The martial art form known as ‘Jujutsu’ is practiced by Sabey Data Center’s Ian Pickett at least three to four nights a week in Ephrata. Ju-jutsu can be broken down into two parts. “Ju” is a “concept” and “Justu” is the principle or “the action” part of Ju-Jutsu. It’s appropriate to assume that the data center operations technician had formulated an idea or “concept” of a career in the tech industry, and decided to take “action,” executing with enough precision to the point that it perpetuated his success as an information technology professional.
Having grown up in Grant County, the Big Bend Community College graduate says his happiness can be attributed to the local resources which allowed him to obtain the career he wanted without having to stray far.
“When I was growing up it was manufacturing positions and working on a farm. If you wanted much other than that. Chances are you would be moving away to pursue the dream.”
Ian says he saw boundless potential in ‘Cloud computing,’ something he thinks companies across all industries would be invested into, thus motivating his career move towards the data center industry.
“I decided to pursue this career for the stability in the field. Cloud computing is the future and I wanted to catch the wave while I could. It’s a path that’s fairly new to the area and it made it a lot easier to not have to move a crossed state or farther to be able to get my piece of the pie,” Ian told the Grant County Industrial Alliance.
Prior to his tenure at Sabey, Ian was his own boss as the owner of a computer and cellphone repair shop. Now, many would perceive this position of owning your own company as a luxury, but it wasn’t enough for Ian.
“I enjoy that Sabey is a small crew and my job lets me get to know something about all the roles and become well rounded in operations of a Data Center. I am not stuck to a desk 100% of the time and if I want to learn HVAC I can tag along with an engineer as well as the electrical team. Sabey promotes personal growth and I whole heartedly take advantage of this.”
Ian says he takes pride and satisfaction in the work he does for the Quincy data center.
“My role is pivotal as incident response. I am the first layer and liaison between customer and our company. I take a lot of pride in being able to help build these lasting relationships, knowing that I can be called for any questions without hesitation. I also monitor the backend of our infrastructure and make sure we are taking the necessary preventative measures.”
Ian says he’s confident that Sabey and other server farms are here to stay, because he couldn’t imagine working anywhere else.
“I love that everything is only a few hours away if I need a change of scenery. The cost of living isn’t ridiculous and I can raise my family close to home while pursuing my career in IT. There is plenty of recreational activities to do in all sorts of settings. It’s something special that we Washingtonians take for granted at times I feel.”