Herman Gamboa

Herman Gamboa has an impressive résumé. The electrical engineer is the founder and chairman of Data Center Design Corporation (DCDC), the co-founder of Systems Technology Institute College (STI College)—one of the biggest computer schools in the Philippines, and the co-founder of Systems Standards, Inc.—a remarketer for IBM products for over two decades.

Furthermore, he is the president, director, and chair of 10 additional companies servicing the computer and telecom industries, a member of the board of Canyon Woods Resort Club, and a former professor at the College of Engineering—University of the East.

One might think that he has little time for anything else; however, as Herman attests, this isn’t the case. He is unbelievably well travelled and also plays an active role in philanthropic pursuits, namely with Rotary International.

"I have been involved with Rotary for over 42 years," he says. "I was a past governor in 1989–90 and again, this is a very longstanding relationship. It is longer than my commitment with my first company, DCDC, which I founded in 1983. My assignments and activities in Rotary have been incredibly rewarding and it’s something I am very proud of."

Herman has taken on numerous positions within the organisation, everything from Editor in Chief of the Philippine Rotary Magazine in 1991 to Rotary International Training Leader at the Anaheim International Assembly in 1999 and 2000. The latter was attended by more than 500 of Rotary’s incoming governors from around the world. Also, Herman is a member of the Board of Trustees of Rotary Street Children Foundation and Rotary Home Foundation, both of which work with Gawad Kalinga and ANCOP to provide homes for poor people.

While all this is going on, Herman still manages to dedicate adequate attention to DCDC, his business venture which specialises in building data centres. DCDC works to provide the equipment and technological machinery needed to power a company’s infrastructure and enhance its capabilities. The business was created with LIEBERT (now Emerson) and TATE Access Floor as its product lines, and for the first 22 years of its life it was the only distributor of these brands. When Emerson Network Power (ENP) first opened an office in Manila, DCDC was able to further collaborate with it to put a positive mark on the industry. Through this alliance, it successfully completed a number of large-scale data centre installations; for example, in the Allied Bank building, Metro Bank, and Philamlife Tower.