Microsoft’s general manager for data center operations Kevin Timmons has left, and according to media reports, is headed to Apple.
Microsoft CVP of Global Foundation Services Dayne Samson, in a statement issued today, said: "Kevin Timmons, general manager of Datacenter Services, has decided to pursue other career opportunities and is no longer working at Microsoft. We appreciate the contributions he made to Microsoft during his time here."
In a report on Data Center Knowledge, Rich Miller said Timmons "is expected to take a leadership position at Apple".
Apple has already confirmed it is building new cloud-based services. It is also finishing a new 500,000 sq ft data center in North Carolina, which analysts say could be used for new media streaming services, including its iTunes music player.
It has also recently posted for cloud positions on its employment website. Only recently its head of data centers Olivier Sanche passed away, leaving its top position open.
Timmons is a strong proponent of the modular data center. At DCD New York in 2010 he revealed his design for Microsoft's data center ITPAC.
In a recent interview with
DatacenterDynamics he said "the way we design, construct and operate our latest data centers is very different from the way we conducted business just a few short years ago".
It is this approach that has led to Timmon’s strong reputation in the industry.
"Our newer modular data centers allow us to significantly reduce capital costs and cut construction time by nearly 50%. These designs also allow us to scale much more quickly based on demand. This strong investment in research and development has led to advances in environmental sustainability and more energy efficiency data centers."
Before working as a general manager at Microsoft, Timmons was a VP of operations at Yahoo!, and a director of operations at GeoCities and software engineer at Maconi Dynamics, working with the defence and space industry.
<div style="text-align:" justify;"=""> In his interview with DatacenterDynamics, Timmons said he was strongly influenced by Yahoo! co-founder David Filo.
"Before coming to Microsoft I worked at Yahoo! for 13 years and had the opportunity to interact with Filo on a daily basis. He is one of the best operations guys that I’ve ever met."
Tying in with the apple rumour mill, he also gave a strong push towards his interest in the provision of data center services, saying: "The ability for applications to move seamlessly in and out of geographic locations has the most impact on how we will design and operate future data centers".
