Tight security is critical in Janice
Fetzer's world. Twenty-four hour guards
monitor her workplace behind bulletproof
walls and windows, and Fetzer can't
enter the central operations without letting
a biometric hand reader scan her
palm. The reader detects not just the
shape of her hand, but also its warmth, so
evil imposters can't cut off her arm and
use it to get in.
No, Fetzer is not a top-secret government
agent.
She runs Redundant Networks, a Reno
high-tech company that provides computer
network services. The outfit hosts customers'
computer data and provides a reliable
network so they never lose information
or money from downtime.
The business is aptly named because
every critical component has a redundant
backup. The company manages two data
centers, one in Raleigh, N.C., and one in
Reno, and each has two of everything
two long-distance carriers, two local
telecommunications carriers, two electricity
sources. Security is tight so the data
flow is never disrupted and information
never falls into the wrong hands.
Inside, the data center looks like a
high-tech jail from a sci-fi paperback.
Rows of black metal cages containing
computer servers line the floor. A 30-ton
cooling unit constantly pumps in air to
keep the equipment from over-heating,
and the place hums with electronic activity
as millions of bits of information flow
in and out every second.
The company recruited Fetzer in 2001
to oversee construction of the data centers
and to get the network operating. The
board appointed her chief operating officer
the following year when the former
CEO left.
Fetzer brought a wealth of experience
in data centers and network security.
She worked for Exodus
Communications Inc. during
the high-tech heyday of the late
1990s, overseeing construction
of dozens of huge data centers
all over the world. The data
hosting industry then was
brand new, and companies such
as Exodus invented how to provide
secure backup systems.
"Janice was in the middle of
the entire Silicon Valley boom,"
says David Dehls, managing
partner of ClearVision
Consulting Group and a
Redundant Networks board
member. "To attract someone
like that to a Reno-based startup
was a real coup."
Exodus got caught in the
dot-com bomb and telecom
recession and failed financially,
along with most of its competitors.
Now new companies, such
as Redundant Networks are rising
from the industry's ashes.
Redundant positions itself as a
nimble, customer-friendly boutique
firm.
Fetzer says keys for making
the company thrive in today's
market are sticking to the business
plan, pricing services
appropriately and managing
growth. Industry pioneers such
as Exodus failed because they
tried to keep up with wild customer
demand and grew too
fast. Redundant's goal is to turn
a profit by fourth quarter 2004.
Fetzer didn't start out in
technology. After college, she
taught physical education. Then
after her four daughters were
born and she and her family
had moved to California, she
went back to work and took a
job in the facilities department
at Intel Corp. It was a big
switch from teaching school
kids to play ball, but the job fit.
"I like buildings," she says simply.
Her dad had worked in
construction, and Fetzer and
her husband had built houses.
Few women at that time
worked in facilities, but Fetzer
says the career is a natural for
women because it requires close
attention to detail and customer
service.
She went on to high-level
facilities and security jobs at
3Com, and Apple Computer,
then made the leap to Exodus.
"I went from cubicles to data
centers," she says. The new job
was a jump in complexity,
requiring the mastery of complex
mechanical systems, and in
intensity. "I never worked less
than 14 hours a day, and in 13
months, I traveled 300,000
miles. It was crazy, but it never
occurred to me not to do it."
Fetzer had never thought
she would leave the Bay Area,
but the challenge of helping
start up Redundant Networks
beckoned. Now, she says, she
loves living here, and she's
excited about the region's
future. She and Judi Gardner,
senior manager for worldwide
operations at Cisco Systems in
Reno, started an economic
development group to address
how to create a ripe environment
for technology companies
to locate and thrive here. The
Technology Action Group
started as an informal effort,
and has since grown to about
80 members. The key word in
the group name is "action"
Gardner says, which is really
what Fetzer is all about. "With
Janice it's about making things
happen."
Dehls, also a member of the
group, says Fetzer has both
drive and vision. "This area is
much better off with her."
