Apple Hires eBay Data Center Executive

Apple has hired a key data center executive from eBay to oversee the expansion of its data center operations, reports Dave Ohara over at the Green Data Center blog. Olivier Sanche will join Apple as Director of Global Data Center Operations, and will presumably oversee the operations of Apple’s new $1 billion data center in North Carolina. eBay has built a number of large (200,000 SF plus) data centers in the western United States, so Sanche has experience with super-sized facilities.

“There is no other person I can think of who could better prepare Apple for Greening the Data Center,” Dave writes. “Olivier is one of the few data center managers who uses a Mac, and he craves the moment he can drop the blackberry and switch to the iPhone.”

The move continues this year’s series of “musical chairs” moves in which leading data center executives have moved back and forth among the industry’s leading players. Earlier this year Michael Manos moved from Microsoft to Digital Realty Trust, Kevin Timmons and Dayne Sampson shifted from Yahoo to Microsoft, and now Canche has jumped from eBay to Apple.