The pandemic has accelerated global Cloud adoption and digital transformation in all sectors of the economy. Consequently, the increased demand for Cloud services has resulted in greater funding for Hyperscale Data Centers. 

Improvements in data usage have further led to a meteoric rise in demand for Data Centers. NASSCOM predicts that by 2025, annual investment in the global Data Center market will reach $200 billion.

As IoT and Big Data traffic grow exponentially, Data Center demand will climb. Let’s analyse the impact Data Centers have on the national economy and how it’s changing the way job opportunities are looked at in the country.

With the advent of the digital age, India’s Data Center industry is booming. Based on advances in AI, ML, and analytics, an ASSOCHAM-EY report predicts that India could become a global hub for Cloud-focused Data Centers with a USD 8 billion market by 2026. And now, under a national policy framework for Data Centers, the Indian IT ministry wants to grant incentives totalling up to Rs. 15,000 crores.

Moreover, the Indian government is now planning to invest up to Rs. 3 lakh crores in the DC ecosystem over the coming 5 years. While announcing the 2022-23 Budget, the Hon. Finance Minister designated Data Centers as a critical infrastructure sector. This has boosted the development of Data Centers in India even more, essentially setting the foundation for geometric growth in the sector, making space for advanced technologies and corresponding talent to deliver the same. 

Employment With Data Centers

Data Centres are increasingly becoming the sunrise sector in India. With an ever-growing hunger for consuming new content, data is being generated every minute, creating a greater need for data storage and management. This increased demand is further fuelled by the accelerated adoption of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Deep Learning, Internet of Things (IoT), Machine Learning (ML), and Edge Computing. These technologies require high-speed access to large amounts of data stored in Data Centres, which offer reliable, secure and scalable solutions. 

In essence, Data Centers are the heart of digital networks. They necessitate technological personnel and engineers as the bare minimum. 

Many firms now keep their data locally due to digital payments and Big Data, which boosts local economic growth by producing jobs and money. Other businesses, including education, finance, journalism, e-commerce, logistics, and others, are digitising, and helping Data Centers expand. 

As more organisations and people use advanced devices, the call for latency-free data access is becoming imperative. This raises the demand for new Data Centers, creating many employment opportunities in the sector. 

Business Sustainability

Data Centers require innovative approaches to attract competent applicants. They need a variety of skills to persist, protect the environment, and engage the community. But sustainability goes beyond energy efficiency and conservation.

Since the pandemic’s exposure to work-life conflict changed many people’s priorities, the competitive job environment requires flexible work hours. Leaders are now training recruiters to seek beyond the usual candidates without the need to reorganise the hiring hierarchy time and time again. 

In terms of roles, Data Centers need talent in technology, infrastructure, operations, marketing, and other commercial areas. This, in turn, creates rewarding careers and opportunities to learn from various fields, which may be intersected in the long run.

As data becomes indispensable to daily life, Data Centers can prevent a skills shortage and ensure a new talent takeover.

Putting It All Together

India’s Data Center market is poised for significant growth in the upcoming years. Data Centers will become increasingly vital to India’s progress as the country’s economy expands and more people utilise digital technologies. The impending rollout of 5G and the rising use of IoT-linked devices will likely increase demand, which is already high due to the rising reliance on digital connectivity. India has the untapped potential to become a world leader in Data Center creation and utilisation with the implementation of the appropriate policies.

The article has been written by Nikhil Rathi, CEO and Founder of Web Werks Data Centers