Connected consumer devices.Connected industrial systems. Whether it’s coming from a factory in South Carolina, a fitness tracker in California, or somewhere in between, the amount of connected devices and the overwhelming volume of data they create is making those in the data center industry and IT departments alike stand up and take notice.
For most businesses, it’s already abundantly clear which way the wind is blowing. The amount of data being created, stored, and analyzed is growing and the expertise it takes to properly manage its storage and distribution [on-site] is probably not something most want to invest in. There’s a pretty clear correlation between these factors and the fact that on-premise data center spending is down and cloud migration is up.
So what do data centers need to be properly prepared for the increase in data as well as the increase in customers migrating their workloads to data center servers? We put together a brief list of the must-haves below.
People.
While there is a lot of excitement and discussion surrounding many of the exciting cloud-based tools that have emerged within the data center (and rightly so), there may be some misconceptions about how these tools function in total. The truth is that data centers do not run on magic. In order to avoid costly mistakes and keep the data center running smoothly, it is crucial to keep experts on hand.
Proximity.
If your customers are in Washington, D.C., you don’t want to have to rely on a data center in Washington state. When it comes to fast, reliable delivery of data, proximity is crucial. Having your data collocate at a data center closer to your end user enables you to serve your content faster to your customers.
Green Power.
With the amount of data increasing and coming from more and more sources all the time, the need for sustainability really comes into focus. It’s clear that data centers and cloud services are going to be an indispensable part of our economy and our daily lives going forward. Because data centers need so much power, and the reliance on their services is increasing, it behooves data center operators to make power reduction and green energy usage a top priority.
Custom Interconnection.
Interconnected devices are increasing as more data is being generated globally and concepts like Internet of Things (IoT) and Smart Cities are become a reality. There are new Cloud Exchange platforms that provide software-defined networking platform enabling customers to establish private, direct connections to service providers of your choice, as well as other users of the platform and other data centers in the network. With large amounts of data and shifting strategies, this kind of flexibility of interconnection is invaluable.
Security.
Sometimes one piece of the technology stack outlives its “best by” date but still gets the job done. With security, this kind of attitude is a recipe for disaster. “It’s too difficult to keep pace” is never an adequate excuse. And because of the lightning-quick pace of change, more and more businesses are turning to data center operators who take security seriously and make it their top priority every day.
So, how does your data center stack up? If you’re still relying on an on-premise solution, it’s unlikely you can confidently check these 5 boxes.
