NASHVILLE, TN -- (Marketwire) -- 03/11/10 -- AFCOM, the world's leading data center association, announced today that Mike Greeney of Chevron USA has taken home the top honor in its 2010 Data Center Manager of the Year awards. With this award, AFCOM continued its 30-year tradition of supporting data center managers by presenting -- alongside premier media partner and the source for all enterprise IT news, eWEEK (www.eweek.com) -- the award on March 10 in Nashville, TN. AFCOM'S Data Center World and Expo (http://www.datacenterworld.com), the world's leading data center industry conference and two-day expo, kicked off Monday, March 8, 2010 and its "Ask The Experts" closing session will take place today.

Selected from more than 40 nominations and three finalists, Greeney is an IT veteran with more than 20 years at Chevron and has been in his current role as data center manager since 2001 when he assumed leadership of the facilities operations of one of Chevron's flagship data centers located in Houston. Recognized by Chevron's IT management for his exemplary leadership, communication and organizational skills, Mike's role expanded in April 2009; he now manages Chevron's two largest data centers, an enormous challenge that has pitted him against natural disaster Hurricane Ike, and man-made challenges such as a facility move and re-design, which included moving 76 tons of high-performance computing equipment in one weekend.

"We want to congratulate Mike Greeney on all of his outstanding achievements, and are proud to honor him with the prestigious title of 2010 Data Center Manager of the Year," said Jill Eckhaus, CEO of AFCOM. "Greeney's leadership, IT knowledge and communication skills were praised by his team during the submissions process; they told us he's the kind of leader that inspires them to always go the extra mile."

"Often times, data center managers don't get recognized until something goes wrong," said Greeney in his acceptance speech. "It's great that AFCOM's award recognizes data center managers for the positive work we do each and every day for our companies. Thank you AFCOM."

Judges who selected this year's finalists and winner included eWeek's Sr. Writer Chris Preimesberger, AFCOM CEO Jill Eckhaus and founder Leonard Eckhaus as well as previous Data Center Manager of the Year award winner Joe Soldevia of Fiora Industries, Inc. The 2010 winner was announced on Wednesday, March 10 at an evening banquet held in honor of the finalists. The evening also previewed the finalists, Joseph Perillo, Vice President, Technology Operations, MetLife and Tom Roberts, Facility Management, Trinity Information Services and their significant accomplishments in the industry. The night closed with featured entertainment by Grammy-award winning songwriting duo Mark Selby and Tia Sillers: http://www.markselby.com/tia.html

Another award given at this year's AFCOM Data Center World was a Lifetime Achievement award for Leonard Eckhaus. He founded AFCOM 30 years ago in order to give data center managers like him a trusted place where they could network with peers and get the information they need to stay current in the industry.

Editor's note: Photos of the two finalists, winner and AFCOM leaders are available by request by sending an email to lindsey@atomicpr.com. Press and analysts are invited to view event press releases and other information at: http://www.datacenterworld.com/media_newsbureau.html.

About Data Center World Conference:
Data Center World, operated by AFCOM, the world's leading 4,500-member data center association, is the industry's premier networking and educational conference, and occurs bi-annually. Thousands of data center professionals, from many of the largest corporations across all industries, government organizations, and academic institutions in the world attend Data Center World to share, discuss and learn about the latest data center trends, technologies and best practices, as well as products and services by some of the world's leading data center technology and service providers. Tradeshow Week recognizes Data Center World as one of the 50 fastest growing shows in the U.S. (2006, 2007 and 2008). For more information, visit www.datacenterworld.com

About AFCOM:
AFCOM (www.afcom.com) is a leading association supporting the educational and professional development needs of data center professionals around the globe. Established in 1980, AFCOM currently boasts more than 4,500 members and 38 chapters worldwide, and provides data center professionals with unique networking opportunities and educational forums and resources through its annual Data Center World Conferences, published magazines, regional chapters, research and hotline services, and industry alliances.