Doug Recker, President and Founder of Duos Edge AI in this catchup talks about Edge computing evolutions, obstacles companies face when implementing edge solutions, and more…
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Hi Doug, share more about your entrepreneurial journey at Duos Edge AI and the key experiences that have shaped its growth along the way.
After completing my active duty in the Marine Corps, I started my career by selling long-distance and fiber optic lines through door-to-door sales for multiple companies. This experience sharpened my sales abilities and instilled in me the significance of perseverance and adaptability. I thrived in this role and gained essential knowledge of the backbone fiber industry, which paved the way for my transition into the vital and ever-evolving data center field. When I built my first data center in Jacksonville, FL, we were fortunate to experience tremendous success and found ourselves needing to expand. I decided to take a modular approach to building out my second location to conserve capital while growing my business. This decision led to me learning how to take a modular approach to construction and always maintain a positive cash flow at my site. Once I knew this formula, I could deploy it anywhere with a power source and fiber. The tier 3 and 4 markets have a huge need for this technology, and I learned how to service these markets before it was even a thought in the industry. Duos Edge AI strives to continue bringing this cutting-edge technology to those markets.
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Edge computing has rapidly evolved in recent years. What major shifts do you see shaping the future of the edge data center market, especially in the context of 5G and AI?
As 5G technology rolls out globally, it will require a more distributed network architecture. Edge data centers play an important role in reducing latency and enabling real-time processing for emerging technologies like autonomous vehicles, IoT devices and augmented reality applications. Simultaneously, the rise of AI and machine learning workloads will drive demand for edge computing capabilities, since these applications often require substantial processing power closer to the data source. The convergence of these technologies are set to fuel rapid expansion in the edge data center market, which will increase the need for creative solutions to meet the rising demand.
Duos Edge AI emphasizes cost-efficiency and scalability. How do your solutions help enterprises manage their IT resources more effectively at the network edge?
Creating large data centers is expensive, often requiring hundreds of millions of dollars to build and large amounts of resources to function. Navigating the exponentially increasing demand for this technology while balancing regulations, access to necessary resources and constantly evolving standards is a challenge facing enterprises across industries. Finding innovative approaches to providing this technology to markets that need it in a sustainable and accessible manner is crucial, and that is at the crux of what we do. Duos Edge AI is set to revolutionize tier 3 and tier 4 markets by providing adaptive, versatile and streamlined edge data center solutions. Our approach will also eliminate the need for these markets to dedicate time and resources to long distance travel to access these services, which will level the playing field with tier 1 markets and unlock new opportunities for growth and development.
How does Duos Edge AI minimize latency and ensure data uptime to help enterprises optimize performance at the edge?
Duos Edge AI brings the same service and connectivity that traditional brick and mortar data centers bring to tier 3 and tier 4 markets. Our modular EDCs provide a secure data center environment in the local market as opposed to collocation facilities that are 100-600 miles away. We provide a space for multiple carriers to provide local competition and faster compute in the local markets.
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What are some of the key obstacles companies face when implementing edge solutions, and how Duos Edge AI helps overcome these barriers.
The main barriers when deploying at the edge are location access to power and access to fiber. Duos Edge AI has formed strategic partnerships with local school districts and municipalities to deliver locations that have power as well as fiber already in place. The relationships we have established overcome these obstacles in all of the markets we will deploy.
How is AI shaping the future of data center operations and edge deployments?
In data centers, AI is enhancing operational efficiency through predictive analytics, enabling real-time improvements in cooling systems, power allocation and rack space optimization and leading to reduced operational costs and improved energy efficiency. AI algorithms can also be used for predictive maintenance, spotting potential issues before they occur and reducing downtime. For edge deployments, AI is facilitating the growth of smaller, localized data centers that can process data closer to its source, reducing latency for applications like autonomous vehicles and IoT devices. AI-driven workload management helps optimize resource allocation across both centralized and edge data centers, leading to better performance and customer experience.
Looking ahead, please share five emerging trends or innovations in edge computing that you believe will significantly impact the industry soon.
As I touched on above, both Edge AI and 5G Integration are poised to make a huge impact on the industry and are already making significant waves. Edge-to-Cloud Architecture, which allows for more efficient handling of data processing and storage across a given network, is another emerging trend with a big future ahead in this industry. Finally, containerization and Edge Data Centers are also changing our industry and will continue to do so by providing flexible solutions that support edge computing capabilities.
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Mr. Recker is responsible for managing, designing, implementing, and deploying Edge Data Center Infrastructure across the US for our client sites. Doug is a renowned telecommunications industry veteran with over 25 years of proven experience successfully delivering multi-access edge data center and colocation services. He founded Edge Presence in 2017 which sold to Ubiquity in 2023 and prior to that he founded Colo5 Data Centers LLC, which was later acquired by Cologix, Inc. in 2014. Throughout his career he has achieved several accolades, including Northeast Florida’s Ultimate CEO Award by the Jacksonville Business Journal, and the owner of one of Florida’s fastest growing companies and one of Inc. Magazine 500 fastest growing companies nationwide, he was awarded the Best CEO award in 2013 by BizTech Innovations, and he was also listed in Jacksonville’s Business Journal Top 40 under 40 in 2010.
Mr. Recker is also a widely recognized thought leader, speaking at key industry events where he shares his vision, industry knowledge and overall market strategy. Prior to his success in the Data Center industry, Mr. Recker served as telecommunications expert in the fiber/telecom industry leading and supporting sales teams. Mr. Recker Served for in the United States Marine Corps where he learned the value of developing a strong team and leading those teams across his entire career.
Duos Technologies Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: DUOT), based in Jacksonville, Florida, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Duos Technologies, Inc., Duos Edge AI, Inc., and Duos Energy Corporation, designs, develops, deploys and operates intelligent technology solutions for Machine Vision and Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) applications including real-time analysis of fast-moving vehicles, Edge Data Centers and power consulting.
