CIO Bulletin

An innovator bringing people and technology together to deliver tailored cloud solutions: OTAVA

In the past, business data was often kept on internal servers and networking devices. As "cloud storage" started to gain massive popularity, many businesses turned to off-site solutions. Businesses do not want to be burdened with the expenses and maintenance associated with running dated servers and clunky data storage systems. However, the data must be stored somewhere. As the primary remedy for this issue, colocation and hosting were identified as the right tools. Instead of servers sitting on-site in a room or a specific area of a company's own building, the equipment can be co-located someplace else in the form of a cabinet. This service can be used by businesses of any size to drastically reduce storage costs.

Globally there are many companies delivering hosting and colocation services, but OTAVA stands out from the rest. OTAVA began as Online Tech which was founded in 1994 as a dial-up internet company that quickly evolved into a data center hosting and colocation services business. Over the years, the company has grown organically and through acquisition into a premier multi-cloud solutions provider with a comprehensive portfolio including robust data protection, security and colocation offerings. Today OTAVA serves a wide range of enterprise and channel partners delivering secure multi-cloud, business resilience, intelligence and insights, as well as colocation solutions powered by world-class technology partners. Unlike most cloud solution providers, OTAVA is offering on providing the expertise, high-touch consultation, and customization that will empower customers to thrive in the cloud.

In conversation with TJ Houske, Senior Vice President of Technology, Operations and Engineering of OTAVA

Q. What are the solutions provided by OTAVA?

OTAVA provides purpose-built secure and compliant multi and hybrid cloud solutions as well as data protection, security and colocation services. Our cloud portfolio is designed to give companies the power to reach their greatest potential and redefine what’s possible. OTAVA Cloud is built on VMware Cloud Director. With self-service or managed provisioning of cloud resources, customers can easily create and deploy service blueprints, configure network services and manage workloads between virtual data centers all through a single interface. Cloud offerings are fully customizable and coupled with exceptional high-touch consultation every step of the way.

OTAVA’s broad data protection portfolio spans disaster recovery and backup solutions. For business-critical protection OTAVA’s DRaaS powered by Zerto managed solution offers near zero RTO. DRaaS powered by VMware is ideal for business-important workloads offering a combination of self-serve snapshot and replication options. Backup solutions include both managed and self-managed cloud backup, cloud connect repositories and MS365 backup. As a Veeam Platinum Partner, OTAVA’s backup technology is best-of-breed and backed by certified experts.

Q. What were some of the challenges OTAVA has faced over the years? How has the company overcome these challenges?

As OTAVA continues to grow through acquisition, unique challenges are presented when integrating businesses and product lines that require added time, cycles, and human ingenuity. OTAVA has approached this process in 2022 by bringing in consultants to facilitate integration efforts and also by ensuring proper alignment of resources within the organization. We have gone through infrastructure consolation, product evolution, and a brand refresh.

Q. What is the vision of the company? What are the values OTAVA adheres to?

At OTAVA we have four core beliefs. 1) Empowering people so they can exceed their goals and maximize positive impact on their lives or businesses. 2) The smartest solutions are uncovered through collaboration and understanding. 3) One size does not fit all and canned or automated solutions are not a substitute for human ingenuity and expertise. 4) Acting with authenticity and integrity creates an environment of personal and professional growth. These beliefs are directly derived from our core values which are: People first; act with integrity; be authentic; and we win together. All of this translates into how we approach our business and serve our customers. Our culture of service is aligned with the internal belief that silos should be eliminated in favor of understanding that beyond serving our customers, our teams have a responsibility to serve each other. OTAVA will continue to innovate as technology progresses to support our customers’ needs. And we will continue to differentiate OTAVA from others in the market by ensuring that all solutions are purpose built to ensure each client receives a solution directly tailored to their needs.

Q. How does OTAVA enable companies to pursue their boldest transformation ambitions? Can you give a few examples?

OTAVA is a leader in multi-cloud solutions, empowering our customers to reach their full potential. Our team of experts does this by listening, understanding, and supporting their unique challenges so that all of our solutions are purpose-built for each individual need. When we listen to our customers, we understand where they are and can see it from their position. This is important because something that may not seem obvious may in fact be urgent to our customer. At OTAVA we are proactive in our approach, thinking about each business and designing solutions to take our customers to the next level. Being potential focused means that we can help customers achieve their transformation goals. Many clients will start with a small backup investment and evolve to an entire suite of OTAVA services.

Q. Can you explain how OTAVA’s data centers and cloud nodes protect user data and are accessible worldwide?

For businesses and service providers that need colocation services, OTAVA operates compliant data centers across the US and in the UK that feature high-availability, low latency, and global connectivity. Redundancy is paramount with multiple power sources, diverse fiber paths, and diverse top-tier network providers to help support and protect its customers’ mission-critical applications. And with compliance and security baked into every layer of our environment and solutions, customers can put their trust in our data centers that are independently certified compliant with industry standards including SOC (SSAE 18/SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3), HIPAA, HITECH, PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, and HITRUST. If added support is required, we offer managed services and remote hands to take on deployment, configuration, mounting, wiring, adds, changes and more.

Q. Would you like us to highlight something important happening in your company that we may have missed asking?

Today’s technology landscape is driving more automation and orchestration, and less people. As an organization, we continue to innovate at every turn. We are always evolving our product portfolio and enhancing our partner program to better serve the current needs of our customers and the channel. For example, recently we began offering a Managed Azure Cloud service that gives businesses the ability to rely on us to fully manage the complexities of Azure and public cloud infrastructure, so that they can stay focused on their core competencies. Also in 2022, we doubled the capacity in one of our main data centers to meet the growing demand for colocation and hosting services. Ultimately, OTAVA is enabling automation with the intelligence of people. We believe that success requires both the advancements of automated technology and the creative element of human experience. Trusted relationships that deliver the right application of orchestration will put businesses on the best course for the future.

Meet OTAVA’s Technology, Operations, and Engineering Leader

TJ Houske is OTAVA’s Senior Vice President of Technology, Operations and Engineering. He is a coach and professional mentor with 25 years of experience in senior and executive leadership roles in engineering, architecture, security, and strategic business development. TJ leads the development of OTAVA’s hybrid and multi-cloud solutions and is on a mission to help service providers and enterprises be successful in cloud environments. He is a John C. Maxwell certified educator and holds a bachelor's Degree in Organizational Studies and Business from Arizona State University. TJ is currently completing an MBA with emphasis in Marketing & Strategic Leadership as well as a Masters of Finance from the University of Cincinnati.