We respect your privacy * Please make sure to fill out the required fields. By submitting your information, you agree that O.C. Tanner and their representatives may contact you at the email address and phone number given above.A bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Networking doesn't hurt. College in general will up your chances of at least getting an interview.I however do not have a College degree of any sort and had to work my way into the industry. Here are some skills I think are essential (and how to aquire them).Disclaimer: I am speaking for an engineer and designer's perspective. I can't say much for data center sales or someone in a purely facilities based role. 1. Physical Capability - If you are going for an engineering position or "Data Center Technician" you are going to be doing physical work...lots of it. If you were one of those nerd types who also loved physical activity, DC Engineering is your field. I have solo lifted up to 350lbs (which you should never do by the way)(Middle pic is me right before collapsing in my hotel bed after 48 hours of work.

The right pic is a co-worker who had been cabling and terminating cable ends for 36 straight hours.)2. Stamina - Similar to number 1 but totally different. While I do not game anymore, my heavy gaming at a younger age trained my mind to withstand long bouts without sleep. In the data center, my record is 48 straight hours working with only bathroom and a few quick Mt Dew breaks (no drinks in the DC).3. Data Center Basics - There are courses online that you can take to understand how a data center works. Oh and these courses are totally free. One I turn new employee hopefuls onto is Schneider Electrics Energy University. http://www2.schneider-electric.c...The site has all sorts of learning courses available and will get you up to speed on data center basics such as cooling, power, and other best practices. The certification is a few hundred dollars but the training is totally free.4. Data Center Design - If you are a creative type person and are looking for something beyond the physical work in a data center, I suggest getting your CDCDP.

This is not cheap. Last I looked, it runs around $5,800. Having a CDCDP at the end of your title on a business card is like having an "MD" at the end for a doctor :) Certified Data Centre Design Professional (CDCDP®)(This is how NOT to cable racks)5. Cabling - Cable running and terminating can be learned at many types of jobs. Home networking on the side, cable companies, sattelite companies, and others. My understanding of cabling comes from working for DirecTV, a small school as a server admin, and lots of side/weekend work as a PC Doctor.Data Center Engineering is an interesting corner of the business. Most people you will work with are "White Collar" workers, however you will be more of a white/blue collar hybrid. If you would like to know more, please feel free to reach out to me.Working in marketing I don't see much action in the data centers themselves so I can't tell you the exact technologies used, but I'll try and give you a general idea. There are different kinds of data centers, with different purposes.

At Equinix, because we host a lot of different companies under one roof in colocation, we have what are called Global Solutions Architects (GSA). echo backpack blower home depotThese people understand the overall strategy of which companies can work best together, why they will, and how they can do it. ohiopyle backpack campingSolutions Architects work on the big picture of the data center as an ecosystem. navy club backpack 1838They are at the top of the chain when it comes to technically-oriented data center professionals. copi backpackThey have a deep understanding of technical requirements needed for advanced multi-cloud deployments, financial exchange ecosystems, or ad exchange ecosystems.vemma backpack

To be honest, no matter how much I speak to our Solution Architects most of the conversation goes over my head. vans realm backpack onyxBut, most of these guys are people with 10-20 years of networking experience at places like NASDAQ, Microsoft, or NYSE. But, the Equinix Blog "Interconnections" profiles a Global Solutions Architect each month and you learn a lot about what goes into the job, and what is going on in the industry even, here:Rick Galietta: Cloud-enabled IT Infrastructures: Consistent global performance, lower costsTamas Horvath: Making the Shift to CloudJust below GSAs but no less important are Sales Engineers, and this position is a little more accessible. One of our Sales Engineers is fresh out of Cornell, where he studied computer science. That being said, he has learned most of the relevant technical knowledge on the job. Sales Engineers work with Account Executives to sort out the technical requirements of customers looking to locate within our data centers.

They have to know about power needs, cabinet setups, and the company's ability to accommodate specific requests. You don't need to know how to virtualize a server to be a Sales Engineer, or have an extensive coding background, but it helps. Now, all of these people are based in offices. Some offices are inside of the data centers, but nevertheless, they don't work directly with cabinets, servers, and power units. Inside the data centers we have a host of different IBX Technicians. IBX stands for International Business Exchange as Equinix's primary purpose is to provide vendor neutral data centers around the world where business' can connect directly and securely.For an IBX Network Technician we look for one or more of these certifications:Fluke CCTT Copper, Fluke CCTT Fiber, JDSU BERT Testing, Digital Lightwave Testing. BICSI Level II Copper, FOA – CFOT, Comp-TIA A.I just copy and pasted that and have no idea what they are, so you're on your own there. You can learn more about certifications and requirements on the Equinix Careers page I posted earlier.