“I can build a data center but I can’t put a shirt on properly.”

If you know this about UBX Cloud CEO Steven Panovski, you’re starting to get a pretty good idea of who is leading this company.

Steven is pretty cool for a nerd, if he does say so himself. And he does!

He’s also an insightful entrepreneur, who launched UBX Cloud in 2008 – way before most people in the industry recognized that the company’s strengths would even be needed.

“Our model in 2008 was bring the data to the user and bring the user to the data, and provide our expertise and services along with the server infrastructure – a utility-based computing model,” Steven recalls.

Under his leadership, UBX Cloud was running Citrix-based desktops back in 2008, when YouTube was barely a thing.

“We were ahead of the game when it came to those technologies and we saw people using them,” Steven says.

Of course, anyone who understands it can work with the technology. What this particular nerd valued even more was customer service. He recognized that an awful lot of tech companies can sell you gadgets and capacity, but didn’t have the slightest idea how to help people. And many of them were intentionally opposed to doing so.

“Calling Big Cloud would be the equivalent of calling Comcast because you want to have a conversation with them about your cable service. Nobody does that. It’s the seventh level of hell. And that’s by design.”

UBX Cloud, by contrast, has fun doing its work and is happy to have real conversations with customers to ensure that their needs are being met.

“We’re approachable, and we really enjoy what we’re doing. We like managing servers.”

Maybe that’s because some of his earliest experiences with technology are also some of his fondest memories. The first time he connected his 46 SX Packard Bell to a bulletin board system, back in the 1990s, it ushered in a whole new world for him.

“It was slow, very slow, but there were text-based menus and you could chat with other people in your area. Everything was connected to a beige box in someone’s house nearby, and they’re transferring files and posting chats and sending private messages to each other.”

A few people even had email addresses!

“That excitement of connecting my little beige box to other beige boxes was amazing, and when I entered my first data center three or four years later, I was instantly hooked.”

It’s turned a hobby into a profession – and ultimately into a company.

“Our staff still has that spark, and you can see it in the work we do. It’s more than just a passion.”

Steven is also a dad to two girls and a boy – who is the youngest at just under two years. When his first daughter was born, he was hoping Agents Mulder and Scully would show up at his door to explain how to parent her. They didn’t, so he and his wife had to figure it out on their own.

So far so good – both in the parenthood realm and in the professional one. Every day Steven appreciates the chance to work with his customers and his team.

As for the rumor that he has a Russian alter ego, if you ask us to confirm it, we can only reply by saying:

“Nyet!”