Data center staff on-site: engineering specialists or generalists?

The pandemic has led to a renewed interest by data center managers in remote monitoring, management and automation. Uptime Institute has fielded dozens of inquiries about these approaches in recent months, but one in particular stands out: What will operational automation and machine learning mean for on-site staff requirements?

With greater automation, the expectation is a move toward light staffing models, with just one or a handful of technicians on-site. These technicians will need to be able to respond to a range of potential situations: electrical or mechanical issues; software administration problems; break/fix needs on the computer-room floor; the ability to configure equipment, including servers, switches and routers; and so on. Do people with these competencies exist? How long does it take to train them?