Innovation tops list of best qualities in a Data Center team

When you’re training or expanding your data center team, there’s a good chance innovation is on the list of qualities you’re going after. If it’s not, maybe it should be, according to a recent survey by TechTarget. Innovation, along with creativity, got higher marks in 2015, compared to last year, as a way to achieve company goals.

Other top qualities include on-time project completion, improving service delivery, reliability of IT services, and meeting productivity goals. Those qualities all joined innovation as top priorities, while coming in under budget and achieving ROI (return on investments) followed innovation as a priority.

Jamie Rabenstein of Victor Community Support Services put it this way: “Without creativity and innovation, [IT pros are] going to overlook something. They could have increased server performance, bettered [service level agreements], prevented downtime. You can’t do that if you just follow.”

When building out your data center expertise, you have several options — including training existing staff, hiring new employees, or utilizing the expertise of external sources. With the needs of a data center in constant flux, it’s important to regularly assess any gaps and quickly address them. Here is a look at several options.

Internal training. If you’re relying on your existing staff to provide solutions, the team should undergo regular training in data center operations, emergency procedures, analytics and any other new developments in the industry. Without outside training, your team could be missing out on new technological developments and best practices.

Hiring new talent. While you can go this route, expect the competition for qualified talent to be intense. According to a 2015 study by CompTIA, 54 percent of IT executives from 649 companies predicted that they would have trouble finding qualified IT professionals. The study also showed that 43 percent of IT companies are understaffed. Furthermore, one in five companies said they had to postpone or cancel projects because of IT understaffing.

Outsourcing. As another alternative, CIOs can contract with an outsourcing company to gain the IT expertise that addresses gaps within the company. While hiring an outside resource can help you gain insights into new technologies, those sources also will need to be trained on your internal processes.

Whether you choose training, hiring or outsourcing, innovative and qualified IT professionals are critical to making sure that your data center is equipped to handle the changes and challenges in the industry.

At Lifeline Data Centers, we use in-house experts to provide hundreds of companies with a high level of service with electrical, HVAC, security, governance, risk management and compliance. Contact us to find out how we can help you.

Other resources:

• Infographic: The 22 Data Center Compliance Acronyms You Need to Know
• White Paper: Why Data Center Compartmentalization is Important
• Lifeline One Sheet: What You Need to Know About Lifeline Data Centers

Rich Banta

Managing Member at Lifeline Data Centers

Rich is responsible for Compliance and Certifications, Data Center Operations, Information Technology, and Client Concierge Services. Rich has an extensive background in server and network management, large scale wide-area networks, storage, business continuity, and monitoring. Rich is a former CTO of a major health care system. Rich is hands-on every day in the data centers. He also holds many certifications, including: CISA – Certified Information Systems Auditor CRISC – Certified in Risk & Information Systems Management CDCE – Certified Data Center Expert CDCDP – Certified Data Center Design Professional