20
INTERVIEW
Smarter
power
By Leo Craig, general manager,
Riello UPS
www.riello-ups.co.uk
Putting the right equipment in
place to harness power and spread
demand across sources
Riello UPS Ltd is the UK subsidiary of Riello UPS S.p.A – a
manufacturer of uninterruptible power supplies and standby
power systems ranging from 400VA to 6MVA. The company
is part of the Riello Elettronica Group, with subsidiary
businesses and support offices worldwide.
What have been the most significant changes to
the industry over the past five years?
Over the past few years, the data centre landscape has
shifted dramatically. Gone are the days when the focus
was primarily on the storage of information and disaster
recovery. Customers are increasingly savvy and are now
demanding instant access to data and information, which
can be attributed to the rise of mobility and the Internet of
Things (IoT).
Green data centres have also been on the rise;
designed with a maximum energy efficiency and minimal
environmental impact model in mind. Cooling control
has played a part in this, with new frameworks in place to
maintain temperature, humidity and air quality within data
centres for optimal performance.
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What are the main challenges for your sector?
Of course, there will always be ongoing challenges
around configurability, availability and scalability. But one of
the biggest challenges facing the data centre industry today
is the widely reported skills shortage, and the extra pressure
it’s adding to resourcing.
There’s a question mark over whether the education
sector is working hard enough to plug these gaps. A recent
report by the Institution of Engineering and Technology
(IET) identified that graduate capabilities are not matched
to industry needs. This would suggest that what we need to
see is not more candidates, but more dynamic and focused
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