Around the world, datacenter academies are helping people launch tech careers

Becoming the first member of his family to go to college was a dream come true for Huziafa Bin Yahiya Ibees. The eldest son of a baker, Ibees grew up in a small town on the outskirts of Hyderabad, a booming technology hub in southern India. After graduating from college, Ibees quickly landed an electrical engineering job, but the pay was low, and he barely made enough to pay his monthly bills.

Then a friend told him about an opportunity to be trained to work in one of the many datacenters being built in and around Hyderabad. Eager for career advancement, he enrolled and after completing the program in April, began working as a paid intern at a new Microsoft datacenter.

Ibees, 26, says he's thrilled by the chance to learn not only the "latest technology" but "the technology of the future."

Ibees is a graduate of Microsoft's Datacenter Academy (DCA), which prepares students for entry-level careers in technology and digital infrastructure through hands-on training in real-world learning environments.

Since its launch in 2018, the program has expanded around the world through over 30 partners, including local colleges, technical institutes and nonprofits. Students are currently being trained to become datacenter technicians in at least 14 countries and 26 communities, including most recently, Hyderabad, India.

To date, more than 12,522 students have enrolled in Microsoft datacenter academies around the world. While a percentage go on to full-time jobs at Microsoft, many others go on to technical roles outside Microsoft in datacenter and other digital infrastructure jobs.