Dan Sawyer's Profile

Very interesting business and write-up! It seems that Equinix has created a fantastic real estate strategy to find facilities with a great combination of adequate space, reasonable pricing, network and energy access and general accessibility. Given the high required uptime and potentially large negative implications of failures, it would be interesting to hear more about how Equinix’s employees and outside contractors are able to maintain adequate back-up to ensure server failure or replacement does not lead to apparent losses for end customers.

Regarding security, does Equinix have any concerns related to allowing third parties, such as managed services companies, to access their facilities? What safeguards does Equinix put into place to ensure their facilities are not breached, or ensure that they are not liable if a breach does occur? Does virtualization management software (i.e. software designed to allow more efficient use of server space) pose a risk to this business, or will increased colocation outgrow any server use efficiencies?

Fascinating post and great business model! I am quite impressed by ADP’s ability to maintain its mass-market payroll processing and other human resources outsourcing services while continuing to build and add on business lines and customer segments. I would be interested to learn more about how ADP has been able to penetrate the SMB market given the high cost of acquisition and relatively low product use.

How has ADP managed the process of training human resources employees to learn and use a system that is generally designed to replace their function in some way or another? I also wonder how ADP has responded to growth in new entrants focused on the most complex elements of payroll / HR (i.e. healthcare, contracting, filmmaking, etc.). Many companies view ADP’s mass market approach as a challenge to the Company’s ability to flexibly react to customer needs and roll out changes quickly. It seems ADP has shown a great ability to continue to grow and will find ways to continue to do so.

Very interesting read and quality operational model! It seems that FedEx’s continued focus on the B2B and B2C market has allowed for an ability to grow despite declines in absolute pricing. Do you believe the limited points of distribution and pick-up is key to FedEx’s ability to operate profitably given the high incremental costs of fuel and labor related to operating a larger network?

After our discussion on self-driving cars and shared mobility, it will be interesting to see if FedEx changes their model or utilizes other partners to provide greater reach and ability to serve their customers. Very interesting analysis of the batching and distribution operations model. FedEx is one of the best examples of a successful distributor.