Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 40 | Page 22

LATEST INTELLIGENCE

THE TOP 9 MISTAKES IN DATA CENTER PLANNING BY MIKE M . HAGAN JOHN LUSKY TUAN HOANG , P . E . SCOTT WALSH , P . E ., LEED A . P .

PRESENTED BY Executive summary
Why do so many data center builds and expansions fail ? This white paper answers the question by revealing the top 9 mistakes organizations make when designing and building new data center space , and examines an effective way to achieve success through the Total Cost of Ownership ( TCO ) approach .
Introduction
Many businesses operate outside of safe capacity thresholds with little or no room to expand . According

Download whitepaper hereeto the IDC , the average data center is 9 years old .

However , Gartner states that any site more than 7 years old is obsolete . Overcrowded or obsolete data centers create a roadblock for growing organizations , and building a new data center ( s ) is sometimes the only solution .
While speed-to-market is critical to success , companies that fail to assess their business needs properly will create dead-end data centers that will not deliver uptime performance goals or meet future business needs .
Top 9 mistakes
How can you avoid making major mistakes when entering the build and expansion world ?
The key lies in the methodology you use to design and build your data center facilities . All too often , companies base their plans on watts per square foot , cost to build per square foot , and tier level – criteria that may be misaligned with their overall business goals and risk profile . Poor planning leads to poor use of valuable capital and can increase operational expense .
Many organizations get overwhelmed , focusing on ‘ speeds and feeds ,’ green initiatives , concurrent maintainability , power usage effectiveness ( PUE ) and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ( LEED ) certification . All of these criteria are critical in the decision making process . However , the details often overshadow the big picture . Most companies miss the
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