Meet Neal Marple, VP of Operations

Neal Marple, VP of Operations at FastServers.Net. He's in charge of making sure customer support and FastServers.Net facilities operations run smoothly. "We have a group of very talented server and data center technicians that work hard 24/7/365 to make all of this possible." Neal said the real challenge is keeping focus on the main objective - support FastServers.Net customers. "We work hard on this and it shows, but we also have to plan for extending beyond our capacity and capabilities in order to keep pace with our growth." The classically trained musician from Juilliard has his mind set on taking support services to the next level.

Regular university style studying was not something Neal found particularly interesting. Although he did study for a year or so at Oberlin College in Ohio, Neal decided that spending his educational time should be done at the famous and prestigious halls of Juilliard in New York City, NY. "As a music student at Juilliard, I studied the pipe organ, like the ones you see in churches. Piano was secondary for me." He said the environment at Juilliard was and still is amazing. "If you like classical music, dance, jazz, or acting, then you can imagine what it would be like to be surrounded 24/7 by the world's leading artists." Neal recalls seeing Plácido Domingo at the Met Opera (MET) one day after standing outside the opera house.

After spending time at Juilliard, Neal transitioned to technology and accepted several related jobs to supplement his near-poverty existence as a musician. Eventually he decided to make the switch full-time to technology and hasn't looked back since. "I have picked up a few skills and experience along the way and I am enjoying every minute of being in this business in addition to having the experience as a performer." Neal said taking technology jobs has changed his life in many ways, especially as the Director of Data Center Operations at TEAM Technologies in Cedar Falls, IA.

TEAM Technologies is the Midwest Data Center provider for FastServers.Net's Cedar Falls, Iowa facility. "Prior to TEAM I worked in Boston at Phase Forward. In my more than four years there I managed the production engineering group and was responsible for global hosting operations and hosting architecture." Neal will not reveal how he found his way to FastServers.Net, but he did tell us this - "Let's just say I knew a guy, who knew a guy, whose friend's cousin knew a guy. And so here I am, VP of Operations." Neal claims there is a story behind it all, but we'll leave it alone and move on and discuss his favorite movies.

Vacations were top priority during Neal's childhood. In fact, the first movie that came to mind was National Lampoon's Family Vacation and sticks out as being the most enjoyable, most ridiculous, most fun he has had watching a movie. "My family owned a Queen Family Truckster (i.e. 1980 Ford Country Squire) and the memories of family vacations gone awry in that 150hp beast of a car act as a warning for any family vacations I may try with my own kids." Neal and his family traveled everywhere in the Ford Squire from local parks in Iowa to Florida and Arkansas. "It all ended when the QFT began belching black smoke. Ford quality wasn't job #1 at that time."

An Alfred Hitchcock fan, one of Neal's favorite movies is To Catch a Thief. "Cary Grant, Grace Kelley, and the French Riviera make To Catch a Thief a spectacular movie." A second favorite of Neal's is North by Northwest. He said he is always on the lookout for rogue biplanes and large, carved reliefs of presidents. And he claims the music is terrific. Next on Neal's list of movies to watch includes Clint Eastwood's Letters of Iwo Jima and Flags of our Fathers. Currently Neal has zero time to watch television.

Classical and jazz music are Neal's favorite musical genres. "Unlike the music pouring forth from the FastServers.Net offices, classical artists such as the Berlin and Vienna philharmonic orchestras are high on the list, but you cannot beat the Chicago Symphony for sheer excitement and power." He said the best way to enjoy any music is to experience it "live," and to be surprised by a local artist, band, or orchestra. "Hit the jazz clubs in Chicago and you'll see what I mean." Neal did not comment further on his opinion of the music playing throughout the FastServers.Net offices.

Neal claims he is not a sports fanatic like most FastServers.Net employees. "I fall into the minority of sports fans at FastServers.Net in that I don't have any favorite team in baseball, football, hockey, backgammon, or yard darts. Move this conversation to tennis, golf, and child rearing and then you can call me a sports fan." Neal said his golf score is three times his age. Unfortunately he's not revealing his age today. However, he did tell us about his best and worst games. "My best game was in Breckenridge, CO, where the altitude helped me beat my average. My worst game in recent memory was in Amanas, IA, when it was 100+ degrees and we were the only foursome on the course." Watch out AP, Neal has challenged you to a round of golf and said you better prepare yourself.

During his free time Neal enjoys spending time with his family. He has a three year old and a six year old. "It's more rewarding than anything else to see them growing up and spending time with them. And they are much more entertaining than television and even my favorite movies." Neal's family away from home is the FastServers.Net family. "What was and is most attractive about FastServers.Net to me is the dedication of the staff in supporting our customers. The feedback I see from our customers is proof-positive that this is truly a great company with great services and great people."

Beyond the people involved with support at FastServers.Net, Neal said there is a real sense that continuous improvement to the company's services has helped create one of the most prominent hosting environments in the world. "The entire approach to support is very transparent, more than I've seen and experienced from your typical service provider. Problems will happen, but by working to resolve problems encountered by our customers we strive to improve our relationship and improve our service and overall performance."