It ain’t what you do; it’s the way that you do it

THE SURVEY WAS COMPLETED IN THE UK, and those interviewed were senior IT professionals that represented large organisations (250 or more employees) and took responsibility for the company’s data centres. This is the first time the results have been published and with exploding levels of data, the data centre market as we know it is experiencing a significant shift.

Amazingly, it was reported that 97% of this group were now in ‘reactive’ mode when it came to data centre planning; making the majority of existing data centre plans now largely obsolete. A whopping 85% of those questioned also cited that they expect their current data centre plans to be out of date in the next 3 years. Why? Big Data.

Just 28% of companies have formal contingency data centre plans agreed at board level with regards to how best to deal with spiralling pressures on data storage. 55% have at least started looking at the issue; with informal plans in place and a further 13% have what they describe as “embryonic” ideas under development. Overall, a staggering 91% of companies expect their company’s data centre outsourcing to increase year-on-year as a result of storage pressures resulting from big data.

While more of those who already outsource data centre requirements expect such outsourcing to increase, 28% of those who do not outsource at the moment are definite that big data will force them to do so in the future. Another 44% expect they will “probably” be impacted.

However, there is an upside to this current state of pandemonium and that comes from the fact that UK businesses have said that they are experiencing growth. The faster the growth, the more important rapid data centre deployment becomes of course. Indeed 99% of those surveyed agreed rapid deployment was important to some degree, with 54% describing it as ‘very important’.
Whilst the findings demonstrate a current lack of long term vision when it comes to data centre requirements, the statistics also suggest that an element of panic buying may be creeping into the sector. Big data, business growth and flexibility are all playing a role in creating data centre chaos as those responsible for data management find it increasingly difficult to predict what space they will, or won’t, need next. With change, flexibility becomes more important and according to 67% of senior IT managers the flexibility of their data centre directly limits the flexibility of their business.

But it seems that it’s not just about flexibility. 92% of large UK organisations have migrated one or more data centres in the past 12 months, for various reasons. Given the growth curve, it isn’t surprising to learn that 40% elected to move because the existing facility was too small, yet 26% still elected to change because the current data centre was over-provisioned and too large. Reducing OPEX is also still an important item on the business agenda, and drove 37% to migrate for this reason. Just 16% cited insufficient power but 10% also felt that inadequate cooling was enough of a justification for change. Maybe, as new regulations are introduced, thinking about longer term data centre capacity will just become a thing of the past as the data centre instead evolves to become more of a business commodity than a luxury.

This is the element that concerns me. When looking for a solution quickly, it could be argued that price becomes the key factor in making a decision – does it seem like less of a gamble if you haven’t paid as much for it? Surely this approach should never be taken in the data centre sector. Can large enterprises really afford to take a risk with their corporate data in this way? Furthermore, if it’s a question of rapid deployment, might they also then be tempted by the short-term delivery focused promises made by those operators who are simply keen to build a short term client list?

Whilst this may seem obvious, we also decided to take a look at unsanctioned subcontracting. Just 38% of respondents are completely aware that many data centre operators contract out their facilities management to other third party vendors; meaning their IT infrastructure may not be looked after by the company that they hold their contract with. Interestingly, 50% ‘suspected’ that this may be the case and 11% admitted that they had no idea that this could even happen.

These issues are often examined in a tender process to rate a potential operator partner but the level of consultancy provided is also worth considering. Amongst those companies that currently outsource, 91% think their current operator could be more proactive about offering advice and consultancy on increasing energy efficiency, or PUE, whilst others have found a lack of expertise to be frustrating. In fact, I was very surprised to see that 93% of those that outsource said they have found their data centre operator partner unable to deal with important day-to-day operational issues and 68% identified this as having happened in the past 12 months alone.

Regardless of any short term urgencies that you might perceive, I would always say think ‘long term’ when it comes to data centre strategies. Buying good quality space is never just about price; it’s also about the quality and reputation of the operator and their willingness and ability to deploy best practices when it comes to the day to day management of the facility. Without these fundamentals in place, your data centre strategy will always run the risk of being reactive. And this is unfortunately likely to be because you are always moving, disappointedly, from one operator to another.