Data centres due for overhaul
WITHIN the next 18 months numerous companies face the unpleasant and costly task of overhauling their data centres, as the technology is no longer keeping pace with business demands.
When corporate data takes ages to interrogate, e-mail is slow and running costs rise beyond reason, the data centre is no longer supporting the business properly and needs a huge overhaul. That daunting warning is the new hi-tech reality, not just a ploy to sell more equipment, says Ed Ansett, HP’s regional director of critical facilities services.
“A huge number of data centres haven’t been managed properly. They have capacity problems, reliability problems and connectivity problems,” he says. “Lots of data centres need to be reconfigured or rebuilt.”
Problems include their inability to store sufficient data and return it at high speeds as the sheer volume of information soars. Other constraints are a lack of space to add more servers, high electricity costs to run and cool the equipment, the complexity built up by piecemeal expansions, and high carbon emissions in an era focusing on power reduction.
The cost of building a new data centre varies according to its size and capacity, Ansett says, but recent research in the US cited a ballpark figure of $25000 a square metre.
Forrester analyst Thomas Mendel agrees that data centres are in dire need of an overhaul. “Most data centres were last refreshed about 10 years ago. Most are no longer fit for purpose, and in 2010 there’s going to be a major refresh across the world.”
The rising price of electricity and laws demanding that companies emit less greenhouse gases are adding to the pressure. Since data centres consume vast amounts of power, buying modern energy-efficient models is a sensible start.
Mendel says a major decision facing companies is whether to continue running their own centres or outsource the job to a technology expert. Outsourcing promises lower running costs, guaranteed technical support and access to the latest technology without having to buy and maintain it themselves.
Eskom’s attempt to hike its tariffs 34% will provide further clamours for fuel efficiency, and that could prompt more companies to outsource the data centre.
Outsourcing is on the rise as executives recognise that IT is expensive to run internally if it’s not a core competency, says Ansett. And the fledgling quest to go green will be exacerbated within 18 months, as most chief information officers will become accountable for corporate electricity bills.
Yet Eskom’s erratic electricity is not SA’s only constraint. Bandwidth is also scarce, and companies need high-speed access if their data and applications are stored remotely.
HP often gets requests from African companies debating whether to build a data centre or let a technology partner handle it. SA is on its radar screen as a potential base for a huge facility shared by multiple clients, but HP would have to ensure it was viable before investing. “A large data centre can use as much power as a small town, so power and bandwidth infrastructure are basic prerequisites,” says Ansett. “Every country needs a robust IT infrastructure just to compete, so at some point there is going to have to be some commitment in SA to providing enough power for data centre facilities to exist.”
Neotel, Vodacom and Telkom have recently entered the market by running hosted data centres, with Neotel opening a R100m data centre in Midrand last week and planning another for Cape Town. Executive Stefano Mattiello says the need to cut costs and embrace energy efficiency are driving demand for its promise of cost savings and rapid scalability to ensure crucial data and online services are always available.
Internet Solutions, Business Connexion and several other local companies have offered those services for years, and should all benefit from the trend of letting a hi-tech partner take the strain.
The huge increase in bandwidth promised when the Seacom cable goes live this month should also boost the industry by giving clients essential instant access to external data centres.
Internet Solutions says its deal to lease a substantial amount of bandwidth from Seacom will be ideal as customers transfer mission-critical data and run their business processes across its network. “We are looking forward to the opportunities it will bring to our hosting and managed services business,” says business solutions director Hillel Shrock.
As the cost of telecoms falls and electricity fees climb, it will become more efficient to access data from a central storage facility over a fibre optic network.
Global agricultural company Syngenta used to run e-mail servers in 160 sites until it outsourced the job to HP. It now has just two sites and cut its running costs 30%, says Mike Meysner, its head of transformation.
Companies often struggle to estimate how much storage or processing power they will need in future, and make the wrong buying decisions. It was safer and easier to let a specialist do the job and pay for the capacity they use.
That also lets a company buy more capacity at peak periods and switch it off when demand slackens, without any capital investment. “We have gone from managing servers to buying services. We don’t own anything,” Meysner says.
Business Day
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