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Remaining hopeful for the data centre sector ’ s future after the big freeze
Steve Hone , CEO , DCA – Data Centre Trade Association , discusses some of the significant moments that have taken place over the course of 2020 in the data centre sector and why he is hopeful for its future development .
Many businesses tend to impose
some form of change freeze across all production systems during peak times of the year . Change freezes can be a few days during public holidays to as long as five weeks during the summer months in some cases .
It is not unusual for data centre , network / computer / storage providers to adopt the same ethos and defer major upgrades to reduce the risks of unplanned outages or interruptions to service for example , over the Christmas period .
In normal times , many data centre owner / operators adopt the saying ‘ if it ’ s not broke , don ’ t fix it ’, this is to reduce the risk of downtime and maintain continuity of service during what is seen as businesscritical peak times . That ’ s understandable , however , life cannot stop even during a pandemic . I doubt anyone could have predicted at the start of 2020 that we would be plunged into a change freeze which for some has lasted for 12 months .
It is vital that all data centre owners and operators continue to perform routine planned maintenance to avoid unplanned outages . Many businesses have been forced to extend the life cycles of installed equipment due to the unintended consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic . Now is the time , as we begin a new year , to reignite those maintenance and upgrade projects ; after all , no one reasonably expects their car to continue to run reliably without checking the fluid levels or changing the brake pads and data centre environments are no different .
If the last 12 months has taught us anything it is what a vital role the data centre sector plays in supporting what most of us take for granted , namely our ability to communicate with each other . There is an increasing reliance on the digital services which we use not only to stay in contact with each other , for remote working during lockdown , but right the way through to shopping online for everything from essential food to stocking fillers .
The date centre sector is without question at the very epicentre of the www . intelligentdatacentres . com
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