IO, Phoenix-based data center provider, has put IBM’s Aaron Peterson in charge of its product strategy.

IO has a relatively unique product portfolio, offering colocation either within traditional data center space or within its home-grown pre-fabricated modules. Peterson’s new role is an important one within the company, as its competitiveness and market visibility relies heavily on the uniqueness of its offerings.

“IO has strategically aligned its products and services with the demanding enterprise infrastructure needs of the global marketplace, and developed the premier modular technology,” Peterson said.

Peterson ended up at IBM in 2010, when Big Blue bought his previous employer Initiate Systems, a data management company. At IBM, he worked in software technical sales.

His resume also includes past positions at Acxiom, a technology and marketing services firm, and Accenture, an IT consulting and outsourcing services provider.

In addition to colocation at its own data centers, IO offers to either sell or lease a customer its data center modules, called IO Anywhere, to be deployed anywhere the customer chooses.

Customer infrastructure at IO data centers is managed by the company’s own data center management system called IO OS. The firm also sells IO OS as a stand-alone data center infrastructure management (DCIM) solution.

IO CEO George Slessman has made a controversial prediction that the world will not see another custom-designed data center built after May 2013. They will be replaced by pre-fabricated standardized data center modules, he said.