Digital Realty Names David Schirmacher Senior Vice President of Technical Operations

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: DLR), a leading global wholesale datacenter provider, has named David Schirmacher Senior Vice President of Technical Operations. Schirmacher will be responsible for technical operations, uptime and reliability of Digital Realty's global portfolio of data center properties in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. He will report to Senior Vice President of Portfolio Management Dave Caron and will be based in the Metro New York region.

Schirmacher joins Digital Realty from FieldView Solutions, a venture capital- backed software company focused on driving data center operational performance, where he was a principal and the Chief Strategy Officer. Prior to FieldView Solutions, Schirmacher was Vice President, Global Head of Engineering and Critical Systems at Goldman Sachs. During his 12+ years at Goldman Sachs, Schirmacher was focused on developing data center strategy and IT infrastructure for the company's headquarters, trading floor, branch offices and data center facilities around the world. Schirmacher has also held senior executive and technical positions at Compass Management and Leasing, and Jones Lang LaSalle. Considered a thought leader within the data center industry, Schirmacher has held a leadership position at 7x24 Exchange International, served on the Technical Advisory Board of Mission Critical Magazine, and spoken widely at industry conferences.

"David is a highly respected voice in the data center industry, and we are very pleased to welcome him to the Digital Realty team as head of our global technical operations," said Dave Caron, Senior Vice President, Portfolio Management at Digital Realty. "Many people know him from his tenure at Goldman Sachs, where he led its data center strategy during a time of both tremendous growth for the company as well as significant changes in technology. He is a great addition to our organization and will play a critical role supporting our customers around the world." 

"As we continue to expand our global platform, we remain committed to maintaining our culture of operating excellence for our customers.  David shares this commitment to excellence and we are very pleased to welcome him and the wealth of experience and expertise he brings to our organization," said Michael F. Foust, Chief Executive Officer of Digital Realty.

About Digital Realty

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. focuses on delivering customer driven data center solutions by providing secure, reliable and cost effective facilities that meet each customer's unique data center needs. Digital Realty's customers include domestic and international companies across multiple industry verticals ranging from information technology and Internet enterprises, to manufacturing and financial services. Digital Realty's 98 properties, excluding three properties held as investments in unconsolidated joint ventures, comprise approximately 17.4 million square feet as of October 27, including 2.1 million square feet of space held for redevelopment. Digital Realty's portfolio is located in 31 markets throughout Europe, North America, Singapore and Australia. Additional information about Digital Realty is included in the Company Overview, which is available on the Investors page of Digital Realty's website at http://www.digitalrealty.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially, including statements related to our global technical operations. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, the following: the impact of the recent deterioration in global economic, credit and market conditions including the downgrading of the U.S. government's credit rating; current local economic conditions in our geographic markets; decreases in information technology spending, including as a result of economic slowdowns or recession; adverse economic or real estate developments in our industry or the industry sectors that we sell to (including risks relating to decreasing real estate valuations and impairment charges); our dependence upon significant tenants; bankruptcy or insolvency of a major tenant or a significant number of smaller tenants; defaults on or non-renewal of leases by tenants; our failure to obtain necessary debt and equity financing; increased interest rates and operating costs; risks associated with using debt to fund our business activities, including re-financing and interest rate risks, our failure to repay debt when due, adverse changes in our credit ratings or our breach of covenants or other terms contained in our loan facilities and agreements; financial market fluctuations; changes in foreign currency exchange rates; our inability to manage our growth effectively; difficulty acquiring or operating properties in foreign jurisdictions; our failure to successfully integrate and operate acquired or redeveloped properties; risks related to joint venture investments, including as a result of our lack of control of such investments; delays or unexpected costs in development or redevelopment of properties; decreased rental rates or increased vacancy rates; increased competition or available supply of data center space; our inability to successfully develop and lease new properties and space held for redevelopment; difficulties in identifying properties to acquire and completing acquisitions; our inability to acquire off-market properties; our inability to comply with the rules and regulations applicable to reporting companies; our failure to maintain our status as a REIT; possible adverse changes to tax laws; restrictions on our ability to engage in certain business activities; environmental uncertainties and risks related to natural disasters; losses in excess of our insurance coverage; changes in foreign laws and regulations, including those related to taxation and real estate ownership and operation; and changes in local, state and federal regulatory requirements, including changes in real estate and zoning laws and increases in real property tax rates.  For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see the reports and other filings by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010 and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2011, June 30, 2011 and September 30, 2011.  The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Digital Realty Trust, Inc.