About Smart Lockers & data centers: interview with Marco Calculli, Global Process Owner at Data4Group
- 18 July 2023
- Elena Federici
Our daily lives are increasingly intertwined with resources found on the web, in what we commonly call the “cloud,” where we store our photos, work documents, etc.
Behind this conventional name, however, which evokes lightness and intangibility, are a series of complex and technologically advanced facilities known as “data centers,” which house the computers we interact with every day.
One of the leading European players in this field is Data4Group, which has financed, designed, and built – and then managed – as many as 25 data centers in France, Italy, Spain, and Luxembourg.
This is an activity that requires major attention, first and foremost to service continuity, as we are used to being able to access cloud resources at all times, but immediately to follow energy efficiency, as computers consume a lot of energy and managing thousands or tens of thousands of them requires considerable effort and considerable expertise.
Animating the day-to-day operations of Data4Group’s data centers is a major hustle and bustle of people, including insiders and vendors-they are for all intents and purposes campuses, with all the complexity that comes with it.
Among the people who design and manage this complexity is Marco Calculli, Change Global Process Owner at Data4Group.
With the two of us having worked together, we had the opportunity to interview him to learn more about his role as facility manager in such a challenging reality.
Marco, thank you for your time and availability, let’s start with your role: what does it mean to be a Global Process Owner manager today, in a reality like yours?
Business processes in a reality like ours represent an important element for the growth of the company. The creation and implementation of processes are meant to help the various departments in achieving their goals and sometimes even exceeding them. It is an exciting role that poses many challenges, especially as change involves all employees.
Increasingly, digital is playing a role in our businesses, changing the way we work-how is it changing you?
Digital is positively changing our reality and that of our clients. Scalability, and speed in finding information are some of the aspects that have been most affected by digital transformation. The transformation is not over yet and there will still be huge changes in the future.
How did the idea of introducing a smart locker in the company come about?
The idea came from the need to offer a service to customers and employees that was easy to use, secure, and without impacting the day-to-day activities of reception and security. Delivery volumes were becoming really big and the workload was about to become almost unsustainable, especially during key periods like Black Fridays.
What feedback have you had from the introduction of this resource into the company?
Positive feedback is dictated mainly by the ease of use. Less workload, more security, and greater traceability. The most “difficult” part has been related to the training of couriers who are not always used to locker delivery. The difficulties were only initial; now the process is fully functional.
Welfare in the company is important to Data4Group, and just to improve it you brought another locker into the company, right? Tell us more about it.
Corporate welfare is always at the heart of Data4, the locker service offers employees the opportunity to receive shipments or do their shopping in the refrigerated locker, without any impact on security or reception. This provides a better work/life balance, all products are received securely with significant time savings, for example, avoiding lines at the post office or supermarket.
Can we say together that smart lockers are a great resource to help facility managers in their mission?
Absolutely yes, increased security, decreased workload for security and reception. Providing employees and customers with a safe and efficient tool that is useful in day-to-day operations without the use of dedicated staff while also effectively optimizing operating costs.
We again thank Marco Calculli for giving us the opportunity to get closer to the reality of Data4Group and find out more about its complex and fascinating work.
To learn more about Data4Group and its services, the invitation is to visit their corporate website.