Who is a Data Center Expert?

A data center expert is an IT professional with an in-depth knowledge of data management facilities whose skills cut across networking, storage, computing, power, redundancy, security, compliance, as well as related businesses.

As data centers are fast becoming an important part of many business plans, it is ideal that dedicated data center professionals are consulted to aid planning and decision-making. While certification helps in identifying data center professionals, experts are known to have garnered operational experience and some of them can be found through a dedicated data center directory platform.

Facets and Functions of Data Center Experts

Data centers are sometimes alluded to be like a single entity, but they not. Data centers are made up of several technological components, featuring different facets of experts.

While some data center experts are proficient in more than one facet of data center operations, some are dedicated to a single area or facet, and this also depends on the scale or size of the facility.

Development Experts

Data center developers are experts that are focused on the development life cycle of data centers which include planning, design, construction and testing. For some modular data centers, development can be done in factories then shipped and installed at clients’ locations. 

Network Experts

With the increasing demand for uninterruptible connectivity and network centric innovations such as cloud computing, data center network experts are saddled with the responsibility of delivering super-fast and resilient network solutions that will support the intensity of data transmission across data centers, this includes interconnections within the facility, dedicated connectivity, single or multi-carrier connectivity, inter-data center  connections, as well as trans-regional connectivity such as the deployment of subsea cables and associated landing/distribution stations.

Cooling Experts

Data center cooling is a highly significant area of specialization for data center experts. Experts in this facet are proficient in providing optimal cooling technologies for data center equipment, especially for servers which is known to generate lots of heat.

Aside reducing the temperature of the data center, cooling experts carefully consider energy and other resource usage as a key factor in delivering optimal cooling solutions to data centers.

Equipment Experts

Data center equipment include servers, racks, power distribution units (PDUs), UPS and other gadgets that aids the operations and organization of the data center. Data center equipment experts are therefore responsible for the procurement, manufacture or delivery of such equipment to meet the specific need of the data center workload or operations.

The role of these set of data center expert are very crucial as they constitute the core components of an operational data center (compute, storage, network and power). Servers are the most important component of any data center and as such manufacturers are constantly rolling out more powerful and load specific products, making procurement a more expert-based activity.

Power Experts

Data center require stable and sufficient power supply which is why data center power experts are working round the clock to meet the rising demand.

With the quest for sustainability, green energy and increased capacity, the roles of data center power experts are now more complicated as they strive to provide enough, stable and efficient power solutions which includes scalability options.

Disaster Management Experts

Data is crucial and the loss of data is inestimably expensive. To avoid or optimally handle data-threatening events, disaster management experts are given the responsibility of developing, implementing and maintaining disaster management plans, which spans from natural threats such as earth quakes to man-made or malicious threats including fire, mass cyber-attack, bomb blasts, etc.

Operations Management Experts

Operations management experts are responsible for the daily running and activities of data centers which include service delivery procedures, support management, periodical schedule managements and lots more.

With the use of Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) tools, data center operations experts can keep track of data center operational components including compute usage, network, power, cooling, security, as well as climate.

Data center operations experts can also remotely deliver efficient services with use of remote-friendly data center management tools.

Business Management Experts

Data center business management experts includes those that handles internal business activities as well as those that operate or partner with data center investment companies, leading collaborations, funding, acquisitions, mergers and innovative business and finance models in the data center industry.

Compliance Experts

To sustainably and efficiently operate data centers within or across regions also require the knowledge of data center compliance experts, ensuring the implementation of industrial standards, protection of customers’ rights and adherence to regulations of host communities. Their responsibilities also include enforcement of the company’s data center commitments or pledges such as climate or resource usage pledge.