Rob Roy

CEO & Founder at Switch

Rob Roy is CEO and Founder of Switch, developer of the world-renowned Switch data centers. Rob Roy is the recognized world leader in data center ecosystem design, development, and mission critical operations.

In the year 2000, with a background in business leadership, engineering, commercial development and technology, Rob Roy converged his areas of expertise to create Switch in Las Vegas, Nevada. His vision was to offer advanced technology ecosystems and the combined services and solutions inherent to those environments. Early clients ranged from the world’s leading enterprise and fortune 100 corporations.

Since founding Switch, inventrepreneur Rob Roy has transformed the way data center ecosystems are engineered and utilized. As the chief inventor and designer of Switch data center facilities and their technology solutions platforms, Rob Roy is widely considered the data center industry's most successful technology entrepreneur. With more than 500 issued and pending patent claims for data center systems, designs, and related industry technologies, Rob Roy's inventions and thought leadership have changed the industry landscape and created a new standard of excellence for mission critical facilities.

A key turning point for the Switch technology ecosystems occurred in 2002. Rob Roy acquired the former Enron facility in Las Vegas and tapped into a unique technology treasure – an advanced fiber optic nexus with a level of connectivity unlike anywhere else in the country. The network capacity, redundancy and reliability of the facility enabled Switch to create one of the largest technology optimization sites in the world. Through this acquisition, and with dedication and a focus on elite design and differentiation, Rob Roy created a technology environment that is unrivaled and will most likely never be replicated. It was a technology enablement opportunity of historic proportions.

In 2006, Rob Roy's vision expanded with the construction of the revolutionary SUPERNAP product. These data center ecosystems go beyond securely housing the computer, storage, and enterprise connectivity for leading global companies. These Switch data center ecosystems provide infrastructure for more than 800 corporations, including leading cloud companies, and offer below wholesale telecom prices through the $6.7+ trillion in collective buying power of Switch CONNECT®. The company continues to evolve, innovate and grow at its Switch PRIME locations for coverage across North America. Internationally, the exclusive licensee of Switch technologies, SUPERNAP International, has locations in Southern Europe and Asia Pacific.

Rob Roy is committed to paying forward the success of Switch and is passionate about enabling more diverse economies in the communities served. In 2012, he created Rob Roy’s Innevation Center, a philanthropic effort to support economic diversification and foster collaboration between Nevada change agents, entrepreneurs, business leaders and the community.

Rob Roy’s Innevation Center is a 65,000-square-foot entrepreneurial and business hub providing the resources, education and connections necessary to grow the Nevada economic landscape. Located in Las Vegas, Nevada, on the Core Campus of Switch, the Innevation offers business development resources including meeting space, economic development tools, executive suites and corporate headquarter options.

A thought leader in his industry and business, Rob Roy is actively involved with several industry and community initiatives, including being on the board of the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED). He also founded powerful economic stimulators such as The Nevada Board, NV Angels and CANVAS (California Nevada Angel Syndicate).

Through it all, Rob Roy has remained incredibly hands-on, creative and inspirational to his team and the industry. He has not only designed the largest and most unique data center ecosystems in the world, supported by a best-in-class team, but his stamp of innovation, detail and excellence can be witnessed down to the interior architecture and custom furnishings throughout Switch and Rob Roy’s Innevation Center. He has built a culture of people who possess the same dedication to innovation, detail and true technology leadership.

Timeline

  • CEO & Founder

    Current role

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