WCA September 2019

Telecom news

Addressing the data centre skills shortage

Automation also removes the time-consuming bottleneck often involved in the change control process, which occurs when there is a request made for a new application or a change to something existing. These changes often turn into laborious processes involving multiple steps, documentation and approvals, but automation is able to eliminate the manual work and expedite the time it takes to make the necessary change. Most importantly, automation empowers data centre professionals to be proactive and build skills by focusing on more strategic initiatives. It gives them the tools to transform what’s often seen as a cost centre into a powerful asset that drives business outcomes. And beyond the satisfaction and day-to-day output of data centre professionals, automation will allow organisations to be more agile and forward-looking. Prioritise training and broadening skill sets The success of digital transformation and data centre modernisation entirely depends on the strength and intellect of the people within the walls of these enterprises. Training needs to focus on skills development for existing professionals – they need to learn new tools (software, automation, performance management, analytics) to help enrich their knowledge and extend their capabilities across functions. Data centre professionals don’t need to become programmers, but the vertical silos within the data centre are shifting to a horizontal focus with greater attention to how all the pieces tie together. In addition to providing more in-depth training to existing staff, organisations should also aim to recruit IT professionals with specialised knowledge of software and automation. Those workers may not automatically consider data centre jobs, but if businesses can create additional incentives, those skills could greatly augment current teams. Solving the skills crisis requires both technology and people DeBacker concludes that a data centre managed by teams with modern skills will become a more strategic asset, automating and empowering a modern business and providing a critical foundation for enabling an autonomous enterprise.

Writing on 20 th June for networkcomputing.com , Dan DeBacker believes the “smart use of automation and a focus on people” will allow organisations to address the impending skills shortage [“The looming skills crisis in the epicentre of your enterprise”]. DeBacker wrote that we often hear of skills shortages in “hot” fields like security or cloud or artificial intelligence, but there is another massive skills gap being largely overlooked, that if not addressed could have extraordinary consequences on the success of businesses. That skills gap lies in the very heart of your enterprise: in the data centre. Every digital transformation effort runs through the data centre. Modern enterprises need a modern data centre. But despite being the lifeblood of the business, the data centre hasn’t evolved at the same pace as the rest of the enterprise. Technology alone won’t modernise the data centre though – it takes people. According to a report from the Uptime Institute, many data centre staff simply don’t have the skills needed to modernise the data centre. They lack experience in hybrid environments, software and automation. Data centre staff are also getting older, and businesses are struggling to fill open positions. Meanwhile, the people that do have those “newer” skills aren’t joining data centre teams. See above: they’re probably being recruited to security, cloud or AI teams! This has left enterprises vulnerable in one of the most important technical functions in the business. To mitigate this skills gap, enterprises need a two-pronged approach: invest in automation and double-down on training and retaining data centre staff. Automation is not a four-letter word Embracing more automation in the enterprise may change jobs and roles, but it won’t replace the need for IT staff. Rather, it will augment and assist humans. And, ultimately, automation could be the thing to make the data centre “cool” again, because the job won’t be about memorising CLI commands or IP addresses, which feels old and archaic. Instead, automation takes the mundanity out of the equation, and it will be about streamlining the provisioning and management of the data centre. With automation, data centre professionals could potentially run the data centre on an app on their phone.

Future fight for spectrum licences

Walter Piecyk. “Sprint will be able to more easily consolidate a whopping 194MHz of contiguous mid-band spectrum and it would expand the geographic reach of Sprint’s spectrum, facilitating easier network deployment.” Sprint already has a strong incumbent position in the band, thanks to its 2013 Clearwire

Sprint – and by possible extension, T-Mobile – could score a significant victory as the FCC (Federal Com- munications Commission) prepares to open up a slice of valuable mid-band spectrum in the 2.5GHz band. “If approved, this would be a huge win for Sprint and its possible acquirer, T-Mobile,” blogged BTIG analyst

Light Reading’s Jeff Baumgartner considered future moves in the mid-band spectrum [“Sprint poised for ‘huge win’ as FCC frees up 2.5GHz spectrum”].

Illustrations: BigStockPhoto.com • Artist: Asmati

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Wire & Cable ASIA – September/October 2019

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