IT OPERATIONS

Illustration: Morning Brew Inc., Photos: Unsplash, Adobe Stock

It was Thanksgiving week in 2022—a time when most employees are hard to find, let alone critical pieces of data center power infrastructure. And Kurt Bogle needed a transformer.

Bogle, then a senior regional director of critical facilities operations at NTT Global Data Centers, oversaw seven operational buildings around Chicago and Virginia and a staff of about 150 people. After a transformer failed a test, Bogle had to find a replacement and coordinate a swap with the onsite managers—all without disrupting service.

Thankfully, Bogle found a spare, but his experience illustrates the importance of systems thinkers at data centers who know how to acquire the resources necessary to maintain data centers’ high uptime expectations. Given supply-chain limitations and a steady buildout of data centers, such expertise is more crucial than ever—and there are signs a labor shortage is underway, threatening Big Tech’s AI ambitions and the reliable operation of mission-critical facilities.

“It’s going to get stretched,” Bogle said. “There is a need to continue to develop, build, mentor these leaders so that they can take on the roles of today and tomorrow.”

Why data centers can’t find enough senior operators.—BH, DR

      

Sponsored By JumpCloud

When a new employee joins a company, IT creates an identity, assigns access based on their job, and knows who’s accountable for that access. So why don’t autonomous AI agents get the same operational discipline?

IT doesn’t have to rely on shared credentials, fake user accounts, or long-lived API keys for agent identities. They can give an agent its own identity, connect it to a human owner, and assign access based on the work it needs to perform. When that work changes or ends, the agent can be disabled independently without affecting its owner.

That’s what JumpCloud calls Agentic Identity and Access Management (IAM) in practice. It’s about bringing agents into the identity and access model alongside humans and devices, with the ownership and lifecycle controls IT needs to govern them.

Secure every identity, human or not. Start here.

CLOUD

Illustration: Shannon May, Photos: Unsplash

When it comes to software, the federal government is so 2000 and late.

That’s because any software the government uses needs to be certified by the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, which is notoriously difficult to get through. Enter Knox Systems, a software company that helps others get FedRAMPed: Since May 2025, Knox has gotten more than 50 companies FedRAMP certified, thereby granting governmental agencies access to cutting-edge technology. Governmental tech may not be so 3008, to finish the Black Eyed Peas’ lyric, but it’s at least catching up to 2026.

“It’s crazy that [in] the country that invented AI, the government of that country doesn’t have access to some of the latest and greatest,” Knox CEO and founder Irina Denisenko told Morning Brew. For example, “the entire Veterans Affairs system is not the hospital experience you experience at even a tier two, tier three institution, let alone a tier one in a major city. But the technology exists and the VA knows about it. And they want to use it.”

Getting on the fast track.—TC

      

IT STRATEGY

Getty Images

IT pros have a tough job, and one big stressor is the need to negotiate with third-party AI vendors.

Nonetheless, it’s becoming part of the IT team’s job to deal with vendors and advise higher-ups on how to choose the right service provider. That can be challenging, and often overwhelming, with questions about price, usage, vendor switching, and more.

To help with the process, it’s good to know what to prioritize for negotiations and what questions to ask—and not to ask.

AI isn’t a strictly “new” technology, said Jack Hogan, VP of advanced growth technologies at SHI International, but it’s increased in importance in recent years. That has meant more responsibility on the shoulders of IT professionals, who are often asked to give feedback on what vendors to work with.

Prepping for negotiations.—EH

      

patch notes

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top IT reads.

Stat: 78%. That’s how much AI token consumption is expected to grow in the next two years, according to a report from IT services company Accenture. (Accenture)

Quote: “A missed breach is visible and career-ending, so buying ‘AI-powered’ security is blame insurance, not a validated bet.”—Ram Varadarajan, CEO at Acalvio, on the industry fears that might be powering AI security spending (Dark Reading)

Read: Could diamonds help cool data center hardware? (Data Center Dynamics)

^{*A message from our sponsor.}

Jobs

CollabWORK connects you to the hidden job market through IT Brew and other trusted channels. Browse roles curated specifically for this community by clicking through to the job board.