There is no letup in the growing demand for data centre computing. Take the case of Digital Realty Trust, a data centre landlord that has over 70 facilities. They state that client demand for new space is almost 50 per cent ahead of its capacity for building and equipping data centres for the next couple of years.

Chris J. Crosby, senior vice president at Digital Realty said:

We are building the railroads of the future, but we are not able to keep up.

For every new centre, it is necessary to hire new data centre administrators. Mr. Crosby added:

It takes us at least eight months to locate a guy to run a data centre.

At Cisco, Mr. Marcoux, an engineer with an M.B.A., is applying all his experience for improving the firm’s data centres as well as its products so that its computers can communicate with the coolers and power generators. Professionals like him are in huge demand.

Some inexperienced data managers with merely a degree from a two-year college can draw a $100,000 salary. Trade as well as professional conferences for data centre experts, seldom heard of previously, are now becoming commonplace.