2006_0715 - Post No. 005
July 15, 2006
Hello again,
Today marks the 29th anniversary of two events: 1) my entering the United States Air Force as a young lieutenant fresh out of Memphis State University; and 2) my start as a professional Information Technology career person.
Here are some updates about the IDCP program I am in:
1) I am presently enrolled in the Session 2 classes, which for me are a) Hardware and Software Systems taught by Dr. Jan Harrington, a world famous computer professor and IT author; and b) Introduction to Facilities Management, taught by Mr. Robert McFarlane, who professionally designs and manages large Data Center Facilities Projects, nationally and internationally.
2) Good News: I made an "A" in each of the first two classes I am taking in the program. The first was IT Overview, and the second was Java Programming. Both turned out to be a lot of fun.
3) Good News: I have become very good friends with some very cool people that do what I do for living - Data Center Management. (Thanks Carlos! Troy! Gerry! Robert! Giovanni! Ryan!)
4) Bad News: I rarely have time for anything else except work, commuting, IDCP program course work, and some part-time work I do in technical editing and writing, and some software development. So actually, if I am awake, I am working or doing school work. To remain in this program I have had to make this my primary focus outside of my work.
5) Bad News: This program, though designed by some people with good intentions and broad experience in the IT industry, was supposed to require 9 hours a week per class of time commitment for a total of 18 hours per week. For many of us, we easily exceed that with the study requirements and course work requirements. For many of us, it seems more like 30 to 40 hours a week commitment and sometimes more like 40 to 50 hours a week. And with all the other things we have going on, it is a pretty intense set of demands.
6) Bad News: Though we started with about 36 people in March 2006, we are apparently down to 30 remaining students or perhaps even less. I think the intensity and the pace and the coursework requirements have caused a lot of people to drop. Many of us are demoralized and stressed because despite the hard work and dedication, some of us are failing or barely making it. I am doing OK, but may manage to get my first "C" in over 30 years. That fact alone is pretty demoralizing for me.
7) Bad News: There is only one real break between the classes, August 26 - September 3, 2006, and this pace is continued from March 2006 to August 2007, where, if we can successfully endure the stress and coursework, those who continue to work in this program will graduate with a CDCP - Certifed Data Center Professional certification.
8) Good News: If we can successfully endure the stress and coursework, we graduate with a CDCP - Certifed Data Center Professional certification.
Questions:
Will anyone besides the IDCP people, Marist College, or our fellow IDCP students know or care what we accomplished?
Will anyone outside of these groups of people care?
Will the CDCP mean anything after all this intense hard work of studying and working on coursework assignments while having stressful demanding full-time careers?
I sure hope so!!!
One thing is for sure: The very first IDCP Cohort graduates on August 12, 2006. How they fair after completing this very intense 18-month program may be a decent indicator of what our future looks like as members of IDCP Cohort 2, when we graduate in August 2007.
That is all for now. More later.
Regards,
Bill
William F. Slater, III
IT Consultant
Chicago
http://billslater.com
http://billslater.com/idcp-cdcp
Hello again,
Today marks the 29th anniversary of two events: 1) my entering the United States Air Force as a young lieutenant fresh out of Memphis State University; and 2) my start as a professional Information Technology career person.
Here are some updates about the IDCP program I am in:
1) I am presently enrolled in the Session 2 classes, which for me are a) Hardware and Software Systems taught by Dr. Jan Harrington, a world famous computer professor and IT author; and b) Introduction to Facilities Management, taught by Mr. Robert McFarlane, who professionally designs and manages large Data Center Facilities Projects, nationally and internationally.
2) Good News: I made an "A" in each of the first two classes I am taking in the program. The first was IT Overview, and the second was Java Programming. Both turned out to be a lot of fun.
3) Good News: I have become very good friends with some very cool people that do what I do for living - Data Center Management. (Thanks Carlos! Troy! Gerry! Robert! Giovanni! Ryan!)
4) Bad News: I rarely have time for anything else except work, commuting, IDCP program course work, and some part-time work I do in technical editing and writing, and some software development. So actually, if I am awake, I am working or doing school work. To remain in this program I have had to make this my primary focus outside of my work.
5) Bad News: This program, though designed by some people with good intentions and broad experience in the IT industry, was supposed to require 9 hours a week per class of time commitment for a total of 18 hours per week. For many of us, we easily exceed that with the study requirements and course work requirements. For many of us, it seems more like 30 to 40 hours a week commitment and sometimes more like 40 to 50 hours a week. And with all the other things we have going on, it is a pretty intense set of demands.
6) Bad News: Though we started with about 36 people in March 2006, we are apparently down to 30 remaining students or perhaps even less. I think the intensity and the pace and the coursework requirements have caused a lot of people to drop. Many of us are demoralized and stressed because despite the hard work and dedication, some of us are failing or barely making it. I am doing OK, but may manage to get my first "C" in over 30 years. That fact alone is pretty demoralizing for me.
7) Bad News: There is only one real break between the classes, August 26 - September 3, 2006, and this pace is continued from March 2006 to August 2007, where, if we can successfully endure the stress and coursework, those who continue to work in this program will graduate with a CDCP - Certifed Data Center Professional certification.
8) Good News: If we can successfully endure the stress and coursework, we graduate with a CDCP - Certifed Data Center Professional certification.
Questions:
Will anyone besides the IDCP people, Marist College, or our fellow IDCP students know or care what we accomplished?
Will anyone outside of these groups of people care?
Will the CDCP mean anything after all this intense hard work of studying and working on coursework assignments while having stressful demanding full-time careers?
I sure hope so!!!
One thing is for sure: The very first IDCP Cohort graduates on August 12, 2006. How they fair after completing this very intense 18-month program may be a decent indicator of what our future looks like as members of IDCP Cohort 2, when we graduate in August 2007.
That is all for now. More later.
Regards,
Bill
William F. Slater, III
IT Consultant
Chicago
http://billslater.com
http://billslater.com/idcp-cdcp
posted by William Favre Slater, III @ 3:26 PM
3 Comments:
At Friday, January 12, 2007 10:22:00 AM,
Anonymous said…
Hello Bill,
I am one of the graduating students from the first IDCP cohort. I am the proud owner of the CDCP certification. It was quite a ride and a real eye opener for me. I think the first group had about 30 individuals but only about 15 of us made it to the finals. I have some comments regarding the courses. Perhaps it would be a good idea to incorporate more detailed training into data center design and day to day problems such as power, hvac and physical space issues. Anyone not having this experience could have a hard time dealing with such issues (particularly power and heat). Besides that it was a great program. I am waiting to see if the IDCP will release the CDCE (certified data center expert) program. That should be really good.
Until then, take care.
Tom
At Friday, August 24, 2007 1:47:00 PM,
Anonymous said…
Well we made it Bill and you are right, to get through this program effectively does require an extensive amount of time and effort. 30 - 50 hours per week was not uncommon. I suppose if we were students in the traditional sense, that would not be all that bad. But being just a bit more "mature", we still had to perform in our hectic jobs and try to live a little too!
Take care,
At Saturday, January 24, 2009 2:05:00 PM,
Anonymous said…
After all this, there is only one thing to say: Have reverence for God, and obey his commands, because this is all that we were created for. ECCLESIASTES 12:13
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