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NEWS PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
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Optimising data centre design
There was a time when the very thought of designing a data centre might have been just a little bit pretentious . Not so now and in fact it has moved to the other extreme : a thorough and professional data centre design process is absolutely critical to the success of the business that the data centre will ultimately serve .
One supplier , Eaton UK , has embraced this and has announced that six members of its sales team have successfully qualified as Certified Data Centre Design Professionals . The power management company , as a result , is now in an even better position to advise it customers on how to ensure that their data centre ’ s power infrastructure integrates effectively with other equipment to optimise reliability and operational efficiency .
Steve Spicer , Eaton UK ’ s curiously entitled Power Quality Sales Manager says , “ We firmly believe that in order to provide the best possible service for our customers , it ’ s essential for our staff to understand the complete data centre , not just the elements that are supplied by Eaton … customers ’ concerns often go well beyond our own product offering . With this in mind , key members of our sales team have taken Certified Data Centre Design Professional ( CDCDP ) training , leading to an internationally recognised Level 5 BTEC qualification for each of them .”
The CDCDP course explores all key aspects of data centre design and teaches industry best practice principles for the design , construction and operation of computer rooms and data centre facilities . The crucial topic of successful technical design in relation to business needs and targets , is also covered in the training . n
2016 BICSI Conference to focus on The IoT and Smart Buildings
Some of the industry ’ s most respected thought leaders will speak about a range of technology trends and best practice issues at the BICSI UK & Ireland Conference and Exhibition , which will take place on 22nd of June 2016 at London ’ s prestigious Barbican Centre This one-day event will also offer data centre professionals the opportunity to find out more about the latest technology and network with their peers . The conference programme will this year focus on the Internet of Things , and its growing effect on network infrastructures throughout the country
Highlights of the conference programme include Keynote Speaker Tony Day , global director of data centre projects at Schneider Electric , who will draw on his experience to highlight some key industry trends .
In addition to the seminars , during regular breakout sessions delegates will get a chance to speak directly to leading manufacturers and distributors including Schneider Electric , Rittal , Panduit , Austin Hughes , Networks Centre , Fluke Networks and many more besides Exhibitors will showcase new products and hold demonstrations of their cutting edge technology .
Hosted by LGN Media , the company ’ s CEO Ian Titchener , commented , ‘ The BICSI Conference is an incredibly valuable event , and offers delegate ’ s fantastic value . BICSI CEC ’ s will be available for BICSI members attending the seminars . This event is a must attend for anybody involved in the design and build and management of data centres and network infrastructures facilities ’
Delegates can find out more and register for free by visiting http :// www . bicsiconference . co . uk . n
Storage pain points
WebHouse Inc . a provider of IT technology solutions has announced the availability of the Zadara Cloud platform as part of its new WebHouse Storage-as-a-Service offering . According to the 451 Research 2016 Storage Outlook , the top three storage pain points for organisations are dealing with data / capacity growth , capacity planning and forecasting , and the high CapEx cost of storage . In response to this the research indicates that this is driving a migration from rigid capital expense ( CapEx ) storage to flexible and cost-effective operating expense ( OpEx ) storage solutions .
Recognising this as a market shift WebHouse decided to launch this new Storage-as-a- Service practice to support the requirement and they chose Zadara Storage as its partner . The WebHouse Storage-as-a-Service offering provides the scalability , manageability and economic benefits that customers lack in traditional CapEx storage arrays .
The decision to align with Zadara Storage was based on them being first to offer the payas-you-go OpEx business model and what they describe as a critical set of enterprise-grade features that are not typically available in cloud storage offerings . They also valued the fact that the Zadara Storage architecture and business model is designed to support service providers using tiered-architecture for easy provisioning , resource isolation and charge-back capability .
Dan Kerning , WebHouse CEO said , " Our consultative philosophy for doing business means that we are more than just a reseller – we are our client ' s business partner [ and ] we work closely with each customer to make sure every IT dollar is spent wisely and that the results exceed expectations .”
Indicating that it ’ s not just WebHouse that thinks there is an opportunity , Headwaters Group has also announced that it is to use Zadara Storage to enable their Storage-as-a- Service Offering . Headwaters claim that they have built a strong reputation for delivering sophisticated technical professional services to enterprise IT channel solution providers and end customers , all focused on the design , implementation and optimisation of their storage and data technology infrastructure .
Adding context , Mark Ziskind , founder and chief storage architect at Headwaters Group said , “ We are seeing a tremendous shift in how clients purchase IT hardware and software . The convergence of megatrends like cloud computing , managed services , and the Internet of Things are disrupting traditional business models within IT . Our Clients expect lower cloud prices paid for out of their OpEx budgets . Moreover , they will only pay for these services if they successfully achieve the business value offered by technology solution .” n
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