DATA CENTRE PREDICTIONS
Henk IJspeerd , Director Key Accounts Retail EMEA , Vertiv
regulations regarding environmental factors . For example , in the Netherlands and Spain , there is not enough power available , so companies need to compromise and provide grid support . This impacts the approach to UPS and IT infrastructure so businesses have to assess how best to design their infrastructure to deal with these demands .
These businesses also need to think long-term when planning their infrastructure – what will the requirements be in 10 or 15 years , for example . Planning ahead requires a cross-organisational strategy , incorporating the IT department and building management teams , as well as other stakeholders .
What pressures does this demand for digital place on retail infrastructure ?
There are multiple pressures on retail infrastructure . Take CCTV , for example , which requires storage of hundreds of images – all of which must be kept in a secure , regulated environment , so stored in a separate cabinet .
Then there is the high quantity of data which is stored , which helps to provide personalised experiences for customers based on their preferences and any special offers that align with those .
To be able to provide these services and optimise infrastructure , there needs to be standardisation across individual countries or regions . Solutions also need to be flexible and scalable – a challenge given that there is no crystal ball to see what the requirements will be in five- or 10-years ’ time .
We do know that organisations will need to install more IT equipment and that they will need to ensure the grid is stable .
At this time , we are seeing many retailers opting to purchase bigger UPS ’ which are scalable and that start with an autonomy time of 10 minutes and can increase to whatever they want . These items are becoming more and more critical for retailers .
How can retailers ensure consistency both online and offline to ensure positive customer experiences ?
When choosing to buy online , customers will look at the price and availability , but will always choose based on what will arrive tomorrow .
If retailers want to survive in this market , they need to have optimised systems , the right stock levels and well-organised transportation systems . Customer experience is crucial – if you go to a shop for instance and can ’ t find what you ’ re looking for on the shelf , you will go somewhere else and , if it ’ s a good experience there , from that moment on you will probably buy more in that store .
These days , people will go online to find the perfect jacket and it ’ s important that the product is available in-store too – if they cannot find it , they will go elsewhere .
What are the key requirements for retail organisations when it comes to ensuring they have robust infrastructure in place ?
While data centres are clean environments , retailers have warehouses where they need to reduce the amount of square metres because of the annual costs . IT is often placed in a corner of the warehouse where it ’ s dusty , where the temperature and humidity are variable . We are building solutions specifically for these kinds of environments , as well as providing maintenance and support for them . Again , it ’ s important to standardise .
For the stores , it ’ s even worse . Imagine a store in Cyprus versus one in the UK . Cyprus can be more than 40 degrees Celsius in the summer . As trucks arrive , the doors will open to unload the truck and then that raises the temperature in the warehouse of the store itself , and you may get dust come in . Therefore , we build special solutions such as integrated cooling with dust resistance and monitoring solutions .
WE BUILD SPECIAL SOLUTIONS SUCH AS INTEGRATED COOLING WITH DUST RESISTANCE AND MONITORING SOLUTIONS .
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