Intelligent Data Centres Issue 27 | Page 20

STRENGTHENING SECURITY AND PRIVACY IS THE NUMBER ONE PRIORITY FOR DATA CENTRE PROFESSIONALS GOING INTO 2021 .
DATA CENTRE PREDICTIONS
relates to budget and cost reductions . Consolidating data centre footprints and moving from an on-premises to a hybrid cloud model are the leading initiatives organisations will take to save money . Tools that enable accurate and agile capacity planning of all space , power , cooling and connection resources will be increasingly leveraged to improve the efficiency of capacity utilisation .
Security remains important . Strengthening security and privacy is the number one priority for data centre professionals going into 2021 , according to Service Express ’ s survey .
Organisations must remotely protect assets and data with tools that can manage and remotely control electronic door locks , watch real-time camera feeds and provide real-time audit logs to ensure compliance with requirements and regulations .
Continued emphasis on sustainability . Global data centre energy consumption is so massive that if all the data centre sites in the world were a country , they would rank as the fifth largest energy consumer .
Yet , even with the incredible growth of global data centres in the past decade , actual data centre energy consumption only increased by 6 % because of the industry ’ s commitment to going green . In the new normal , organisations will continue to pioneer new ways to increase energy efficiency and meet sustainability goals while decreasing operating costs .
A new way forward with DCIM software
Given these trends , one thing becomes obvious : data centre and infrastructure teams need tools that allow them to remotely manage their sites . Organisations understand this and are reallocating budgets and finding funds to implement tools like Data Centre Infrastructure Management ( DCIM ) software . Data centre professionals understand the additional efficiency and productivity DCIM software provides and are developing comprehensive remote data centre management strategies to succeed in 2021 and beyond .
Consider the following DCIM trends :
• Rapid growth . According to Global Market Insights , the DCIM market is expected to reach US $ 5 billion by 2026 , growing at a CAGR of 23 %.
• Data centre spending is projected to rebound . Gartner projects that data centre spending is projected to reach US $ 200 billion in 2021 , a 6.2 % increase over 2020 spending . Remote data centre management tools will account for a larger percentage than normal as organisations see the necessity .
• Capacity planning is more important than ever . Intelligent capacity planning is a must-have to keep up with increased demand . According to 451 Research , capacity planning is the number one feature driving DCIM adoption for half of all data centre managers .
• Remote management tools are no longer optional . Uptime Institute reports that 90 % of data centre operators plan to increase their use of remote monitoring and management tools . A total of 73 % plan to increase the automation of their facilities .

STRENGTHENING SECURITY AND PRIVACY IS THE NUMBER ONE PRIORITY FOR DATA CENTRE PROFESSIONALS GOING INTO 2021 .

• DCIM users have clear top objectives . In a survey by Sunbird Software , users reported that their top objectives for using DCIM software were to monitor and report power , energy and environmental readings , plan capacity of space and power , and manage assets .
Bringing it all together
In the new normal , data centre teams must maintain uptime , increase efficiency and improve productivity with minimal personnel onsite and limited remote visibility of their environments . They face challenges that have made data centre management more difficult than ever . However , the trends show that the industry is pivoting to a remote data centre management model in which teams can plan capacity , track assets and connections , visualise sites in 3D , complete tasks without physical access and collaborate around shared KPIs and dashboards , regardless of where they or where their sites are . ◊
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