Schneider Electric to address Data Center Talent Shortage

The professional development platform addresses the data center sector skills gap, helping industry stakeholders to upskill and stay up-to-date with the latest technology, sustainability, and energy efficiency initiatives affecting the sector.

To-date, Schneider Electric University has delivered more than one million courses to over 650,000 data center users, with +180 countries represented by its global user-base. The updates to the Scheider Electric University Data Center Certified Associate (DCCA) qualification include fundamentals of power, cooling, racks, and physical security, and guidance on how to optimize data center designs to drive resilience, energy efficiency and sustainability.

The latest courses include Optimizing Cooling Layouts for the Data Center; Fundamental Cabling Strategies in the Data Center; Examining Fire Protection Methods in the Data Center; and Fundamentals of Cooling II – Humidity in the Data Center.

The curriculum also addresses Data Center Site Selection and Planning, which offers guidance on how to select brown and greenfield sites for access to renewable energy; Alternative Power Generation Techologies, which helps drive the implementation of renewable energy strategies, on-site power generation and use of technologies such as microgrids; and Battery Technology for Datsa Centers, which evaluates the sustainability impact of different types of UPS batteries, the benefits of Lithium-Ion technology, and offers an analysis of the associated lifecycle costs.

According to the Uptime Institute Annual Data Center Survey 2021, staff requirements will grow globally to nearly 2.3 million in 2025. With 32% of respondents reporting difficulty in retaining staff, with 47% having difficulty finding qualified candidates for open jobs. Attracting and retaining talent within the industry, which is the heart of the digital economy, is now reaching a critical mass.

By encouraging individuals to upskill and continue their professional development for free, the Schneider Electric University is directly addressing this gap and talent shortage, helping businesses to attract, retrain both new and existing talent, and providing access to specialized technical education, everywhere.

“In the last few years data center capacity demands have grown exponentially, reaching record new highs as digitization and cloud adoption accelerates. The sector skills shortage, however, remains a significant challenge and has potential implications for other connected industries,” said Pankaj Sharma, EVP Secure Power Division. “By providing guidance on the latest technology and sustainability initiatives, we believe the Schneider Electric University offers an invaluable resource to bridge the skills gap by empowering business ecosystems, reskilling the workforce, and training the next generation of professionals to build the data centers of the future.”

Prior to its acquisition by Schneider Electric in 2006, members of the Data Center Science Center at APC, Schneider Electric’s flagship brand of battery back-up power, surge protection, and IT physical infrastructure for data centers and edge computing environments, created the ‘Data Center University’ as a free resource to train and upskill the next generation of industry professionals. Its vision was to create a CPD-accredited training curriculum that would support the professional development of industry stakeholders and prepare them to build the data centers of the future.

As ‘Schneider Electric University’, the platform has grown to offer more than 200 data center, energy efficiency and sustainability courses via two dedicated colleges, the Professional Energy Manager (PEM), and the DCCA qualification. All courses are available as self-paced, one-hour modules, in 14 different languages, offering free access to energy education, everywhere.

The university is recognized by 25 industry CPD bodies including BICSI, the Electrical Contractors Association (ECA), Engineers Ireland, and the Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP).