Industrial Visit to Oman Data Park

The IT department of UTAS-Ibri has organized an industrial visit to Oman Data Park, Muscat in 13th October 2022. The visit was arranged to strengthen the relationship with industry sectors for innovation, research and academic collaboration opportunities. A delegation of seven students from different academic levels and specializations have joined, accompanied by Dr. Qais Saif Qassim, lecturer in the IT department. The visit was initiated and organized by the Public Relations and Marketing Coordinator, Mr. Abdullah Mubarak Al Shukeily. 

Oman Data Park is the Sultanate's premier IT managed services provider offering superior managed data center, cyber security and cloud services hosted locally in Wattaya, Rusayl and Duqum. It was established in 2011 to provide a wide range of cloud services utilizing its own Tier 3 certified Data Centres. 

The visiting group was welcomed by Ms Sharifa Al Abri, the Account Manager and Mr Yasser Al Hosni, Team Leader – Data Center at Oman Data Park.  Both accompanied the visiting team to the meeting room, where Ms Sharifa Al Abri presented a session on the company's profile and portfolio. She also presented various cloud and security services offered by ODP and enlightened our students with many new terminologies and concepts in the cloud computing domain. Moreover, Ms Sharifa encouraged the students to join ODP after graduation or during the OJT. Ms Sharifa also emphasized the importance of linking the IT and the business domains to equip the students with the required knowledge to start their businesses. During this session, our students actively participated during the discussion. 

Furthermore, Mr Phani Krishna, head of the security team, attended the discussion to clarify some of the questions raised by the students. Mr Krishna explained how data should be managed at different levels and how ODP consider the data center's security as a serious issue.   

Lastly, Mr Yasir briefed the audience on the infrastructure of the data center and its different utilities, including power, cooling, ventilation, and connectivity. Moreover, he described the different types of power supplies that should be available in any data center facility, including main electricity supply, UPS and electricity generators. He also pointed out the importance of physical security to prevent data loss or sabotage. Later, Mr Yasir escorted the group to the data center units, including the Network Operation Center (NOC), the Colocation Unit, the Service Delivery Unit, and the power supply units.

In the end, the visiting team expressed their gratitude and appreciation to ODP members and acknowledged their efforts for the day.