Datacraft opens IT hub at DLSU

IT solutions provider Datacraft, in partnership with De La Salle University (DLSU), has launched its first research center for infrastructure optimization in the Asia-Pacific region.

Housed at the Computer Science department of the DLSU campus on Taft Avenue in Manila, the facility was built to be a world-class center that would deliver competent research in the field of infrastructure optimization, create new knowledge and set new standards in the industry.

This joint research program hopes to take advantage of Datacraft’s resources as an IT services and solutions company in the region and DLSU’s large pool of Computer Science graduates pursuing a masteral degree in IT and Computer Science.

Bill Padfield, CEO of Datacraft Asia Ltd., who was in town for the launching last week, said that with the rapid growth and development of new technologies, managing infrastructure security, data center and desktop platforms is becoming more complex, costly and risky.

"There is an increasing demand for infrastructure optimization as companies seek to align IT infrastructure with strategic business needs in the quest to maximize the return on their technology investments," he explained in a statement.

As this call for more experts in the field, the company decided to put up a research center in a leading university in the Asia-Pacific to train young people to handle the requirements of an increasingly complex IT world.

"Not only do we aim to develop and hone the expertise in delivering infrastructure optimization solutions, we also hope to create and set new, cutting-edge standards in the IT industry that will benefit both the corporate and academic worlds," Padfield said.

Dr. Caslon Chua, dean of DLSU’s College of Computer Studies, welcomed the move, saying the college is confident that the joint research program will contribute positively to existing practices in the field and provide insight and experience that will benefit the students significantly.

Initially, 12 Computer Science graduates of DLSU currently pursuing a masteral degree were chosen for the first batch of researchers at the newly launched Cooperative Research Center (CRC) for Advanced Infrastructure Optimization.

According to Michael William Harrison, head of professional services (Microsoft solutions) of Datacraft Asia Ltd., all 12 researchers are among the top 15 graduates of the college and have been on the dean’s list for academic excellence. Collectively, they speak a total of nine languages, which is an important factor for regional teams.

"This came as a surprise," said Harrison. "When we interviewed the applicants, we found out that most of them speak at least two foreign languages."

This is an advantage for the project because the researchers will eventually be asked to engage with Datacraft’s clients in the region in the latter part of the training program.

Harrison said the program will consist of an intensive training in project management mentored by the company’s research teams in the region and the DLSU faculty, obtaining Microsoft certifications and applying the knowledge gained in their masteral thesis program.

The researchers will be divided into four groups, each provided with a high-end file server for data storage, another high-end server for developing the applications and yet another one for testing. All researchers will also have the latest multimedia laptops with external storage. They will be sent to industry conferences here and abroad either to present their papers or to learn from the experts in the field.

Harrison disclosed that one of the reasons that Datacraft chose DLSU for the project is because its College of Computer Studies already has a Microsoft Innovation Center.

"So we just have to co-locate the Datacraft CRC in the same laboratory, using the same IT infrastructure," he said.      

As a major partner of Microsoft, Datacraft will also leverage the CRC to focus and align the research activities closely to the Microsoft Infrastructure Optimization Initiative (IoI), designed to help companies map their infrastructure and optimize it for full value.

The research will focus on developing capabilities in four areas – desktop, server and device management; identity access management; security and networking; and data protection and recovery.

While the amount of the research grant was not disclosed, Harrison said Datacraft will foot the bill of the researchers’ tuition in the Master’s class, their monthly allowance, the salaries of the teachers and faculty advisers, as well as the travel expenses when they go abroad for training, engaging with clients in the region or presenting their papers in industry conferences.

This is on top of the investment in setting up the infrastructure at the CRC-MIC co-located laboratory in the school.

Who owns the research output? Harrison said that as per agreement with the school, the teams’ output will be owned by Datacraft, while the researchers, together with DLSU, will own the copyright to the masteral thesis project produced as part of the requirements of their masteral degree program.

There are no strings attached though; at the end of the 16-month training program and the completion of their masteral degree program, the researchers are free to choose their own career paths.

"They can join the academe as professors or professional researchers and eventually pursue their PhDs, or they can choose a career in the IT industry and hopefully, work for us," Harrison said.

Since the CRC is a long-term collaboration between Datacraft and DLSU, each year a new batch of 12 researchers will be accommodated into the research program.

As technology evolves, Padfield said there will be a corresponding investment in new technologies and there is a possibility of extending the scope of the agreement.

Right now, Datacraft is looking at the area of converged communications as one of the hot technologies that will drive the growth of the IT industry in the years to come.