The organizers of International Data Center Day hailed the event as an important first step in raising the profile of the data center industry and building a workforce for the future.
The 7×24 Exchange International celebrated the inaugural International Data Center Day Tuesday at the group’s Fall Conference in Phoenix, with Chairman and CEO Bob Cassiliano sharing the day’s purpose during a 30-minute presentation, complete with streamers, music, and visual effects.
“International Data Center Day is the culmination of the 7×24 Exchange STEM initiative,” said Cassiliano. “We have reached out to companies, alliance partners and media in the data center industry to support International Data Center Day and their response has been overwhelming. We are thankful for their partnership and confident that together we can achieve our goal to get the youth of America interested in the mission critical industry.”
Cassiliano also announced that the next International Data Center Day will be Wednesday, March 25, 2020. The event will be scheduled in March going forward.
International Data Center Day is an effort to raise awareness of the data center industry and to inspire the next generation of talent. The initiative, launched by 7×24 Exchange International, is the latest in a series of efforts to address a looming talent gap for data centers and cloud computing infrastructure.
The goal is to help the industry connect with future generations and ensure a steady flow of skilled labor, enhance the public image of data centers. The events objectives included:
- Provide resources to educate people about what data centers are and how they work.
- Illustrate the importance of the data center industry on our daily lives.
- Share information on pursuing a career as a data center professional.
- Create more opportunities for mission critical firms to recruit future employees
There was a wide range of observances by leading data center operators and professionals.
CBRE sponsored three data center tours to showcase what data centers are, how they function, and more.
“As part of our International Data Center Day sponsorship we worked with high school STEM programs, community colleges and universities to host a series of data center tours,” said Jeff Ginn, Senior Managing Director – Data Center Solutions, CBRE|Global Workplace Solutions. “These tours gave students the opportunity to go behind the scenes in a mission critical facility to see how it operates.”
Sweet! Our London @cbredatacenters team celebrates #intldatacenterday with a custom cake and #techtalk @CBRE_EMEA pic.twitter.com/dUp0csLo3O
— CBRE Data Centers (@cbredatacenters) October 29, 2019
Other data center companies also sponsored tours or on-site events to promote understanding of the data center industry.
ScaleMatrix is celebrating International #DataCenter Day today! We believe in the mission of preparing students for the future of data centers by teaching students the technology of our future-proof data centers! #intldatacenterday @7x24Exchange https://t.co/e8a49iedrU pic.twitter.com/4AIWzU8BM3
— ScaleMatrix (@scalematrix) October 29, 2019
Happy #InternationalDataCenterDay! Big thank you to @StackInfra and @7x24Exchange for bringing everyone together and all the panelists who shared their industry experiences, and favorite places that STEM has taken them. #STEM #womenintech #hybridcloud #connectivity pic.twitter.com/KHpr33IxlP
— Opus Interactive (@opusinteractive) October 30, 2019
As part of International Data Centre Day, we’ve been showing 12 year old Jake, and 10 year old Erin, around some data centre equipment! https://t.co/tc6XLk5M3K #inspire #nextgeneration #intldatacenterday #datacentre #datacenter @7x24Exchange pic.twitter.com/ugnbJZ7arw
— Bluepoint Technologies (@BluepointTech) October 29, 2019
Other data center professionals shared their “How I Got Into the Industry” stories.
For International Data Center Day, #datacenter peeps are sharing their “How I Got Into the Industry” stories. My degree in Electrical Engineering opened the door, and I now provide quality electrical services performed by my trusted Field Service Reps. #Eaton #intldatacenterday pic.twitter.com/FHMe0JToES
— Brenda L Etzel (@Brenda_L_Etzel) October 29, 2019
For International Data Center Day, #datacenter folks are sharing their “How I Got Into the Industry” stories. Hear about mine on this episode of the Data Center Frontier Show. #podcast #intldatacenterday https://t.co/GL1FulAkVT
— Rich Miller (@Tech_Journalism) October 29, 2019
Others shared resources to help young people understand data centers and how they work
What is a Datacenter? – https://t.co/14Dml9GTbN As its international Datacenter day and half term for lots of kids, i am sharing my video designed for kids explaining what a datacenter is! 3:28 of their life, that’s all i’m asking!
If it inspires one child to take an inter…
— Scott Roots (@UptimeScott) October 29, 2019
What *is* the cloud? Where does it live? Today’s the perfect day to learn more → https://t.co/mGW4EA7TsD Happy #intldatacenterday! pic.twitter.com/2hKAVFphZB
— Google Cloud-O’-Lantern
(@googlecloud) October 29, 2019
(@googlecloud) And of course, there was an on-site observance in Phoenix, including the Data Center Career Tree and other visual aids that attendees could use to promote #intldatacenterday
Celebrating #intldatacenterday: We believe in creating awareness about safety in construction. https://t.co/4TaQBV8fQu @7X24Exchange #BuildingIntelligence pic.twitter.com/hJTOIIYFfa
— M.C. Dean (@mcdean) October 29, 2019
Thank you for making our first International Data Center Day a success – and keep an eye out for new resources and information for the next one on March 25, 2020 #nextgen #datacenters #intldatacenterday pic.twitter.com/sb0eLc1RnX
— 7×24 Exchange (@7x24Exchange) October 30, 2019
For more information and to learn how you can participate, visit the International Data Center Day website.