Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 54 | Page 37

EDITOR ’ S QUESTION

The skills shortage is one of the biggest challenges currently facing the data centre industry . The continued fight for a limited talent pool is set to worsen and there are real concerns that it will impact the sector ’ s ability to deliver the increasing demand , driven by the pandemic .

The skills shortage in the industry has been an issue for over a decade , with the financial crash in 2008 leading to a lost generation of technical engineers , which has been slow to recover . There have been some promising industry initiatives , but many were put on hold due to the pandemic . Last year , ongoing uncertainty around A-Level results , challenges for first-year university students and a decision by many organisations that taking on graduate trainees and / or apprentices is not practical , has effectively put us back to square one . It is now time for businesses to get these schemes back on track or these decisions will severely impact the future .
At BCS , we decided to continue our scheme and it is now the fourth year of the programme , which is run in partnership with Southbank University . It is part of our commitment to helping tackle the issues that are in the engineering and data centre sector . It also enables us to be on the lookout for future data centre professionals and leaders . As part of our long-term growth strategy , the programme this year has been extended to include the following course : BSc ( Hons ) Construction Project Management . This course enables us to broaden our search and further strengthen the Project Management offering within the business .
We are proud of the success of the apprenticeship programme and those who are accepted can be assured of receiving a rigorous education in construction and engineering .
construction projects from the blueprint stages right through to the delivery and is designed to support any apprenticeship study requirements .
In conclusion , we feel strongly that companies should do their bit to help alleviate the skills shortage . It also makes good business sense for us as we are able to find the best people and teach them the BCS way . We are proud of the success of the apprenticeship programme and those who are accepted can be assured of receiving a rigorous education in construction and engineering that is directly focused on their work . p
It is now time for businesses to get these schemes back on track or these decisions will severely impact the future .
Once chosen , the successful students are involved in every aspect of the BCS business , which provides a full range of services solely within the businesscritical and technical real estate environments , working across the entire client portfolio supporting and learning from the experienced team . This will include getting to see first-hand hyperscale
CHRIS COWARD , HEAD OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
AT BCS ( BUSINESS CRITICAL SOLUTIONS )
www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO EUROPE 37