ITM Adjunct Industry Professor Bill Slater knows data centers. With years of experience as a data center manager at BP and a stint as the first manager of Microsoft’s Northlake Data Center, which was the world’s largest data center when it opened, Professor Slater now passes along his knowledge and wisdom to graduate students in the ITM graduate specialization in Data Center Operations and Management. He also knows that industry events such as the 2013 Data Center Dynamics Conference are a good place to learn the latest and greatest developments in the field. With his encouragement and assistance, several of his students attended the conference, which was held at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago, IL, on October 1, 2013. ITM students Girithar Anthay Suthakavan, Shikha Srivastava, Samah Sallam and Adem Maksuti spent the day at the world’s largest peer-led data center conference & expo attending educational sessions and meeting vendors–and prospective employers! Conferences such as this are common in IT subject areas in Chicago, and we encourage students to attend to learn and network. And thanks go to Professor Slater for making this a great experience for our students.

ITM Adjunct Industry Professor Bill Slater realized some of the students in his ITM 576 Data Center Management class were struggling with the complexity of writing their first graduate research paper, so he offered to hold extra Saturday-morning tutorials on writing research papers. Bill followed up the first session by treating the students to lunch in celebration of the 5th anniversary of earning his Project Management Professional certification.

I get asked this question a lot. In fact, since this will be read by a lot of students and faculty, I will share some advice I gave someone about three weeks ago. This person, who actually has an M.S. in Information Technology, was proposing that IT certifications alone would suffice to help a person get the IT job of their dreams.

I am with one of the world’s best companies at the moment, and I am very happy with my job and the people I work with, so I am planning on staying here as long as possible.

But I laugh at the people that think they can move ahead in the IT field without a degree or multiple degrees in this field. They do not realize that despite what they sincerely believe about saving money and getting a few certifications, and skipping the formal education, they are doing themselves considerable career harm in the long run, because they cannot get back the years they wasted believing that poppycock. And actually, it’s good because it helps decrease the competition for guys like you and me. Also, they don’t realize that despite what they believe about being successful without formal education, they have peers and people younger than them who will get a clue and realize what it takes to succeed, and set their course and do it. Read more…