Andrew Stevens, President and CEO at CNet Training, explains how CNet’s Certified Data Centre Design Professional (CDCDP) program teaches best practice principles for the design, construction and operation of computer rooms and data centre operational support facilities.
CNet is proud to be celebrating 25 years of delivering high-quality professional and effective technical education programs to individuals and businesses across the globe this year.
Since 1996, CNet has educated over 70,000 individuals, in 45 countries and to 153 different nationalities in 218 different program locations and in 19 time zones, including Europe, Asia Pacific, the US, Canada, the Middle East and Africa.
Here, Andrew Stevens, President and CEO at CNet Training, outlines the popular Certified Data Centre Design Professional (CDCDP) program.
Can you provide an overview of the Certified Data Centre Design Professional (CDCDP) program?
The Certified Data Centre Design Professional (CDCDP) is a five-day program proven to be an essential certification for individuals wishing to demonstrate their technical knowledge of data centre architecture and component operating conditions. The program teaches best practice principles for the design, construction and operation of computer rooms and data centre operational support facilities. It also addresses the importance of accurate interpretation of detailed customer requirements at the planning stage to ensure that the business needs remain focal to all decision-making.
What can learners expect to gain from the program?
Learners will also explore the key elements of physical infrastructure, electrical distribution systems, air-conditioning, data cabling and building support systems. The program concludes with a comprehensive case study exercise that guides learners through the design steps from initiation to commission, covering the business decisions, design scope and implementation phases that need to be addressed throughout all aspects of the process.
A certified CDCDP also considers the requirements for compliance, having a full understanding of national and international regulations, codes and standards. During the program, learners will be provided a valuable opportunity to access the latest industry standards.
Who is the CDCDP designed for?
The CDCDP program is beneficial for professionals already designing projects for implementation within a data centre facility, or those looking to advance into the data centre design from associated data centre technical or operational roles. The CDCDP requires the learner to have experience of working within a data centre environment, ideally, we ask for two years experience working in a technical IT, operational or facilities role.
The benefit of the CDCDP for employers?
CDCDP qualification and certification provides the highest level of confidence to the employers and stakeholders that they have professional designers on their team who clearly recognise the business need and organisational requirements as well as the regulatory and legislative standards that impact data centre design. The designer can recognise that organisational requirements must be understood to realise and initiate a successful design as well as the future evolution of the data centre.
How does the CDCDP benefit the learner?
The program is designed to provide the learner with the highest possible level of skill, knowledge and confidence. On completing the program, the learners will have a strong understanding to identify key stakeholders and understand the business needs driving the design. During the CDCDP program, learners undertake a complex design exercise that encourages them to consider flexibility and scalability to cover a wide variety of designs. This ensures the learner is competent going forward with any future design requirements, no matter how complex. All learners also gain a full understanding of current best practices and standards to ensure the highest level of design compliance and have access to the standards during the program.
Where do the (CDCDP) programs take place?
The CDCDP is available internationally, the CDCDP is currently available via live instructor-led remote attendance in multiple time zones across the globe, allowing for learning at times that are convenient for individual schedules such as while on night shifts or outside of usual working hours. There are a number of classroom-based programs still taking place where COVID-19 restrictions and travel allow and there are strict safety classroom measures in place to protect the learners and the instructor.
A lot of our learners are enjoying being able to attend programs from the comfort of their home or a quiet space at their place of work. Remote Attendance programs are designed to fit around the learner and for them to attend from the environment that best works for them.
Since 2017, we have been delivering programs via live instructor-led remote attendance classes. We anticipated this would be driven by the need to operate in a more sustainable and environmentally sensitive way, we obviously did not anticipate COVID-19.
We have worked hard to expand our remote attendance capability and are pleased that we now have 15 dedicated Smart Rooms, allowing us to deliver 15 different classes simultaneously across the world. We have a full schedule of program dates in time zones across the world that are Guaranteed to Run (GTR) with remote attendance.
The CNet remote attendance learning experience is different from many others, it is live and fully interactive with both the instructor and fellow attendees wherever they are in the world.
Learners attending the CDCDP are required to have a webcam-enabled laptop or suitable device with unrestricted wireless Internet connectivity, the latest Internet browser and suitable applications for reading/annotating PDFs and editing standard office documents.
See all upcoming CDCDP program dates here.
Would you like to demo CNet’s remote attendance capability?
If you have not seen or experienced our remote attendance program delivery, we urge you to get in touch with one of the CNet team to request a demonstration session.
Request a Remote Attendance Demo here.
How long is the CDCDP program?
The CDCDP program is a full five-day program. There is an additional requirement of around 20 hours of pre-class study provided by the CNet team and supported by a dedicated online tutor.
Benefits of qualifications and certifications
On completion of the CDCDP program, learners gain an internationally and industry recognised BTEC Level 5 Professional Award Certified – Data Centre Design Professional qualification. Learners also gain official Certified Data Centre Management Professional (CDCDP) certification and can use the CDCDP postnominal title, the CDCDP logo and the CDCDP digital badge.
Certifications are a commitment to life-long learning as they require re-certifying every three years via an online learning management system. This offers the perfect portal to ensure knowledge, skills and certification remain current and up-to-date to reflect the evolving needs of the industry.
Customer feedback
Here are just a few recent testimonials from learners who have completed the CDCDP program…
Be prepared for a wealth of knowledge to be gained. Most importantly, be prepared for a truly exciting program with limitless potential.
Excellent! Chalked full of info. The instructor was fantastic and a joy to learn from. The material is all there and relevant.
This class was great, very helpful and very well presented. The instructors were very knowledgeable and keen to teach. I would recommend this program to anyone.
An excellent program! I really enjoyed refreshing myself with this program, it helped me to understand the new changes in the data centre world and it will be very useful for me to adopt new trends, technologies and procedures and expecting a great scope in my future career.
What program do you recommend after the (CDCDP)?
Following the CDCDP program, learners are encouraged to continue their professional development by advancing their knowledge and skills to gain further official certifications and qualifications by progressing through The Global Digital Infrastructure Education Framework which maps education programs to career advancement throughout the data centre and network infrastructure sectors. While the programs flow perfectly from one to another, they are of equal value as stand-alone programs, learners can enter the framework at any level depending on their level of experience.
Often, CDCDP certified individuals choose to explore data centre management and attend the five-day Certified Data Centre Management Professional (CDCMP) program. This program provides unparalleled knowledge, skills and competency to manage the complex technical environments of a data centre facility and the ability to optimise its effectiveness by driving efficiencies.
Others decide to increase their knowledge of energy management and attend the Certified Data Centre Energy Professional (CDCEP). Here, they learn how to create an energy efficiency plan for their data centre. This includes; the creation, implementation, analysis and formulating recommendations with the ultimate objective of reducing energy use and cutting carbon emissions. While the Certified Data Centre Audit Professional (CDCAP) program teaches how to plan and implement a strategic data centre audit process. Here, they analyse audit data to verify and baseline the status of the data centre and create an action plan to reduce risk and improve the operational capability to support Business Continuity.
Of course, for those who are ambitious, there is the prestigious Masters Degree in Data Centre Leadership and Management. A three-year distance learning program where graduates join the world’s elite group of data centre professionals.
