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Sept. 24, 2015 — “Today’s data centers are really the factories of the 21st century,” said John Kovach, acting global data center head and head of decentralized energy systems, at the recent 2015 Siemens Industry Analyst conference. “The product is data.”
Demand for that product is exploding, and so is supply. The result is significant change affecting data center facility infrastructure and operations. Kovach highlighted some of the key trends:
• Energy: There is a good deal of pressure to reduce energy use in data centers. Much of that pressure stems from efforts to reduce energy costs. But external pressures — for example, from environmental groups — is another factor. What’s more, there is increasing effort to make sure of alternative energy sources in order to decouple from the grid or to supplement it.
• The Internet of Things: “We’re seeing a tremendous amount of sensors being put into buildings," Kovach said. "And data centers are no exception. Increasingly, the ability to obtain the information is not the issue — rather, it’s how the information will be used."
• The move away from enterprise data centers to colocation data centers or the cloud. In these environments, speed of deployment becomes critical, since it is tied to revenue.
• The data center is increasingly software-driven, making it possible to view a portfolio of data centers as a single ecosystem. In that environment, it is possible to move applications from one data center to another, which can affect airflows.
There’s a need for IT and FM to work together effectively, Kovach said. A data center information management system (DCIM) has to provide information that’s relevant to both.
Siemens is well known for its expertise in facilities, and it is partnering with other organizations, like Intel and TSO Logic, to expand the IT information available through Siemens' DCIM offering, Data Center Clarity.
