Tharindu becomes SL’s first TIA-942 certified Data Center Design Consultant, Internal Auditor

Thursday, 9 October 2014 00:03 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Telecommunications Industry Association’s (TIA) TIA-942 Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers is the first standard to specifically address data centre infrastructure. It covers the Telecommunications, Electrical, Architectural, and Mechanical (TEAM) Infrastructure of a data centre.

Tharindu Meepegama, Founder of IdawnTechnologies is the first Sri Lankan to achieve the TIA-942 Design Consultant and Internal Auditor certification. Commenting on his achievement, Meepegama had this to say: “Before this, there was no benchmark to verify the capability of designers and auditors for a data centre. Customers have been left to their own assessment to determine the capability of the designers and auditors. Now, the data centre industry can use the CTDC and CTIA as references to validate the designers and auditors they work with and/or the data centre professionals they employ.” Officially certified under a training program which is recognised by the TIA, Meepegama is one of less than ten around the world to currently hold this certification. Through this TIA course and previous work experience, Meepegama is well-versed in building a reliable and efficient data centre while maximising on the investment made. The design, which must be considered early on in the building process will cut across areas such as telecommunications, power, architectural and HVAC which are covered under the TIA-942 Standard as well as a multitude of other considerations. “Through this certification, I can assist both the private and public sectors in Sri Lanka towards setting up world class data centers and facilities infrastructure. This will not only be advantageous towards them, but will also be a point of pride for our country,” Meepegama added. Planning a data centre is crucial. The components and supporting systems must be planned and designed well in order to be implemented to work well together – which will only then lead to its reliability. Failure to design a data centre well will result in data centre vulnerabilities, cost failures, early obsolescence and intolerable availability. Meepegama has currently completed four EPI courses: Certified Datacenter Professional (CDCP); Certified Datacenter Specialist (CDCS) which are aimed at educating people on the design/build of Datacenters, and is based mostly around TIA-942 but also incorporates industry best practices; Certified TIA-942 Design Consultant (CTDC) and Certified TIA-942 Internal Auditor (CTIA) both certifying the capability to ascertain if data centres conform to TIA standards, to carry out an internal audit and identify areas of non-conformity. In addition to this he is also an UpTime Accredited Tier Specialist.