Intelligent CIO APAC Issue 01 | Page 54

FEATURE: DATA CENTERS THIS MEANS INCREASED STAFFING AND ENHANCED MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS TO PROACTIVELY ANTICIPATE AND DIAGNOSE INFRASTRUCTURE AND NETWORK ISSUES TO AVOID DAMAGING DOWNTIME. Despite the disruption we have seen the past few months, the demand for connectivity has not slowed down. In fact, it is only accelerating further, as more employees continue to work from home and businesses focus on cloud migration as a part of their backup plans in case of another wave of shutdowns. No matter what the future may hold, data center providers who wish to retain customers must be dedicated to supporting businesses through these momentous shifts. Only a few years ago, we were referring to capacity requirements for customers in kilowatts. These days we are seeing customer data demand exceeding the 20-megawatt range as large businesses demand faster and more complex cloud and IoT services. The current demand levels we are seeing are only set to grow bigger with analyst firm Gartner predicting that there will be as many as 5.8 billion enterprise and automotive endpoints by the end of 2020. This means hyperscale facilities need to be able to rapidly increase capacity for customers, whilst also ensuring they are operating at peak efficiency at all times. Operators who fail to incorporate scalability into their product roadmaps risk falling behind and losing enterprise customers to data center providers that are better suited to their needs. Ensuring continuity in the face of disruption As we think about where the hyperscale data center industry is headed, it is important to consider the impact COVID-19 has had. This not only requires increased scalability and physical capacity, but also means operators must have the correct management and security protocols in place to ensure facilities can cope with the increased load. A data center is only as effective as its operator, so when we take into account the sheer physical and virtual size of a hyperscale facility catering for multiple 20-megawatt customers, staffing and management expertise is crucial for ensuring smooth operations. This means increased staffing and enhanced management systems to 54 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com