IT skills no longer sufficient for data center execs

August 31, 2007 —

Companies are facing increasing difficulty in their efforts to find qualified data center managers, since the required skills have expanded beyond IT expertise to a mix of IT, facilities and security management abilities.

"Traditionally, data center managers did focus on IT," said Jill Eckhaus, CEO of AFCOM, an Orange, Calif.-based professional association for data center managers.

"Today, they do so much more," she said. "With companies running out of data center space and encountering power and cooling issues, it's extremely important for data center leaders to be educated in other areas, such as facilities."

Doug Lauterbach, data center director at BayCare Health System in Clear

Computerworld