Meet Terrance Bush, Chief Information Officer

Terrance Bush is the Chief Information Officer at FastServers.Net. He is amazing at giving tours of the Cedar Falls, IA data center. We know this first hand as several new employees took a guided tour by Mr. Bush before the 2006 Christmas party. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Row after row of racks, stacked with DELL PowerEdge servers, Cisco Routers, Switches, and a well-organized network of cables, Terrance told the new employees every detail they could possibly want to know about the facility. The group consisted of just under a dozen people. And you should have heard the questions being asked. If Terrance is that good with employees, imagine how he is with customers. His knowledge of the network, servers, and the facility make it worth taking a tour. Now keep in mind that Terrance used to play college football for Illinois State University, so don't touch anything in the data center. Trust us, don't touch anything. We've tried it and it doesn't work too well. Want to know why?

Terrance played both offensive and defensive tackle in high school and college. "It was extremely painful playing football at the college level. At that level, it is completely different than playing in high school," he said. "Playing high school football meant fun, growth, learning experiences, and having a good time with your teammates. But in college, the entire psyche changes as most of your teammates are playing for potential careers. I prefer the old high school days!" said Terrance. Don't let him fool you with talk about it being painful. Just try to touch one of those cables or servers in the data center and see what happens. As nice as Terrance is, he won't let you get away with it!

Terrance is MCSE certified, so we asked him to tell us his opinion on Linux. "Linux reminds me a great deal of Microsoft Windows NT back when the MCSE meant something. In 1996/1997, Windows NT was the Padawan and Novell was the Master," he said. "Now I look at Linux in the same light as the apprentice. It has a lot of growing up to do, but the premise or foundation for Linux is set to really take off in the near future," said Terrance.

Having been with FastServers.Net since 2000, Terrance has nothing but positive things to say about the company. "To me, FastServers.Net is a legacy. I have been a part of a lot of businesses in my career, but FastServers.Net is the only one that has me addicted," he said. Terrance remembers where the company was seven years ago when he started. "When I look back at the fall of 2000 when I stepped into the Main Street office, to where we are now, I can only imagine what the next five years will bring. This has become my legacy. It has been an incredible experience that I want to continue to persevere for a long, long time." His previous jobs include senior positions at Fortune 500 companies such as AT&T and StockPoint (now a division of CBS MarketWatch). Clearly he has enough experience in the corporate world to be able to compare it to FastServers.Net.

"The corporate world is a unique experience that takes a great deal of patience to accept. The biggest issue with the corporate world is the burden of too much structure, too many policies, and way too many procedures that duplicate the process," he said. He continued to tell us about the added layers and additional time it takes to complete projects in the corporate world. "In the corporate world, checks and balances are a requirement, but such a plethora of layers is not needed. Working on projects in a corporate environment can take up to six months, or longer, which makes your overall staff and team stagnant when it comes to overall technological advancements," said Terrance. He also told us that a six month "corporate" project can easily be trimmed to a 2-3 week timeframe. That's what makes FastServers.Net different - no red tape, just brilliant people building and implementing brilliant ideas - and doing it fast.

Like most other FastServers.Net employees, Terrance is a fanatical sports fan. His favorite baseball teams are straight out of Chicago. "I was born and raised in Chi-town, so my heart is with both the Cubs and the White Sox. However, I am a Cubs fan 4EVAH!" said Terrance. We asked him to name his favorite player from any of the teams. "Actually, I have two favorite players - Ron Kittle and Jody Davis! JODY! JODY DAVIS! RIP Harry," he said with utter excitement. As you can see, Terrance is a big time baseball fan. He also enjoys golf. His favorite golfer - "I would probably have to tip my hat to Greg Norman. I mean Tiger is the MAN, but I look for a little bit more realism in a player, know what I mean?" he said.

Not only does Terrance watch golf, he also tries to play a few rounds every once and a while. His favorite challengers are Shane Reisner and Aaron "AP" Phillips. We forced it out of him to give up his score. "Well, since I'm not drinking right now, my golf score would probably be 110 on 18 holes; if there are no trees then I will shoot 90s or low 100s," he said. He claims he's not trying to get on the tour, rather it is the experience and just having fun that drives him to play the game. "Playing golf with Shane and Aaron is like an episode of Seinfeld. Shane just destroys the ball and Aaron is just chopping down trees. Toss alcohol in the mix…truly, you don't want to invite us to a private country club as your membership will be revoked!" said Terrance. Imagining this scenario is just too funny. If you knew all three of these characters, you too would understand why just imagining this scenario makes you laugh and laugh some more.

Terrance is an avid traveler. He's been to all the US states, Canada, Mexico, and the Bahamas. "I want to visit Europe fo' sho'…however, I think it is vital that I get down to Louisiana and do what I can there for the victims of Katrina. My family is from Alexandria, LA, so I owe them some blood and sweat. I have already given up enough tears," he said. Before he takes off on another adventure somewhere, be it to Europe or Louisiana, he's probably planning on taking your money. That is if you like to gamble.

An anonymous source told us that Terrance will take your money in a game of pool. We had ask Terrance if he has ever taken money from a FastServers.Net employee. "I have never taken a dime from a FastServers.Net employee. Well, that is while shooting pool, but I have during many other gambling venues," he said. "Some have witnessed me doing the duty on others, but FastServers.Net employees are like family, and you can't cheat your family out of money. Heck, I even let Travis win so he can feel good about himself," said Terrance. Again, how funny is that. Letting Travis win so he can build his confidence. We think it's hilarious, but keep on doing it Terrance. Make us laugh.