50
7X24MAGAZINE FALL 2013
Thedatacenter isatacritical stage in itsevolution.During thehigh-
growthyearsof2003-2008,manyorganizationsscrambled tokeepup
withcapacitydemands, oftencompromising long-termplanningand
efficiency for speedofdeployment.When the2008global economic
crisishitandcapacitydemandseased, thoseorganizations found
themselveswithamixofdated infrastructure technologies, inefficient
changemanagementprocessesandan incompletepictureofwhat they
hadandhow itwasbeingused.
Asbudgets returnedand theworldhasbecomemoresocial,mobileand
cloud-based, businessesusing technology tosupportandspurgrowth
faceadual challenge: fixing theproblemsof thepastwhile
simultaneouslypreparing for the future.
Thoseproblemshauntdatacentermanagers inat least fourways:
1.Operational inefficiency
Inefficiency isstill thenorm.McKinsey&Company, onbehalfof the
New
YorkTimes
, analyzedenergyusebydatacenters in2012and found that
“onaverage, theywereusingonly6% to 12%of theelectricitypowering
their servers toperformcomputations. The restwasessentiallyused to
keepservers idling
(Figure 1)
.”
Two thingsbecameclear. First, improvingdatacenterefficiencywasnot
aseasyassomemade itout tobe. Second, focusing toonarrowlyon
energyconsumptionaddressesonlyoneaspectof thechallenge.Energy
savings realized through improvedefficiencycanbedwarfedby the
savings incapital andhuman resources realized through trueoperational
efficiency.
2. Insufficientassetvisibility
Manyorganizationshaveconsistentlyaddednewserverswithout
decommissioningolder servers, creatingsprawl andstrandedcapacity.
Once thisproblem isestablished, it requiresan investmentof timeand
resources todevelopandmaintainanaccuratemapofdatacenter
assets. This lackofvisibilityalsoextends tocosts.Mostorganizationsdo
nothavevisibility intoassetoperatingcosts, and thereforecan’tquantify
howmuchcouldbesaved ifassetutilizationwas increased.
3. Low resourceutilization
Returnoncapital isan increasingly importantmeasureof IT
effectiveness. Forexisting facilities, increasing the returnoncapital
meansgettingutilization ratesup from thedismal levelsMcKinsey found
in their studyandextendingequipment life. Thisalsodrivesup
operational efficiencyasenergy isnotwastedon idleservers, andservice
andsupport resourcescanbe focusedonproductiveassets. Fornew
datacenters, itmeansachievinghigher levelsofoperational efficiencyat
startupwithout sacrificing future flexibility.
byPeterPanfil
Integrating
People, Process
andTechnology
toTransform
DataCenter
Operations and
Performance
Figure 1
