Schneider Electric reinforces commitment to addressing datacentre skills gap with new courses

Schneider Electric is doubling down on its commitment to helping close the datacentre industry’s well-documented skills gap by rolling out a series of updates to its sector-focused education platform.

Known as the Schneider Electric University, the online platform is free to use and provides users with access to continuing professional development (CPD) courses to expand and update their knowledge of the datacentre technology landscape, and to learn more about the latest thinking on how to build an energy-efficient and sustainable server farm.

The datacentre energy management firm said the platform has delivered over a million courses to more than 650,000 individuals from 180 countries so far, and Schneider Electric is now taking steps to expand the breadth of topics its courses cover.

To this point, users that study for a Schneider Electric University Data Center Certified Associate (DCCA) qualification will now be schooled in the fundamentals of power, cooling and how to physically secure a server farm, as well as taught how to optimise datacentre designs for resiliency, energy efficiency and sustainability.

Other additions to its portfolio of courses cover cabling strategies, datacentre layout designs, fire protection methods, cooling processes, site selection and planning, and there are study programmes focusing on energy generation and storage techniques.     

Citing research published in 2021 by datacentre resiliency think tank, the Uptime Institute, that highlighted the challenges server farm operators face when trying to retain and recruit staff, Schneider Electric said courses are its way of “directly addressing” the industry’s skills gap.

“By encouraging individuals to upskill and continue their professional development for free, the Schneider Electric University is directly addressing the datacentre industry skills gap, helping businesses to attract, retrain both new and existing talent, and providing access to specialised technical education, everywhere,” the company said in a statement.

Rob McKernan, senior vice-president of the secure power division at Schneider Electric Europe, said that with the demand for datacentre capacity showing no signs of slowing down, the negative effects of the skills gap will only become more keenly felt by operators if nothing is done to address it.

“In the past few years, datacentre capacity demands have grown exponentially, reaching record new highs as digitisation and cloud adoption accelerates. The sector skills shortage, however, remains a significant challenge and has potential implications for other connected industries,” said McKernan.

“By providing guidance on the latest technology and sustainability initiatives, we believe the Schneider Electric University offers an invaluable resource to help bridge the skills gap by empowering business ecosystems, reskilling the workforce, and training the next generation of professionals to build the datacentres of the future.”