Lack of data centre flexibility limits business flexibility

The report entitled “Panic Planning – Chaos in the Data Centre” was conducted in order to investigate current buying trends in the data centre sector. Of the IT managers questioned, 91% now think that rapid data centre deployment is important; this was especially true for fast growing companies who need to be more agile and more resilient overall. However, perhaps more importantly, the findings have also put the spotlight on the expertise within the data centre environment. Shockingly, the report found that among those who outsource all or part of their data centre space requirements, a staggering 71% do not think all the data centre operators they use have the necessary skills and knowledge to deal with day-to-day management and trouble-shooting. 68% of companies also stated that their data centre operator had been unable to deal with important operational issues in the last 12 months alone. This suggests that confidence levels are extremely low.

There is a clear demand for expertise from those surveyed. 91% of companies that currently outsource think that their current operator could be more proactive about offering advice and consultancy on a range of important issues, including how best to increase energy efficiency (PUE). Figures are even higher among the most senior respondents in the sample, with 71% of CIOs, VPs & IT directors saying they are definite that their current data centre operator could be more proactive about offering advice and consultancy.

“These findings are disappointing at a time when businesses need to be confident in their data centre partners,” said Terry Dempsey, Executive Director at Optimum. “In an increasingly dynamic and pressurised environment, companies are right to view outsourcing of their data centre as one of the most effective ways to enable them to retain focus on their core business; to reduce capital expenditure and to gain access to key IT skills without increasing headcount,” he explains. “It is imperative therefore that data centre operators ensure that their skills base is maintained and enhanced on a continuous basis to ensure that day-to-day, and strategic, advice is available - without question.”

On this note, earlier this year, the Data Centre Alliance actually flagged an impending ‘skills gap’ in the data centre industry. The data centre sector is the fastest growing area of the UK economy and yet IT graduates are not always attracted to this field.

Dempsey argues that the need to provide a responsive and highly agile service is clearly becoming just as important for operators as for the companies they serve. “The modern data centre is today expected to support multi-tenancy, high-density computing, so the ability to troubleshoot and problem solve is only going to become more prevalent. Operators are often better placed to counsel their clients than external consultants but it would appear that they need to address the short-term need to increase confidence levels by providing proactive expert advice rather than waiting to be asked for it,” he said.

“For many clients, this could mean providing more accurate reporting of operational data so that our customers can generate the KPI’s needed to meet compliance and audit regulations. To truly provide responsive and pre-emptive support, it means working much harder to fully understand what each client needs to support their business and going the extra mile to deliver it,” Dempsey adds.