Gary Zimmerman, recruited by Roberts from SBC Communications Inc. to become vice president of engineering at Savvis in November 1995, built out Robert's first national network design. The original network design was unique within the industry at the time it became fully operational, and there was significant coverage and discussion in the trade press regarding both the network and its architect, Roberts. In 2001, the last year in which Robert's original design was in use, Savvis was ranked the #1 fastest Backbone Network by Keynote Systems, an independent network ratings service.