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INTERVIEW
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university courses that bridge the gap between education and industry .
When it comes to skills , ‘ rogue traders ’ have also become an industry-wide issue with many claiming to be qualified to provide maintenance services . To combat this , Riello UPS recently launched a certified engineers programme designed to protect customers who require third party servicing and approved spares for their UPS . On top of this , the course ensures Riello engineers continue to undertake relevant training .
What will be the market drivers for the future ?
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The future of data centres will be shaped by the exponential growth in data predicted to 2020 and beyond . The Internet of Things ( IoT ) is a key driver for the market and has the potential to bring every product , service and activity into the digital realm . This , in turn , will vastly multiply the amount of data that businesses process .
Deploying robots could also lead to less downtime , because this offers the potential for every aspect of data centre management to be forecast and controlled . And as robots can ’ t see , costly variables such as lighting could simply be eliminated . And while we may not have arrived at the robot-driven , ‘ lights out ’ data centre of the future quite yet , technology is moving at breakneck speed , putting IT teams under pressure to redefine their data centre strategies .
Should data centre industry companies specialise
4 or is diversify ? To put it simply , yes – companies can afford to specialise . There ’ s a lot of pressure around certain sectors , namely banking , to meet specific UK and EU regulation , and not every data centre can offer that level of security . Of course , this isn ’ t the case across the board , but it ’ s important that some specialise while others offer a more general service .
What does the data centre of tomorrow look like ?
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The data centre of tomorrow will look very different to the data centre of today . Infrastructure will be green and flexible , based on traditional IT as well as the latest technological advances , making it agile enough to deliver the services needed to run tomorrow ’ s business .
There ’ s also set to be a shift in how we store data , which will help to tackle the nation ’ s energy trilemma . With the UK having more than 4GW of stored power in UPS units alone , not to mention electricity demand is set to double by 2050 , we need to put the right equipment in place to harness that power and spread demand across a variety of sources . Using power generated from lithium-ion UPS batteries at peak times , instead of using power from energy system operators , is one example of how battery power in UPS can be harnessed to help reduce pressure on the UK ’ s power grid .
We ‘ ll need to see a shift , from how data centres store data , to how it ’ s managed and governed . The outcome ? Significant cost savings , not to mention better use of resource to create a more responsive , agile data centre .
How is Riello UPS keeping abreast of current and
6 future industry developments ?
Our R & D department is pivotal when it comes to industry developments . With devices becoming smaller and more powerful , we need to be thinking ahead and creating agile solutions that meet the ever-evolving needs of the sector . In terms of what ’ s next for Riello UPS , we ’ ll be launching two new products at this year ’ s IP Expo . While we can ’ t reveal too much just yet , they have been developed with the recent changes to the industry in mind . n
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