INDUSTRY NEWS
More board level discussions required on data centre energy efficiency
New research indicates that nearly a third of boards do not discuss data centre resource efficiency , despite it being considered an important part of their CSR strategies . This is leading to increased uncertainty and difficulties in predicting and reducing future costs , according to The Green Grid .
The Green Grid surveyed 150 IT decision makers and found that only two thirds ( 62 per cent ) of organisations are discussing data centre energy efficiency at board level . This suggests that conversations to better understand the contribution of green IT to CSR strategies , must be facilitated through clearer monitoring and measuring models provided by IT leaders .
Roel Castelein , EMEA marketing chair of The Green Grid , said , ‘ There are two issues that are leading many organisations to struggle in understanding resource efficiency and how best to increase it . Firstly , the conversations are not always happening at the right level . Sustainability is an organisational issue and therefore it needs to be understood by the board - especially as the data centre is often one of the largest resource drains in an organisation . Secondly , even when it is discussed at the board level , many are uncertain about the subject due to a lack of data and experience in order to make effective decisions .’
Key findings include :
• 38 per cent of respondents would like more time to monitor their data .
• The majority of respondents ( 97 per cent ) claim that monitoring within data centres could be improved for increased energy efficiency .
• Around two fifths ( 43 per cent ) believe that the future costs is the top challenge perceived by the board , followed by the cost of refreshing hardware ( 37 per cent ) and actually meeting environmental targets ( 33 per cent ).
PCCW Solutions launches D-Infinitum Global Data Centre Alliance
PCCW Solutions has announced the launch of D-Infinitum Global Data Centre Alliance ( D-Infinitum ).
This strategic alliance with leading data centre service providers around the world will be addressing enterprises ’ growing demand for cost effective multi-site colocation and value added services across countries and locations . The D-Infinitum network combines more than 80 data centre facilities across over 40 cities globally . PCCW Solutions together with the D-Infinitum partners intend to offer multi-site colocation and value added services to the clients , including managed services , facility management , business continuity , disaster recovery , etc .
Ramez Younan , managing director of PCCW Solutions , said , ‘ PCCW Group is well known for its world class capabilities and global connectivity across over 3,000 cities worldwide . PCCW Solutions together with the D-Infinitum partners intend to provide a full suite of hosting and colocation services in addition to connectivity and value added services , thus providing a one-stop hub for clients ’ global hosting needs and enabling them to reap the full benefits of each of the locations to achieve their availability , performance , security and capacity requirements .’
Cloud transition ‘ faster than you think ’ according to Uptime Institute survey
Uptime Institute has announced the results of its 2016 Uptime Institute Data Center Industry Survey . The sixth annual survey provides an overview of the major trends shaping IT infrastructure delivery and strategy .
According to survey findings , 50 per cent of senior enterprise IT executives expect the majority of IT workloads to reside off-premise in cloud or colocation sites in the future . Of those respondents 70 per cent expect that shift to occur by 2020 , and 23 per cent expect the shift will happen by next year .
‘ The shift is occurring , and our findings show an industry in a state of flux ,’ said Matt Stansberry , director of content and publications for Uptime Institute . ‘ We saw the trends lining up beginning with our 2013 survey , noting that enterprise IT teams were not effectively communicating data centre cost and performance metrics to their C-level executives . The business demand for agility and cost transparency has driven workloads to the public cloud . Our counsel to data centre and IT professionals is to become more effective at articulating and showcasing their value to the business .’
Uptime Institute Survey findings since 2013 have shown that the majority of respondents report some percentage of their IT portfolio resides outside of their enterprise-owned data centres , either in the cloud or some form of off-premise computing . The annual Data Center Industry Survey takes the pulse of the legacy , on-premise enterprise IT and data centre operations teams , many of which are not motivated or inclined to move to cloud .
The sixth annual Uptime Institute Data Center Industry Survey was conducted via email in February 2016 and includes global responses from over 1,000 data centre operators and IT practitioners .
Networking industry has 12 months to CE mark all cables used in construction
From 1st July 2016 all communications cables for use in construction anywhere in the European Economic Area ( EEA ) are subject to the Construction Products Regulation ( CPR ).
CPR will require all cables marketed in the EEA to carry a CE mark . To get a CE mark all such communications cables will require to be tested and certified against the newly harmonised pan-European standards for manufacturing process and fire performance . There is a transition period ( called the period of co-existence ) of just one year . Brand-Rex CTO Ken Hodge commented , ‘ This is one of the biggest changes to hit the networking industry in over a decade . But it ’ s a really good change as it harmonises the classification of fire performance across the whole of the EEA , and it will radically improve fire safety . ‘ CPR will now apply to all power , control and communication cabling within buildings and for any manufacturer , or supplier , to get their products through the very rigorous classification process will require a significant investment of resources and clear demonstration of controlled design and manufacturing operations . We at Brand-Rex have been working towards this point for many years and are well prepared .’
Until now , fire safety and specifications relating to construction products , and in particular cables , have been an unsatisfactory mixture of different standards in different sectors and localities . Due to the way they have evolved they were not even hierarchical with the result that abetter performing cable will meet a high standard but often will not meet one of the lower fire performance standards .
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