The British Computer Society (BCS) is to develop a new qualification for data centre operators.
It follows the publication of the EU Code of Conduct for data centres and BCS’ recent work to encourage the IT industry to address the issues of energy cost, power consumption and carbon emissions.
The qualification will set an international standard for IT professionals in understanding energy efficiency irrespective of what discipline they practice within the industry.
It will take the form of a one hour examination following a three-day practitioner course based on understanding and implementing the EU Code of Conduct for data centre operators.
Pete Bayley, BCS director of qualifications, said: "With estimates that a data centre can account for 25 per cent of the total IT cost to a ‘typical’ company, many businesses are examining how they can make their centres more efficient both in terms of costs and carbon emissions to comply with the new EU Code of Conduct."
The new qualification is part of the ongoing programme of work the BCS is delivering to industry through its carbon footprint working group and data centre specialist group.
This programme addresses the needs of organisation in understanding their energy use and implementing an holistic approach to energy accounting and management.
Bayley said he believed the qualification and training would be of interest not only to almost all subject matter experts within the field of IT but also IT procurement where the best practices form an independent set of measures by which energy efficiency claims can be usefully assessed and compared.
Liam Newcombe, secretary of the data centre specialist group said: "After almost 18 months working with worldwide industry representatives, academics and government bodies to develop the EU code of conduct as an independent, effective and trusted standard, BCS is taking up the challenge of providing education and qualifications to support its delivery and implementation."
The qualification will be available from summer 2009 and will complement the BCS Foundation Certificate in Green IT which will be launched in April 2009
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