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Baby boom or bust? The data centre industry must innovate or die

What do the likes of Coca Cola, Nestle and Microsoft have in common?

Not only have they survived many decades, they’ve also been successful at transcending generations. Their products or services are quite simple, yet through education, branding, refreshed messaging, and continuous graduate recruitment, they never fail to innovate.

These companies know that to continue their legacy, the answer ultimately lies in fresh talent. Generations have passed, yet the passion for the brand continues, stronger than ever.

Having worked in the data centre profession for many years, I am absolutely passionate about this industry and believe it’s time the next generation understand how the modern day is underpinned by the expertise and experience of current datacentre industry personnel.

The data centre industry has come a long way, as guardians of the world’s precious information, but it has further to go. We cannot afford to sit back and be complacent. The only way we can move forward is for the experienced data centre personnel to hand over the reins, but to whom? We need to find apprentices for this knowledge of technology to be transferred and nurtured.

My experience of launching our company to the international market has abruptly brought this reality home with some force. As a company we’re trying to offer something different to the PDU market, but we have been astounded by the degree of lethargy at the prospect of breaking the mould. Why all the resistance and where is the energy needed to move forward?

I absolutely value and appreciate what the current generation has given us but we must also look to the future and work out how to protect it and this will only come from motivating the next generation.

From what I have seen, there is no regeneration and there is no natural replenishment amongst the workforce. No one can deny the gravitational and cultural pull of organisations like Facebook, Amazon and Google and it does seem that the next generation is being lured by the bright and inviting lights of these companies. What they do not realise, however, is while these organisations can indeed seem interesting and exciting, the data centre industry is just as attractive.

Everyday life always relates back to the operations within the data centre but only a few understand the relevance of data centres to this modern age technology demand. The every day now revolves around social media, Google and online shopping and the reason we have these is because the current generation had the passion to launch it; a passion which we must continue.

Similarly, the iPods, laptops and smart phones we all use to explore the world are powered by data centres. Not only the obvious devices, but also the daily luxuries we overlook and just ‘expect’ to work. Take for example Google. With the well known phrase ‘Google it’ used every day, it’s clear that it is the go-to search engine across the world. It is relied upon by people of all backgrounds; school children, university students, employees or just the enquiring mind. But before the images of the company’s data centre were released, how many people had even thought about Google’s data centre or even knew it existed?

It is crucial that we put ourselves first as an industry and educate the next generation of these very examples. The data centre industry itself must innovate; it must attract the talent to serve the demand of an ‘online’ generation. Only through education can we nurture the next generation of talent with a willingness to understand new thought and make progress.

The data centre is responsible for a staggering two per cent of GDP worldwide. So we must not underestimate the value of our contribution to the overall global economy but must instead match this with investment in talent and new technology.

Old habits die hard – but we mustn’t accept this. The next generation will own the problems the data centre industry currently has; the same generation which is currently at university, not even contemplating a career in the industry. Instead we must take the trusted habits and re-evaluate them to really make a difference to how we operate, now and in the future. Only then will tradition be relevant.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Eddie Desouza .