What Is a Data Center Technician? 2025 Career Guide

An organization’s data center is the physical location housing critical infrastructure, including data and applications. Within a data center, you may find servers, storage systems, firewalls, routers, and switches. Data center technicians play a key role in these data centers, ensuring the hardware remains organized, accessible, operational, and secure. They may also troubleshoot database issues, update databases as needed, and implement security measures. 

If you enjoy working with computer hardware and databases, a data center technician career may be right for you. Learn more about becoming a data center technician, including job duties, required education and skills, and average salaries.

What does a data center technician do?

Data center technicians oversee an organization's hardware, including servers, that house its data. Database management responsibilities may include assessing the servers’ performance, responding to problems, and documenting processes. They work closely with other IT professionals, such as network security engineers, to ensure the data center remains functional and data is well-managed. Data centers house critical data integral to an organization’s operation, and data center technicians work to ensure this infrastructure runs smoothly and securely.

Data center technician tasks and responsibilities 

As a data center technician, you’ll take on a variety of responsibilities to optimize the function of your organization’s data center. Common job duties of a data center technician include:

• Install and configure computer hardware, servers, and other networking equipment.

• Monitor computer hardware and troubleshoot network or server issues.

• Identify database performance issues and make adjustments and recommendations.

• Implement security measures and monitor databases for potential security breaches.

• Collaborate with cybersecurity professionals to protect organizational data.

• Maintain and repair servers and other equipment. 

• Implement hardware upgrades as needed.

• Develop reports tracking system performance and changes.

• Understand emerging technologies and trends to improve data center management.

• Implement measures to keep the data center secure.

Data center technician skills

Developing key skills can help you excel and advance as a data center technician. You can build these skills through your education, whether you’re enrolled in a traditional undergraduate program or taking an online course. Internships and entry-level IT jobs can also help you advance your skills and prepare for a career in a data center.

Workplace skills

Workplace skills help you complete your daily tasks as a data center technician. While these skills may not relate to the technical elements of your job, they’re essential to enable you to communicate effectively with your colleagues. Key workplace skills for data center technicians include:

• Communication skills

• Problem-solving skills

• Management skills

• Leadership skills

• Customer service skills

Technical skills

Technical skills are skills that relate specifically to your industry—in this case, IT or data management. These skills are crucial to your success as a data center technician, and developing them can help you excel in your career:

• Data center operations and design

• Computer hardware repair

• Computer networking

• Power distribution units

• Programming languages, such as SQL and Python

• Computer science

• Data engineering

Data center technician salary and job outlook

According to Glassdoor, the average annual data center technician salary is $53,084 [1]. Zippia reports a salary of $46,560 [2], and ZipRecruiter lists an average annual salary of $54,031 [3] for data center technicians. Various factors, including your location and the industry you work in, can influence how much you earn as a data center technician. 

With the explosion of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing, data centers have become increasingly important for many organizations. A 2024 report by EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure predicts the US data center market will multiply by two to four times its current size over the next four to six years [4]. This is positive news if you’re looking to secure a data center technician job. Moreover, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) notes much faster than average job growth for computer and IT roles through 2033 [5].

How to become a data center technician

A data center technician career begins by completing the education and training required for the role. You may also consider other comparable roles, such as computer technician, help desk analyst, network support administrator, or desktop support technician, as you begin your job search. Then, as your experience develops, you may be eligible for more advanced roles in a data center, such as project manager, IT manager, or senior support technician. 

Education and training

As an aspiring data center technician, you’ll want to earn an associate or bachelor’s degree in a relevant field. According to Zippia, 63.07 percent of data center technicians hold a bachelor’s degree, while 22.98 percent have an associate degree. Common fields of study include computer science, business, information technology, and computer networking [6]. Many employers often prefer candidates with a bachelor’s degree, so earning one may help you land your first job in the field.

Another way to prepare for your career is by earning a certification in the field. Data center certifications that can help you build your skills and showcase your knowledge to potential employers include:

• Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification

• Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) Data Center certification

• BICSI Data Center Design Consultant certification

• Certified Data Center Professional (CDCP) certification

You can pursue some of these certifications with or without a degree, allowing you to enhance your skill set in data center operations no matter your credentials. Others require some full-time work experience in the field before you can enter a certification program.

Experience

Gaining experience in IT, networking, and data center operations is important for a data center technician career. First, you’ll want to understand the inner workings of data center equipment and how to install, operate, and maintain it. You can develop these skills in an entry-level position or academic program. Once you secure a data center technician position, your employer may require on-the-job training, which can take several months, before you’re ready to oversee the operation of the data center.

Getting started as a data center technician on Coursera

A career in data center operations can be rewarding if you enjoy networking, problem-solving, and troubleshooting. The Google IT Support Professional Certificate on Coursera can help you learn entry-level IT skills for a data center technician role, like computer assembly and wireless networking. You can then develop more advanced skills with IBM’s Data Warehouse Engineer Professional Certificate, where you’ll explore how to compose SQL statements and create data pipelines.