Breaking into the Data Center Industry can be more of an elegant pivot!

Today is International Data Center Day, which celebrates the industry that builds the digital infrastructure necessary to power the internet, financial transactions, telecommunications, social media, government and military functions, cryptocurrency, transportation, and many other technological aspects of daily life. Furthermore, today, the industry as a whole works together to promote the next generation of talent to seek out opportunities in the data center field.

Whether you are a student, just starting your career, or well into the second half of your career, it is worth considering opportunities related to the data center industry and the exciting advances happening in and around this space.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound effect on the way we work all over the world and as a result, it forced companies, governments, and organizations to adopt increasingly digital environments to engage with employees, customers, and other businesses. This forced shift expeditiously advanced the demand for a broad range of technology applications and the infrastructure required to enable such technology. The result has been an unprecedented growth in demand for digital infrastructure, primarily data center capacity and network bandwidth. Data centers in the United States alone saw an uptick of 49.7% in realized demand between 2020 and 2021.

This growth has been complicated with global supply chain constraints and geo-political turmoil, which has pushed technology companies, data center operators and network providers to become increasingly aggressive and creative to solve for demand factors being seen across the industry.

So, what does this all mean for you?

Whether you are already in the data center space, or just happened upon this article and would consider looking at the industry, there has never been a better time to pursue a long-term career in this sector. The sophistication of the largest data center users (Cloud Service Providers, Social Media, Content Distribution Networks, Financial Institutions, Energy, AI, Gaming, and other technology companies) has evolved meaningfully in the last decade and it has created an incredibly competitive marketplace for software engineers, site selection experts, financial analysts, facility engineers, network engineers, M&A specialists, and corporate leaders.

In addition to the organic demand for digital technology, there has been tremendous investor interest in the data center space driven by several factors, including the need to shift from other real estate classes negatively impacted by the business outcomes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since June of 2021, there has been more than $37B of asset and entity level transactions in the data center capital markets, which represents a gigantic leap over any year in the history of the space.

Simply put, these growth and investment factors lead to the creation of career opportunities with the investors entering the industry as well as the operators, like Skybox Datacenters, that serve the users in this sector.

Investment firms are looking for a wide array of talent with some previous exposure to the data center sector. Operators are looking for talent across the board including construction specialists, sales leaders, solutions engineers, site selection experts, facility engineers, network engineers, and security professionals. And last, but certainly not least, site development teams are scouring to find qualified workers to support all the low voltage, mechanical, and electrical work required to deliver these facilities on-time and within scope.

Regardless of the sector you are in today, if you have a background or talents that align to the new digital age that we have entered, there is demand for your skill set and it is a great time to take a look at the data center industry!

Research gathered from CBRE Research, North America Data Center Trends H2 2021