Data Centre Magazine October 2023 | Page 16

ANDREW STEV

INTERVIEW WITH ...
ANDREW STEVENS
President & CEO of international technical education company CNet Training Andrew Stevens discusses how CNet is tackling the data centre skills gap head on TITLE : PRESIDENT & CEO COMPANY : CNET TRAINING

EXECUTIVE BIO

Andrew Stevens is the President
& CEO of CNet Training . Joining as Sales Director in 1997 just a year after CNet Training ’ s foundation , he has been at the helm as CEO since 2004 . Previously Stevens worked within the manufacturing and distribution arenas .
Passionate about the digital infrastructure industry , Stevens has grown CNet to be the global leader in technical education for the industry . With organisations now putting a greater emphasis on investing in employee development , he curates programs to shape the data centre workforce of the future .
In 2022 Stevens was awarded The Jedi Award for Exceptional Willpower in recognition for his passion in uniting the industry by educating the younger generation to tackle the skills shortage .
He is a trustee of two charities ; independent education charity The Edge Foundation and the community sport-focused Ipswich Town Foundation .
Q . WHAT IS THE CURRENT STATE OF EDUCATION IN THE DATA CENTRE INDUSTRY ?

» The skills shortage and the issue around attracting talent has masked the need for current education . There ’ s a lot of conversation about recruiting and training the workforce of the future , but organisations are neglecting to look at their internal systems and processes to build an education function within their business . Organisations need to continue educating the people they already have and use it as a recruitment tool for drawing people in .

Q . COULD YOU EXPLAIN THE CURRENT STATUS OF THE DATA CENTRE SKILLS GAP / TALENT SHORTAGE ?

» It ’ s very murky and not completely understood . I don ’ t think we really have clarity as an industry about exactly who we are looking for and what the long-term goal is . At the moment there ’ s a mass panic to fill existing gaps .

16 October 2023