TRAINING & SKILLS
Just as an example, if you’re an electrical engineer then
you’ll be currently (hopefully) familiar with electrical design
requirements, understand Tier/Rating requirements and
have a good grasp on various UPS, battery and generator
technologies. However, for the future, you really need
to start understanding more about sustainable energy
sources such as solar, wind and others. Energy storage
and distribution are changing as well, with current new
technologies such as Lithium-Ion, nickel/metal hydride,
flywheel, digital electricity, PoE developments and new DC-
based power models to name a few.
Once you’ve identified which technologies are relevant,
you’ll have to start putting a plan together to get yourself
up to speed. There are many options ranging from formal
education, industry-based certification courses and, of
course, various reading material from sources which
might include industry research documents as well as
information from vendors. Getting multiple perspectives
is always important to get a general overview. Vendor-
based information always needs to be seen a bit from the
angle that they might be favourable to solutions they sell,
therefore it’s good to get the perspective from multiple
vendors. If you could spend 30-60 minutes a day on one
topic, and you do that for a month, you could become an
expert in a short space of time.
Make an appointment with yourself!
The fact is that most individuals don’t take the action
outlined above. We’re all caught up in this constant battle
of finding time. Work pressure is substantial in the data
centre industry, and its often hard enough to balance work
and personal life. However, there’s no excuse for not being
able to take some time out to educate yourself to get
ready for the future. There’s a simple thing that I call the
‘make an appointment with yourself routine’.
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"Anyone working in the data centre industry
has to start looking critically at their current
job role and consider how it might change.
It all starts by looking at trends in the
industry"
Picture this; you’re working hard, but the boss comes in
and tells you that next week you need to fly to location
XYZ and work on a project there. So, what happens is that
you now drop your current work, re-prioritise activities and
start packing for next week’s trip as you’ll be away for a
week. So why can’t you be your own boss? Why can’t you
ask yourself to take one week out of the 52 weeks you have
in a year and dedicate that week to go on a course, lock
yourself up, or whatever is needed to truly spend time for
yourself to ensure you’ll have a job in the future. It will be
the best week you spend on yourself making sure you’ll
have a job in the future and not get left behind. n
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