QTS acquires former Microsoft exec during European expansion

On 6 October, the data centre provider announced a new and prestigious member of their team.

Val Walsh, who most recently served as VP of Microsoft’s Cloud Operations and Innovation team, will be bringing over 20 years of data centre experience to her new role at QTS Europe.

Walsh joins the Europe team at a transformational time for the company. OTS is investing in its European foothold by developing several data centres. These include one of the largest data centre campuses in Northumberland (UK), and planned developments across Italy, Finland, and Spain. These facilities will join a portfolio of several currently active sites in the Netherlands.

“QTS has always stood out to me for its community-led approach,” commented Walsh. I am excited to join a company that’s growing at scale and where great strides have already been made in Europe. I look forward to working closely with the team to build on that foundation and maintain the strong reputation QTS has built.”

Before QTS, Walsh spent over six years at Microsoft. In the role, she helped lead the physical infrastructure that supports Microsoft’s cloud and AI services. Alongside this, Walsh held responsibility for data centre land acquisition and development, and the growth of Microsoft’s leased platform.

The company’s leased capacity scaled 15-fold during her tenure, which helped meet the rising demand for the digital infrastructure backing the AI rush.

Prior to Microsoft, Walsh held several leadership positions at Digital Realty over the course of 15 years. Here, she helped to build the company’s European business and supported four major acquisitions. Her role at Digital Realty was shaped early on as it acquired Servecentric – Walsh’s first employer – at the beginning of her career.

QTS’ European expansion efforts have already been felt this year. The provider made headlines in March through its partnership with Zayo Europe, as the pair confirmed that the site would link directly into Zayo Europe’s UK fibre network.

In doing so, the Northumberland facility would efficiently connect London, Manchester, Newcastle, and Edinburgh – some of the UK’s major business hubs – with Europe.