To the Cloud and Back
By Robin Sutton Anders
Chief Technology Officer for CloudFit, Carroll Moon
It’s OK if you’re not techy; Carroll Moon has a great analogy to explain his Lynchburg-based CloudFit company. “Imagine that you owned a grain mill 200 years ago, and you built it on a river so you could generate power from the water,” he says. “Then the government shows up and puts an electricity pole outside your building.”
That electricity doesn’t do you any good, of course, because your grain mill is already powered by the water. But what do you when it’s time to replace the water wheel? Do you decide to power your mill with electricity instead?
“That’s like the cloud,” Moon explains. “Everybody has their own water wheel—or in this case, a data center. Eventually, some companies decide they’re spending more money maintaining that than they would be if they transferred to the cloud—somebody else’s server.”
At CloudFit, Moon and his team help their clients decide what to move to the cloud and when to move it. “And then, most importantly,” he says, “we help people run it once it’s there so their information is protected.”
Carroll Moon and CloudFit staff
Along with five of his then-Microsoft colleagues, Moon founded CloudFit almost four years ago. Today, their clients range from organizations with 30 people to a company with more than a million employees. “We work with every industry and vertical, from financial and health care companies to nuclear energy to the Department of Defense,” Moon says. “People think it’s really fast to be servicing Fortune 500 companies, but really, our work is just a continuation of the knowledge and skills we developed working for Microsoft for decades.”
CloudFit has 170 full-time employees that live in 33 states. Those employees regularly make the decision to move to Lynchburg.
Moon, who was born and raised here, isn’t surprised that so many of his colleagues choose to make Lynchburg their home. “The cost of living is great. People are kind and family oriented. The city is not too big, and not too small. And it’s beautiful here,” he says.
CloudFit staff meet on the rooftop of the renovated Carter Glass Building
From a business perspective, Moon also appreciates the city’s talent pool. “I call it ‘blue-collar brilliance’—a unique combination of smart people who have a great work ethic,” he says. “It’s been that way a long time. We have a lot of people at CloudFit whose grandparents worked for Lynchburg’s nuclear industry. For decades and decades, Lynchburg has been one of the top engineering-per-capita cities in the nation.”
When Moon was in the early stages of planning CloudFit’s headquarters building, he made the decision to restore a downtown building adjacent to the Monument Terrace memorial. “It probably would have been more affordable to buy land outside the city and build our headquarters from scratch, but we’re proud to bring new life to a space that’s close to such an important landmark for our city,” Moon says. CloudFit worked closely with the City’s Office of Economic Development & Tourism and the Economic Development Authority to acquire and renovate its headquarters.
The Renovated Carter Glass building houses CloudFit, located on Church Street in Downtown Lynchburg
CloudFit gives back to Lynchburg in other ways, too. Moon started two nonprofits, KidFit and JobFit, that reach people of all ages in his community.
“KidFit is all about providing hope and opportunities to children through sports and athletics,” Moon explains. “For me, it’s not even about sports as much as it is about using sports to teach team work and grit. I want kids—whether they’re rich or poor, we don’t ask—to have access to good coaches and mentors.” At KidFit, nobody pays to go to a facility that trains young athletes two to six days a week and funds travel teams.
Moon’s second nonprofit, JobFit, has a mission to offer hope and opportunities to adults who have an interest in IT careers. JobFit connects high school and college students with paid internships. “My first job off the farm was a janitor,” remembers Moon. “If somebody had offered me an unpaid IT internship, I couldn’t have taken it because I needed the money. I’m proud that we can give people these chances. Through CloudFit, I really want to make a positive impact on this region.”
Throughout their tech careers, Moon and many of his colleagues have lived in big cities all over the country. In Lynchburg, they’ve discovered an unmatched sense of connectedness and teamwork. “In other places, companies tend to be combative, driven by a lot of fear and uncertainty and doubt,” he says.
But here, he adds, businesses work together for the good of the city. “I can pick up the phone and call another Lynchburg-owned business, no matter how big or small, and they will take my call. It’s a collaboration. People help each other and are excited to do it.”