Rubrik and University of Kansas to launch Rubrik Center for Excellence

Rubrik, a Cloud Data Management Company headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., is partnering with Lawrence’s Bioscience & Technology Business Center (BTBC) at the University of Kansas to launch a new center that will create highly-skilled technology jobs in Kansas. “I’m excited that I can tell my customers that a lot of their calls are not…

Rendering of BTBC at full buildout courtesy of Gould Evans

Rubrik, a Cloud Data Management Company headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., is partnering with Lawrence’s Bioscience & Technology Business Center (BTBC) at the University of Kansas to launch a new center that will create highly-skilled technology jobs in Kansas.

“I’m excited that I can tell my customers that a lot of their calls are not going far. They’re going to Lawrence, Kansas […] to a highly skilled staff,” said Gerry Garwood, Rubrik regional sales manager for Kansas and Missouri. “It means something to people that their support calls are staying in the midwest and going right down the road”

Phase one of the Rubrik Center for Excellence opened in March at an incubator space within the BTBC. The Rubrik Center for Excellence will house a data center technology lab and technical support facility with locally recruited staff.

These new Rubrik technical staff members will focus on the emerging high-growth areas of software-defined infrastructure and cloud. Rubrik plans to hire up to 20 engineers this year to compromise a call center and work in the Center for Excellence.

“We are thrilled to establish the Rubrik Center for Excellence, which will serve the greater Kansas City metropolitan area and provide support to our global customer base that spans more than 25 countries across five continents,” said Garwood. “Inspired by the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, we expect the Rubrik Center for Excellence adjacent to the University of Kansas in Lawrence to become a hub for research, innovation and training in the Midwest.”

Housing the Rubrik’s Center for Excellence within Lawrence’s Bioscience & Technology Business Center is part of a larger plan, according to BTBC President GR Underwood.

“The Rubrik Center for Excellence is a key centerpiece of our plan to create and build a Bioscience and Technology Business Park that will unite private industry, academia, local researchers, and entrepreneurs — all right here in Lawrence,” Underwood said. “BTBC’s mission is to help form and grow successful tech businesses that deliver wealth and jobs to the local economy, and we plan to accomplish that by bringing talent, facilities, and business support together in one location.”

Garwood says that Rubrik’s hires train not only on Rubrik’s technologies, but also on various other technologies that work alongside Rubrik like VMWare, Microsoft, and more. Right now the center is focused on supporting their customer base but over time, this could be a potential source of support for Lawrence’s tech-talent pipeline.

“[As far as] the opportunities for [people] to come in and get solid training and really kickstart their careers, the sky’s the limit,” said Garwood.

Garwood says he would also be happy to see the Rubrik Center for Excellence grow into a place where people can learn more about Rubrik and their business developments, and customers can visit and see Rubrik’s approach to customer service firsthand.

“We feel like the support experience is part of investment you make when you buy a technology,” said Garwood. “I think the fact that we’re investing and providing that post-sale experience is exciting, certainly for me, but also for our customers.”

Christine McGuigan is the Associate Editor of Silicon Prairie News.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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