Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) India, the Indian chapter of SNIA global, has announced major strategies to increase the number of storage professionals in the country to negate the shortage of skilled professionals in storage industry.

At the end of five years, SNIA India has grown from merely 12 members to 100 members. This large member community encompasses individuals, corporates, end-users, partners and IT vendors. This growth reflects the deep intention of the Indian storage industry to strengthen this association, which eventually can guide and direct the country’s storage fraternity towards a mutually beneficial future.

Sharad Srivastava, chairman, SNIA India, said, "SNIA India has received a good response in recent years from the industry. We have also taken initiatives in educating the industry on data storage and have facilitated working on technical issues under the technical working group (TWG). We are confident that in the future, we will continue to add value to the industry by creating awareness on storage and related fields".

In another step towards narrowing the gap between supply and demand of skilled storage professionals, SNIA India has announced initiatives to spread their educational training network across the country through the formation of an efficient franchise network. These franchise institutes will offer storage-related educational and training courses to students and professionals, besides offering them hands-on experience. SNIA India has already contracted with some institutes as franchise partners; however, there are plans to increase this base very soon. The association is aiming to create around 1,000 SNIA certified storage professionals by the end of next year.

Another major step SNIA India plans to take is to establish a pool of trainers. A pool of 20 trainers has been already trained under the ‘train the trainer’ programme this year. The country needs professional trainers who can conduct specialised training programmes to produce skilled storage professionals.

Bala Guna, director, Education Initiatives, SNIA India, said, "Our first phase of implementing storage education franchises has taken off well with finalisation of franchises in some metro cities. We are confident that this initiative will help us bridge the gap between demand and supply of certified storage professionals."