Running a data center efficiently has become a complex task for many organizations. Modern data centers have to program networks on which all the tasks of an organization thrive and find their sustenance, so the team you will find in typical data center will comprise of multiple individuals with varying skills sets. From operations managers who manage the actual network backbone to Systems Engineers who practically design and install network components, these professionals are the ones that ensure that each aspect of the data center continues to run on smoothly.
The best way to get a validated skills set related to anything in the IT world these days is to secure a certification, but while in other areas, this choice is often straightforward with specially designed certifications meant to cater to singular knowledge area needs, no single certification path is offered currently that covers each aspect of running a data center in its entirety.
However, there are some top ones that you can definitely opt for which let you develop and advance your skill set with regards to data center management, design and deployment aspects.
In this article, we’ll give you out a list that outlines exactly these certifications and tell you more on what they exactly entail:
Cisco CCNA Data Center:
This certification set is targeted primarily towards beginners in the field of data center networking.
Cisco is a renowned IT service and infrastructure vendor and in order to make individuals gain command over its various aspects its offers divergent certification paths containing various sub-specializations like cloud, security management and routing and switching. Amidst all these certifications, the most apt choice you can make as a data center pro is the CCNA data center.
To complete the certification, you will have to go through two different modules, Introducing Cisco Data Center Networking (DCICN) which revolves around networking management and deployment techniques, and Introducing Cisco Data Center Technologies (DCICT), which helps individuals understand the underlying technologies that help manage networking related tasks.
Cisco CCNP and CCIE Data Center:
If you have completed the CCNA and are planning to evolve your skill set and knowledge bank to acquire a more advanced level of understanding of data center related topics, then the Cisco CCNP and CCIE Data Center certifications are the right choices for you.
In CCNA, you would have covered the basics, but here in these two certifications, you will grow on those topics by way of learning how actually you can implement technologies like automation and others in your data center environments.
These two certifications are not easy and you certainly need the CCNA certification coupled with years of experience in the IT field to pull both of these two off in your first attempt. The CCIE Data Center certification is the more difficult one out of the two, but once you finish it, you will increase your chances of securing tangible financial incentives as this certification primes you for senior level job roles that pay quite highly, often well above established industry standards.
VMware Certified Professional 2019:
The design, implementation and management of virtual machines is central towards achieving high-ended optimization in a data center environment. Freeing up hardware resources and converting them in to VMware allows firms to lower their costs, attain maximum scalability related advantages and tap in to cutting edge tools development that power business goals.
The umbrella term under which all these tasks are achieved is known as virtualization and this is what exactly forms the central focus of the VMwaare Certified professional 2019 course.
The demand for this certification has seen a positive upward trend in recent times and its demand is likely to grow even further as more organizations make the shift towards making their environments virtualized, making this a must-have certification for data center infrastructure pros.
Certified Data Center Professional (CDCP):
Powered by EPI, this course is best for hardware engineers who deal with the external, physical components of a data center. After completing this certification, an individual will become adept at tasks like construction design, appropriate component placing etc. Hardware engineers working in data centers can really gain a lot of benefit by taking this course as they can then improve the security and working efficiency of any assets that are contained within a data center.
This is a mid-level certification and doesn’t have any pre-requisites. But if you really want to puruse it, some years of experience is highly recommended.
JNCIP-DC: Juniper Networks Certified Professional Data Center
Juniper Networks is a software and infrastructure vendor in the IT sector just like Cisco. Its solutions are being currently used globally by multiple organizations operating in various industry verticals.
To ensure that individuals who run these solutions are adept at handling them, Juniper Networks developed its own certifications paths that cover various fields like security, routing and switching etc. Its data center certification i.e. the JNCIP-DC: Juniper Networks Certified Professional Data Center is a major, mid-level course that the firm offers for data center professionals.
So if your firm is planning to deploy Juniper components in its data centers, then this certification will cover related tasks that you will be undertaking like managing, deploying and optimizing.
The certification consists of just one single exam but the validity period is limited to just three years, so will have to re-appear in the exam once your certification expires.
Wrapping Things Up:
A senior level network engineer can draw an average yearly salary of up to $94,000 according to Glassdoor surveys making this a highly lucrative field to build your career in. The amount of jobs currently available in this industry is only likely to grow as technologies like cloud computing, automation and virtualization take center stage, so it makes a lot of sense for a data center pro to invest in an IT certification just like the ones listed above in order to make themselves highly relevant and easily employable.