Photo of employee in Server room Photo of employee in Server room

Microsoft Datacenter Academy

Helping individuals acquire skills and certifications for employment in the growing cloud computing and IT sectors. 

  • Datacenter Academy training program

    Learn about Microsoft’s community workforce development training program, delivered through learning partners and designed to build a skilled pipeline of workers for datacenters and other jobs in the IT sector. 

    Datacenter Academy training program

    Learn about Microsoft’s community workforce development training program, delivered through learning partners and designed to build a skilled pipeline of workers for datacenters and other jobs in the IT sector. 

  • Datacenter Academy locations

    Discover Data Academy locations around the world.

    Photo of map with Datacenter Academy locations

    Datacenter Academy locations

    Discover Data Academy locations around the world.

Photo of Microsoft employee using tablet in server room
  • What is the Datacenter Academy

    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.  

Curriculum

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. 

 

Click on the links below to find details on CompTIA certifications available:

A+, Security+, Network+, Cloud+, Server+

 

Datacenter lab


  • About

  • How it works

  • School hardware eligibility
  • 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 

     

    • Proximity to Microsoft datacenter locations 
    • Educational institution’s ability to delivery IT technical training 
    • Ability to reach underserved populations 
    • Appropriate site capacity to house an IT lab including adequate electrical power, sufficient floor capacity to manage rack weight and proper air ventilation 
  • Photo of Microsoft employee working on a computer
  • Photo of Microsoft employee working on a computer
  • Photo of Microsoft employee working on a computer
  • Photo of Microsoft employee working on a computer

    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. 

  • Photo of Microsoft employee working on a computer

    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.

  • Photo of Microsoft employee working on a computer

    Datacenter Academy locations are selected by Microsoft using some of the following criteria 

     

    • Proximity to Microsoft datacenter locations 
    • Educational institution’s ability to delivery IT technical training 
    • Ability to reach underserved populations 
    • Appropriate site capacity to house an IT lab including adequate electrical power, sufficient floor capacity to manage rack weight and proper air ventilation 

Mentorship


  • Datacenter employee Q&A

  • Instructor training

  • Employee-led classrooms

  • Tutoring

  • Mock interviews

  • Advisors
  • 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. 

  • Photo of Microsoft employee
  • Photo of Microsoft employees
  • Photo of Microsoft employees
  • Photo of Microsoft employees working together
  • Photo of Microsoft employees
  • Photo of Microsoft employees working together
  • Photo of Microsoft employee

    Team members from Microsoft datacenters may host Q&A sessions where students can learn about daily work life in a datacenter.

     

  • Photo of Microsoft employees

    When possible, our skilled technicians may help train instructors on topics such as cabling, hardware installation, safety, and other practices.

  • Photo of Microsoft employees

    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. 

  • Photo of Microsoft employees working together

    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. 

  • Photo of Microsoft employees

    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. 

  • Photo of Microsoft employees working together

    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. 

PHto of Microsoft employees
  • Work experience

    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: 

    • Datacenter Academy Scholar
    • Completed all certification classes 
    • Passed at least 1 certification test (preference for students passing both CompTIA Server+ and A+ certification tests) 
    • Completion of field of study (certificate or degree) in Information Technology or Information Communication Technology
    • School recommendation 
    • Datacenter panel interview 

US scholarships and financial grants

Datacenter Academy scholarships help pay for the cost of tuition, fees, and certifications for students that are seeking IT skills, in locations where those costs can impede a student from pursuing education. The scholarships are targeted to help those who have historically been underrepresented in STEM and technical fields. Through these scholarships, Microsoft helps promote the acquisition of skills and certifications for employment in the growing IT sector in Microsoft’s datacenter communities – and beyond.
  • Diversity at Microsoft

    Learn how a diverse culture enables Microsoft to pursue the mission to “empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.”

For more Datacenter community programs, please visit Microsoft in your community for more information.