Stanford University research scientist Dr Jonathan Koomey has partnered with DatacenterDynamics and HeatSpring to deliver a five-week online executive training course.

The course titled Data Center Essentials for Executives starts Monday November 10 and is designed to help transform enterprise IT into a cost-reducing profit center by mapping the costs and performance of IT in terms of business KPIs.

DatacenterDynamics CEO Dan Scarbrough said: “It’s exciting to be able to be a part of something this relevant and valuable for top executives. This one is not to be missed.”

Koomey, along with help from other industry leaders, have helped to develop the course to help experienced executives bring their internal IT organizations into the 21st century.

The online course will cover five key topics:
- Enterprise IT: Cost Center or Profit Center?

- Metrics, Measurement, and Decision Making

- Mapping IT Costs and Performance onto the Business

- Moving Internal Computing Needs to an Internal Cloud + Managing Existing Facilities

- Importance of Organizational Structure and Incentives + Approaching Organizational Transformation

After the course finishes students will continue to have access to all of the course materials for at least one year after the course.

Koomey said he is excited to maintain an ongoing conversation and help provide research and support to help make sustained improvements on data center profitability.

He said in modern enterprises, IT should be a cost-reducing profit center, but this ideal can only be realized when the costs and performance of IT are mapped to the business unit and project level and ultimate results are expressed in terms of business KPIs.

Koomey said the ideal student is a C or VP level executive (or someone who works directly for such an executive) who has realized the need to transform enterprise IT but isn’t sure where to start.

The course will draw upon real-world experience from industry-leading companies like eBay and Google, introduce industry organizations like the Open Compute Initiative and the Green Grid, and summarize key lessons for a management audience.

For more information and to enrol on the course click here.