E N D - U S E R I N S I G H T sites operate as efficiently as possible . However , delivering increased workload throughput while also ensuring risk reduction and improved sustainability is often challenging .
To help address this , our Technical Site Engineering and Delivery team work consistently to optimise technical sites ’ energy performance and make additional energy and efficiency improvements . It can be difficult to unlock the kind of performance improvements that we are looking to achieve – handling greater workloads while also securing energy savings – unless you know exactly what ’ s happening across your technical sites in real-time . The good news is that all the data is out there , ready to be collected – our operations team just needed to capture it .
Virgin Media O2 engaged EkkoSense , an AI-powered data centre optimisation software specialist , to help our operations teams gain a real-time view of thermal , power and capacity performance across 20 of our key technical sites . Unlike traditional , IT-led DCIM-based approaches , EkkoSense offers a distinctive , AI-enabled software-driven thermal , power and capacity optimisation solution . This enables operations teams to optimise performance in our technical sites , while simultaneously delivering quantifiable sustainability results .
What challenges or opportunities did you encounter while implementing EkkoSense ’ s solution across the 20 data centres ?
The EkkoSense solution brings together an exclusive mix of technology and capabilities . Low-cost Internet-of-Things ( IoT ) sensors provide the innovative SaaS platform with valuable data and , using Machine Learning , provides AI analytics , gaming-class 3D visualisation and Digital Twin capabilities that help to streamline the optimisation process . EkkoSense ’ s light touch approach meant that deploying the EkkoSense solution across 20 Virgin Media O2 sites took just two weeks on average per site .
How did the solution impact the training and operations of your technical staff ? Did it require any upskilling or changes in your team ’ s approach ?
From a thermal management perspective , it ’ s a lot easier for our technical staff to identify potential cooling issues quickly by using comprehensive 3D Digital Twin visualisations . This lets our team see exactly what ’ s happening in our technical sites across the business . The 3D visualisation particularly helps in terms of highlighting potential anomalies and displaying suggested airflow and cooling improvements .
Ekkosense has been straightforward and intuitive for the teams to use . We continue to evolve our operational processes to leverage all benefits and , as we do so , our teams are developing their knowledge and skills .
Beyond cooling and energy savings , how has the deployment of Digital Twin and AI technology helped improve other aspects of Virgin Media O2 ’ s data centre operations ?
Key benefits for the project to date include securing an initial cooling energy saving across the 20 sites that are equivalent to annual savings of over £ 1 million per year – and an average 15 % saving in data centre cooling energy across the target sites .
The EkkoSense project has also resulted in improved performance for our significant investment in free air-cooling
www . intelligentdatacentres . com 51