Microsoft donates computers, servers, scholarships to BBCC

MOSES LAKE — Microsoft has made a significant donation of computer equipment and scholarships to Big Bend Community College’s computer science program.

According to a news release from Big Bend Community College, the Redmond-based company, which has a huge economic presence in Grant County, has donated $60,000 in computer hardware and contributed $30,000 to scholarships for students pursuing Systems Administration-Data Center Specialization certification.

The equipment, which includes 30 laptop computers, 75 servers, three server racks and 36 network devices, will replace much older equipment, according to BBCC Computer Science Specialist Tom Willingham.

“Technology changes so fast, and when it gets old it is just not as useful,” Wellingham said in a news release. “So having this equipment donated really helps bring us up to speed.”

According to Tiffany Sukola, communications coordinator for BBCC, the students will be installing the new equipment as part of this quarter’s systems administration project.

“The students are actually going to be responsible for administering the process of transitioning from the old equipment to the new equipment,” Willingham said. “They will have to determine what kind of hard drives they will need, what software to install and they will have to make all of the network connections to get this new equipment running. They are really excited about this.”

According to the Grant County Assessor’s Office, Microsoft is the largest single property owner in Grant County, with the total assessed value of its real and personal property — equipment in its server farms — valued at over $1 billion in 2017.

That’s a little less than 10 percent of the total assessed value of all property in Grant County.

Wellingham said the need for trained data center professionals has been growing over the past decade as the area has seen an increase in the number of data centers moving into Grant County. About 31 students are in the program, according to BBCC.

“We have about eight major data centers in Quincy, a couple in Moses Lake, and all around the state so the demand is there,” said Willingham.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.