Is The Search For Talent In The Data Centre Sector A Peril Or A Prospect?
Continuing unprecedented growth in the data centre sector may be at risk due to increasing concerns around scarce resource and rising labour costs.
Amongst the 300 senior data centre professionals that took part in a survey across Europe, just over two-thirds of respondents believe that the next year will see an increase in demand, according to Business Critical Solutions.
It was also revealed that over 90% of developers and investor respondents expect to see a further expansion in their data centre portfolio over the coming year.
However, concerns are being raised by Design Engineering and Construction (DEC) respondents around general shortages amongst design, construction and operational professionals with four-fifths expressing resourcing concerns.
The survey also found that DEC respondents identified build professionals as being subject to the most serious shortages – 82% stated this view compared with 78% for design professionals and 77% for operational functionality of data centres.
Chris Roberts, Head of data centre and cloud at Goonhilly told Data Economy: “While the scarcity of talent is an issue, it is not insurmountable.
“It simply requires firms to think more carefully and creatively about resourcing and their overall project and business requirements.
“Take data scientists, for example. Right now, they are highly sought after for AI and ML and can command large salaries – however many big data projects, in reality, require more input from less expensive, more abundant data engineers.
“So it might make sense to hire a data engineer and use an external data science consultant or offshore/nearshore managed service resource to fulfil the remaining 15% of the work.
“The beauty of this approach is that it also requires firms to plan rigorously upfront and be explicit in terms of the skills required for a particular project, how to manage workloads, and the specific outcomes required.”
According to the report, when asked to rank the impact of this our respondents highlighted the increased workload placed on their existing staff (96%), rising operating/labour costs (92%) and over 80% indicating that this has led to an increase in the use of outsourcing options over the past 12 months.
“Data centre careers are too often seen as the ‘poor man’s cloud’. As mainframe skills are widely perceived as ‘yesterday’s skills’, data centre skills are often tarnished with the same brush,” said Simon Ratcliffe, Principal Consultant of Ensono and Chair of CIF’s Digital Skills Special Interest Group.
“This perception could precipitate a talent crisis in the data centre industry in the same way that we are already seeing a crisis in the mainframe industry.
“With large scale moves to cloud, many corporate data centres are either closing or reducing. Nevertheless, there will be continued demand for these skills for many years to come, and here lies the opportunity.
“There are very few directly related higher education courses and even less focus lower down in the education system.
“Smart organisations are using apprenticeships and other internal development programmes to maintain a pipeline of skills, but these are the exception rather than the norm.
“Organisations of all sizes, along with government and the education sector, need to bring this core STEM skill back into the mainstream and realise that they are very much ‘tomorrow’s skills’.
“The way these skills are taught needs to be updated and brought into the modern world; too often these ‘legacy skills’ are taught in a legacy way and that adversely affects the uptake.
“Where organisations have developed new and fresh ways of teaching these skills, they have seen great success. As an industry and a country we need to examine not only what we teach but how we teach it. This will attract the talented individuals that we need to meet ongoing demand.”
The increased workload for existing staff had, in turn, led to problems in resourcing existing work, with just over 70% stating that they had experienced difficulties in meeting deadlines or client objectives, according to Business Critical Solutions.
“At BCS we are currently doing the round of careers fairs looking for candidates for next year’s graduate and apprenticeship scheme,” said James Hart, CEO of Business Critical Solutions.
“When we are talking to these young people we often find that they either haven’t even considered our sector and/or they have misconceived ideas about what this career path involves.
“We can address this by going into universities, colleges and schools telling STEM graduates about the data centre industry and how great it is.
“Without action, this these issues will become more acute, so the rallying cry for 2020 is that the sector is an exciting place to be and we have to get out there and spread the word.”
source dataeconomy
Industry: Data Centre / Data Center
Latest Jobs
-
- VOIP / SIP App Developer. Contract. SIP | VOIP experience needed. SC Cleared Outside IR35 Contract. London
- London
- OUTSIDE IR35
-
SIP | VOIP Developer. SC Cleared Contract. London Looking for a SC Cleared SIP / VOIP Developer to develop an application that interacts with a set of voice and video signalling API’s You will also work on developing in-house applications, browser plugins and automated tooling to support secure communication systems. Responsibilities Develop an application that will manage number mapping and associated identities using commercial SBC API’s. Develop new user-facing features using React.js or other modern JavaScript frameworks. Build reusable components and front-end libraries for future use. Collaborate with the design team to translate UI/UX design wireframes into code. Work closely with backend developers to integrate front-end code with server-side logic. Conduct code reviews and provide constructive feedback to team members. Stay up-to-date on emerging technologies and industry trends to continuously improve our front-end development practices. Troubleshoot and debug issues that arise during development and in production environments. Maintain high coding standards and practices and ensure code is well-documented. Requirement Experience of developing specialist applications using REST API’s. Good knowledge of Go, Java and Python (open to alternative combinations of languages). Proficiency in front-end languages and frameworks such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React.js, etc. Strong understanding of web standards, responsive design, and cross-browser compatibility. Experience with version control systems such as Git. Knowledge of RESTful APIs and asynchronous request handling. Familiarity with UI/UX design principles and tools.
-
- Senior Data Privacy Consultant. Client Facing | London
- London
- N/A
-
Senior Data Privacy Consultant. Client Facing | London Senior Data Privacy Consultant needed for a key client facing opportunity. Must be willing to undergo SC Security Clearance. Hybrid role- onsite with customer / office 2-3 days a week. London Key Responsibilities: Lead and support client facing data privacy projects. Assess compliance, define and deliver strategic projects / implement privacy solutions. Manage project teams and develop business opportunities. Required Experience: Experience in data protection and privacy standards. Background in consulting. Skills and Qualifications: Business consulting experience IAPP Privacy Manager / Privacy Technologist Location Greater London UK based role. Not able to provide VISA sponsorship.
-
- Security Analyst - Internal role. London commutable. Permanent
- London
- N/A
-
Security Analyst - Internal role. London commutable opportunity. Operational Security - Investigate, escalate and proactively work to ensure household name remains protected. Project Security - Coordinate, log change requests with project delivery teams to meet security requirements Policy / compliance - work with team to aid in uplifting these as and where needed This role is role to investigate, escalate and proactively work to protect a globally recognised brand. You must have current hands on operational analytical security experience with Microsoft technology stack Someone with a SOC Analyst / security engineering background would be well suited. This position will join a small team and would suit someone that has broad experience across the security threat landscape. Experience / knowledge across industry GRC standards such NIST, ISO27001 etc very advantageous and a priority. You will work across multiple teams proactively working to secure the business. Must be able to commute to Central London 3 days a week. Visa sponsorship not available Apply today to find out more.
-
- Network / Security Infrastructure Engineer | West London | Permanent
- London
- N/A
-
Network / Security Infrastructure Engineer | West London | Current Config, Install, upgrade experience On prem / Datacetner experience essential. Hands on experience MUST include: Routing, Switching, Network Security (firewall, IDS etc), Microsoft exchange / Exchange 365. Scripting / automation experience wanted. Python, Powershell etc Regular travel to West London is required. Visa sponsorship not available. Apply today for more information chris.holt@dclsearch.com Use this whatapp link to reach out https://wa.me/message/6USF5RAQBOZIP1