilities, especially the convergence of technology.

Open Forum

Our members receive premier peer-to-peer consulting on leading-edge, best practices by those who operate, design and provide specialized expertise for small, mid-market and large mission critical facilities.

Advancing the Industry

​​Presenting topics relevant to infrastructure reliability while collecting and disseminating statistics, case studies, guidelines, practices and standards for use by its members. ​

Solicitation-Free

​​In order to share viable options for members, vendors are occasionally allowed to share their latest products. However, the use of meetings or contact lists to exclusively sell or promote products or services is prohibited.

Brad Smidt - Chapter Board Member

Kristen, a graduate of NAU’s prestigious Construction Management Program and recipient of the Outstanding Student Leadership Award; had spent the greater part of her career as a General Contractor, working for one of the largest Contractors in the Southwest.  She held various roles and spearheaded many initiatives – one of her proudest moments was in 2009, when she introduced the Federal Government to the aspect of using healing gardens to help heal our wounded warriors as they transitioned out of combat https://www.sundt.com/2011/08/02/fort-bliss-federal-construction-project-to-serve-returning-soldiers/.  She was introduced to datacenters in 2018 and hasn’t looked back – she thrives in this dynamic, forward-thinking industry.  She took a leap of faith a couple years ago to explore opportunities on the Owners side and has joined Microsoft as their America’s Regional Director of Strategic Sourcing for General Contractors and Professional Services within their Commercial Cloud program (CO+I). 

Kristen is married with 2 kids, and a puppy named Peaches. Together they enjoy traveling, hiking, mountain biking, and cheering each other on in their other activities. 

The 7x24 Exchange - Arizona Chapter is your local, leading informational resource comprised of data center managers, consultants, engineers and end users.  We serve IT and facility professionals by providing a local forum for information exchange. The 7x24 Exchange - Arizona Chapter of the 7x24 International Exchange operates as a separate membership with local interests. 

7x24 Exchange

- The Arizona Chapter –

The Arizona Chapter Board

Andreas Zoll - Chapter President

Brent brings 25 years of industry experience in telecom and data center operations where he has been of the forefront of deploying and operating new technologies.  Currently, he is a Senior Manager at PayPal, responsible for data center operations and service delivery in Phoenix AZ, Santa Clara CA, Chicago IL, Ireland and Luxembourg.

His career started in Ohio with the regional Bell company, leading a team that built the first hybrid fiber-coax system for the company.  This was followed by a move to Arizona to startup a team with the regional Bell company that built the first DSL network in Phoenix.  Moving into data centers in 2008, Brent started with eBay where he lead the technical services team.  He went on manage operations of the eBay multi-tier data center campus, as well as multiple colocation deployments in the Phoenix metro area.  eBay and PayPal separated in 2015 and Brent was recruited to become a founding member of the PayPal data center team.

After graduating with a degree in Architectural Engineering Construction Management from Pennsylvania State University, Bill began his career with Holder Construction. Over the last 25 years, Bill has been directly involved with putting more than $1.9B of work in place on a wide variety of projects including corporate and commercial office, higher education, hospitality, and mission critical. His resume is extensive and includes projects all over the United Stated for clients such as American Express, Banner Health, Cox Communications, State Farm, Charles Schwab, JP Morgan Chase, MUFG and Arizona State University.

As Senior Vice President, Bill has built his career managing large, complex projects and teams, as well as company-wide initiatives within Holder Construction. He and his wife have 4 children, and spends his time hiking, biking, playing tennis, and anything else outdoors! Bill is a Licensed Professional Engineer and LEED AP BD+C Accredited Professional.

Bill Headley - Chapter Treasurer

Brent Mitchell - Chapter Board Member

Thomas Maples - Chapter Board Member

Mark Bauer - Chapter Vice President

Brad Smidt is the Senior Vice President of Business Development for GPEC. He manages the team that works with companies considering large industrial, office and data center projects in Greater Phoenix, and oversees the organization’s EDDT Council. Over his 28 years in economic development, 21 of which have been with GPEC, Brad has helped more than 250 companies expand or relocate to the region. 

Prior to GPEC, Brad worked in economic development in both the cities of Mesa and Chandler. Brad is a native Arizonan who grew up in Greater Phoenix. His local ties have contributed to his vast knowledge of the area and familiarity with the unique assets of its workforce. In 2008, Brad was named the Economic Developer of the Year by the Arizona Association of Economic Development. 

Brad is an active member of the Fiesta Bowl Committee, and serves on the University of Arizona Eller MBA Industry Advisory Board. Brad earned a Bachelor’s degree in Regional Development from the University of Arizona. He holds a Certified Economic Developer Certification from the International Economic Development Council.

A seasoned technology executive and innovator, Mr. Zoll has been deeply involved in the mission critical space for over 15 years following his passion. With a unique background blending technical and commercial expertise, Andreas has served in a wide variety of leadership roles for companies ranging from early start-ups to publicly-traded, global enterprises. 

In his current role at Microsoft, Andreas’ team focuses on global infrastructure strategy for Public and Sovereign clouds, with a responsibility for delivering high-performing infrastructure for the world’s most demanding customers.

His remit includes designing and launching Azure cloud regions, strategic client pursuits engaging with Azure largest adopters, development of advanced cloud architectures, cloud infrastructure efficiency initiatives and form factor innovation. 

Prior to Microsoft, Andreas served in technical and commercial leadership roles at Baselayer Technology, a manufacturer of modular datacenters, IO Datacenter, a global colocation provider, and industrial automation leader Parker Hannifin. 

Andreas also is a strong supporter of Diversity and Inclusion programs, sustainability initiatives limiting our industry’s environmental footprint, and educational programs to attract and train our future workforce.

Mr. Maples is an Advanced Tech Core Market Leader for DPR Construction and a member of their Phoenix Regional Management Team. He works with their data center project teams throughout the southwest. A former data center developer, he is also active in sustainability, renewable energy and advanced manufacturing projects. He received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science Degrees in Civil Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a licensed Civil Engineer and LEED AP accredited.

Mr. Simmons is an experienced big picture strategist with the unique ability to evaluate business landscapes and help companies create/implement strategic plans that lead to a competitive advantage.

He helps to lead the  Data Center Market  for UMP and is a member of their leadership team.

In his role at UMP (founded as United Metal Products, Inc) Harold helps lead the data center division with a particular external focus on helping large scale companies execute strategic initiatives, such as reducing the OPEX associated with their mission critical infrastructure

He holds a  Masters and Bachelors degree in Communication related fields and has acquired additional Corporate Strategy training from Harvard Business School.

Mark's experience includes an in-depth knowledge of the data center and telecommunications industries that assists clients with their mission-critical deployments of primary and disaster recovery data center needs. Mark has established himself as a master leader and recognized expert in his field and is a Managing Director and National Director at Jones Lang LaSalle in their Data Center Solutions (DCS) group that focuses on globally representing companies with their real estate planning and the execution of mission-critical data center relocations and expansions. His experience in the growing multi-tenant data center environments (colocation and wholesale colocation) is unmatched in the industry.

Kristen Bejarano - Chapter Board Member

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