We are in the midst of the “fourth industrial revolution,” as organizations and individuals around the world use cloud computing to get the latest and greatest technology, power their businesses and daily lives, and accomplish things never thought possible. The cloud enables many of the activities we use on a daily basis: communication, banking, gaming, entertainment, business applications, artificial intelligence, and many more. The cloud enables organizations to deploy applications anywhere on the globe without constraints. The cloud hosts massive amounts of data that feed these applications and provide information to people and businesses around the world.
Microsoft is committed to building a trusted, responsible and inclusive cloud. As part of our commitment, we understand that we must invest in education and training to assure that everyone has the skills to thrive and participate in the digital world. Microsoft partners globally with nonprofits, governments, educators, and businesses to ensure everyone has access to digital skills instruction, computer science education, and IT training.
The Microsoft Datacenter Academy is a workforce development program from Microsoft Community Affairs team. With this program, we help education partners in datacenter communities deliver training and certifications to enable employment in the growing cloud computing and IT sectors.
The Datacenter Academy program delivers on five core pillars: curriculum, datacenter lab, scholarships and grants, mentorship and work experience.
Microsoft partners with local education institutions to augment existing IT curriculum to add instruction unique to IT support scenarios in a large-scale IT environment, such as a hyperscale cloud datacenter. Curriculum may vary slightly from school to school, our primary goal is to increase the employability of the local workforce in the community by ensuring that the curriculum aligns to the core competencies and sought after skills in the broader IT industry. While some scenarios and instruction may be specific to a Microsoft datacenter, the curriculum, certifications acquired, and real-world hands-on experience gained through the program, will provide benefits to all students seeking a career in IT.
To augment classroom instruction, helping our education partners build datacenter labs is another key component to our community partnerships. Microsoft donates datacenter equipment to help these partners build these on-site labs. These mock datacenters help students’ understanding of cloud storage tools and equipment. In developing students’ familiarity with the equipment, they are well-prepared for careers in IT.
The typical lab contains at least three (3) rack cabinets with a mix of servers, storage devices and networking equipment. If the learning institution has more space, a bigger lab deployment is possible.
Microsoft’s Workforce Development team partners with local construction companies to outfit the new lab with the necessary cooling, ventilation, and wiring to support lab operations. Typically, datacenter labs are deployed in a classroom nearest the school’s computer science or IT programs.
Datacenter Academy locations are selected by Microsoft using some of the following criteria
To augment classroom instruction, helping our education partners build datacenter labs is another key component to our community partnerships. Microsoft donates datacenter equipment to help these partners build these on-site labs. These mock datacenters help students’ understanding of cloud storage tools and equipment. In developing students’ familiarity with the equipment, they are well-prepared for careers in IT.
The typical lab contains at least three (3) rack cabinets with a mix of servers, storage devices and networking equipment. If the learning institution has more space, a bigger lab deployment is possible.
Microsoft’s Workforce Development team partners with local construction companies to outfit the new lab with the necessary cooling, ventilation, and wiring to support lab operations. Typically, datacenter labs are deployed in a classroom nearest the school’s computer science or IT programs.
Datacenter Academy locations are selected by Microsoft using some of the following criteria
Team members from Microsoft datacenters may host Q&A sessions where students can learn about daily work life in a datacenter.
When possible, our skilled technicians may help train instructors on topics such as cabling, hardware installation, safety, and other practices.
On occasion, Microsoft staff may deliver classroom instruction. The most common training we provide is cable management as well as fiber troubleshooting skills; this provides real world best practices for handling fiber, transceivers, cable routing, and proper dressing. Then Career Success, which includes walking students through the process of setting up a LinkedIn account, building a profile, connecting with Microsoft employees, and finally how to create a Microsoft Careers account.
Many education partners hold mock interview sessions to help prepare students for real interviews in the IT sector. Datacenter staff may support these programs, putting students through Microsoft-style interview sessions.
Many community colleges hold mock interview sessions to help prepare students for real interviews in the IT sector. Datacenter staff may support these programs putting students through real world Microsoft interviews.
Datacenter staff may occasionally make one-to-one connections with students and provide career advice, tips for successful interviewing and help designing an impactful resume.
Team members from Microsoft datacenters may host Q&A sessions where students can learn about daily work life in a datacenter.
When possible, our skilled technicians may help train instructors on topics such as cabling, hardware installation, safety, and other practices.
On occasion, Microsoft staff may deliver classroom instruction. The most common training we provide is cable management as well as fiber troubleshooting skills; this provides real world best practices for handling fiber, transceivers, cable routing, and proper dressing. Then Career Success, which includes walking students through the process of setting up a LinkedIn account, building a profile, connecting with Microsoft employees, and finally how to create a Microsoft Careers account.
Many education partners hold mock interview sessions to help prepare students for real interviews in the IT sector. Datacenter staff may support these programs, putting students through Microsoft-style interview sessions.
Many community colleges hold mock interview sessions to help prepare students for real interviews in the IT sector. Datacenter staff may support these programs putting students through real world Microsoft interviews.
Datacenter staff may occasionally make one-to-one connections with students and provide career advice, tips for successful interviewing and help designing an impactful resume.
Microsoft offers work experience opportunities for qualified Datacenter Academy scholars. Where available, scholars' interview for paid work experience within a Microsoft datacenter. The typical work-experience is 12 weeks, covering a variety of entry-level roles in the datacenter, such as datacenter technician, logistics technician, and inventory management.
Skills learned in the classroom and lab environment, such as hardware management and data security protocols, are put to use in a live datacenter environment.
Work experience requirements:
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