Keeping data centers safe and at their peak performance has always been one of the most crucial business practices. The reason being, they keep all mission-critical data stored and make it accessible 24/7. Simply put, data centers are the lifeline of businesses of all sizes.

At present, a comprehensive data center assessment is extremely important, and we have two solid reasons to back this statement:

• Data breaches are on the rise these days, which not only breaks the back of businesses financially but also results in the loss of customer loyalty and trust.

• Due to the pandemic, IT loads have increased more than ever because new systems and technologies like IoT with automation are being integrated/installed on top of existing data center infrastructure. Also, more and more users are now using digital touchpoints to interact with companies, putting a lot of pressure on existing servers.

Feeling convinced, huh? Let’s learn why a data center assessment is so significant.

Why should you conduct a data center assessment?

With a proper data center assessment, you can address the aforementioned problems with utmost ease. The cherry on the top is that you can meet tier standards, improve resilience, ensure business continuity, and achieve much more.

The following table will help you see the bigger picture.

As a Reactive MeasureAs a Proactive MeasureAs a Predictive MeasureYou should get your data center audit done if you:

• Are facing business continuity problems due to increased IT loads as a result of the pandemic.

• Are experiencing outages, hot spots, and a surge in energy bills.

• Don’t have enough space for the next expansion.

• Have maxed out your current power or cooling systems.

• Are looking for documented information to help justify budget expenditures. | You can get your data center assessment done if you want to:

• Integrate the latest technologies like IoT, 5G, AI/ML, Smart Power & Cooling systems, etc., with your existing data center infrastructure.

• improve your data center availability, operability, and maintainability.

• Create a benchmark or get a tier certification for your data center.

• Improve your data center sustainability by the installation of energy-efficient technologies.

| A comprehensive data center assessment can help if you:

• Are worried about your data center’s ability to handle increased bandwidth

• Are unsure about the hidden vulnerabilities and potential risks in your existing facility and infrastructure.

• Don’t know how your data center compares to industry standards.

• Are uncertain whether your existing facility needs an upgrade. |

Let’s check a few statistics to understand why you shouldn’t delay the data center assessment anymore.

4 eye-opening statistics hinting towards the significance of data center assessment

• According to the Uptime Institute’s Annual Outage Analysis (2021), 76% of data center managers have faced an outage in the past 3 years.

• According to Gartner, outages averagely cost $5,600 per minute. It means companies bear a loss of between $140,000 and $540,000 per hour due to outages.

• Considering the global data center survey (2020) conducted by Uptime Institute, 75% of data center managers think they could have prevented recent outages if they had taken the right call at the right moment.

• As per Statista, IT spending on data center systems is likely to reach $237 billion in 2021.

These statistics clearly tell us that data center outages can cost companies their fortune. And there’s only one way to avert this hassle by conducting timely assessments and audits of data centers.

Pondering why data center outages happen in the first place?

Well, there are a couple of factors that could result in the outage, but the most common ones are:

3 most cited reasons for data center outages

Not paying attention to the UPS system

If the Ponemon report is to be believed, 1 out of 4 data center outages happens due to a UPS system failure. Generally, small-sized and mediocre companies take the role of UPS devices in data center operations for granted, and this devil-may-care attitude costs them dearly later.

After installing a UPS system, its health report should be checked every now and then as a precautionary practice. Generally, UPS systems go down due to battery failure, which often happens due to IT loads.

Manual errors

An Uptime Institute survey revealed that over 70% of data center outages occur due to manual errors. You can rue the lack of quality training for this.

Companies often hesitate to invest time and capital in employee training programs, which as a negative consequence, results in silly mistakes that ruin the overall performance of data centers.

CRAC failures

CRAC (Computer Room Air Conditioning) failures have always been the root cause of data center outages. IT loads always take a heavy toll on the cooling system installed to obtain optimum efficiency from data centers.

CRAC failures happen because most of the cooling systems aren’t designed in a way that helps them tackle the rising heat density. The most effective way to overcome this is to start using chemical refrigerants to keep data centers cool for longer periods.

After reading these, do you get a feeling that saving your data center from the negative consequences of outages all by yourself won’t be easy?

Well, we recommend joining forces with data center assessment and audit service providers like Arche. It goes without saying that when experts handle the job of data center assessment, you can expect improved resilience, amplified PUE (power usage effectiveness), enhanced sustainability, and better business continuity.

If we consider the forecasted trends and technologies related to data centers, it seems even more crucial to select the right service provider.

A sneak peek of upcoming trends and technologies in DC

• The performance of data centers is expected to improve significantly on the back of new disruptive technologies like 5G, Liquid-state storage, IoT, GPU accelerators, etc.

• 73% of data center managers see an increase in the use of IoT and automation during the pandemic.

• By 2025, 75% of enterprise-generated data will be created and processed outside centralized or cloud data centers.

These upcoming trends are hinting towards an exciting future, aren’t they? Let’s go one step further and learn how data center assessment helps you.

How does a data center assessment help you?

A data center assessment can change the fortunes of your organization because it tells you how many modifications are required to your existing data center infrastructure for the successful adoption of new technologies like IoT. It also helps preempt data theft seamlessly.

Besides, a data center assessment can help you in different areas. For example:

Smooth scalability

The number of data centers is directly proportional to the growth rate of your business. So if you are on the path to success, it is instrumental for you to perform a data center operational assessment from time to time and make sure that everything is under control.

It is worth noting that companies ignoring the importance of timely audits often face the hassle of data explosion, which not only distracts them from their core business activities for a considerable period but also significantly increases unnecessary costs.

Through consistent assessments, you can accomplish optimality and will be able to enjoy smooth scalability without hassles.

Prevents unnecessary expenses for business continuity

For the sake of optimality and business continuity, it is fundamental to stay disciplined with performance checks. The reason is that you can preempt severe incidents such as malfunctioning by simply keeping a close eye on the health of your data centers.

Apart from keeping your data centers safe, timely assessments help you apply brakes on the rising costs of CapEx (capital expenditures) and OpEx (operational expenditure). As a positive result, it keeps your company’s bottom line intact and permits you to invest in those areas that lead to business expansion.

Mitigates risk to trim down the maintenance costs

Timely maintenance is what all companies should strive for to ensure the high reliability of data centers. Unfortunately, this does not happen in the case of SMBs because they often forget about their data centers after making the one-off payment. As a negative repercussion, they face data explosion. Furthermore, they have to invest a notable amount of time, effort, and capital to get back on track.

On the contrary, companies conducting data center operational assessments always enjoy cost savings with respect to maintenance. In addition, they get an immersive experience for an extended period because they nip trivial risks in the bud before they turn serious and start ruining overall operational efficiency.

Well, these are some plus points of a data center assessment, which you cannot afford to ignore. These even answer the question — ‘Is It The Right Time To Get Your Data Center Assessed’? And the answer is a big yes! :)

Summing up

Data centers hold great significance from the business perspective because they keep companies operational round the clock. Therefore, keeping them in the best condition should be one of the prime responsibilities.

This article explained why data center assessment should be conducted, checked some statistics shedding light on how much financial loss companies are forced to bear for not paying attention to their data centers, identified root causes of outages, and learned about its attention-grabbing benefits.

We suggest that you work with a partner like Arche for data center assessments. This offers two-fold advantages, where experts will take the required measures to ensure high efficiency and sustainability of your data centers, and you will have ample time to invest in core business activities.

Share your opinion on the impact of outages, or tell us about your recent experience with data center assessment in the comments section. Also, stay connected with us to keep reading interesting and informative articles like this one.

Thanks for staying with us till the end!