Omaha college teams with IBM for data center degree program

The Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, Nebraska, is using funding from a U.S. Department of Labor grant to build out an enterprise data center chuck full of IBM equipment. Those systems, which are Power Systems running AIX, IBM i and Linux, will be used as the foundation for the college's new green data center management degree program, according to a new agreement between IBM and the college.

The two year associates degree will focus on teaching skills necessary for designing and managing energy-efficient, green data centers. The program will start up in December 2009 and will include classes on disaster recovery and troubleshooting, management, virtualization, remote access and security. A data center internship is part of the hands-on training. The course was developed by the college along with the IBM Academic Initiative.

Metropolitan Community College believes it is uniquely qualified to run this program, being that it has been ranked often among the top 20 community colleges in the United States for IT graduates. The school also happens to be located at the juncture of multiple fiber-optic networks.

Don't live near Nebraska? That fiber-optic network helps with connectivity. You will be able to take courses that are part of the new program through a virtual learning offering.

Here's a link to information about the college's academic data center programs.