8 Solutions' David Hogg offers 2014 predictions for UK Data Centres

Dec. 3, 2013 - PRLog -- A study conducted by Campos Research & Analysis¹ has found that data centre power was one of the major driving forces for European data centre expansion. According to David Hogg, Managing Director at 8 Solutions (http://www.8solutions.com/), a specialist at increasing efficiency and mitigating against the risk of down-time in critical facilities, 2014 will be a year that focuses on the introduction of innovative solutions to reduce energy costs.

David explains: “With recent energy prices increasing by up to 10% and future rises expected, the pressure to reduce data centre energy costs along with CO2 emissions has never been greater. We have seen a sharp rise in demand in the last six months for alternative ways to improve data centre efficiencies and this is a trend which will continue well into 2014.”

8 Solutions has completed over 100,000 critical facility projects and has a client base that encompasses the majority of the FTSE 100 either directly or through the major facilities management organisations.

8 Solutions’ predictions for 2014:

1. The introduction of outside air as a cost-effective way of data centre cooling will become far more widespread as companies look at ways to counteract rising energy costs and reduce their carbon footprint. This will lead to more contaminants (both physical and chemical) being brought into data centre environments.

2. Simple airflow techniques to improve the efficiency of data centre cooling will begin to gain momentum this year. The elimination of bypass airflow in older data centres to provide more efficient cooling will give a typical ROI of less than two years.

3. The move in the market away from owned data centre space to colocation will increase in velocity. Colo providers will increasingly look for differentiators to maintain margins.

4. As new data centres are located in a variety of geographical locations, the need to carry out bespoke cleaning specific to certain environments will become critical. The physical location of a data centre has a significant impact on the air quality being introduced causing contamination levels high enough to exceed IT equipment manufacturers’ warranties.

5. The market will move to procuring Cleaning, Decontamination and Environmental Management solutions on more of a ‘managed service’ basis where the contractor assists in the maintenance of the data centre environment rather than the typical customer/supplier contractual relationship.

6. A significant increase in the inclusion of proper technical cleaning and certification within corporate risk management programmes. Large corporates will move away from soft service cleaning towards technical cleaning as the data centre management teams become educated in the risks involved.

7. An increase in the occurrence of data centre downtime due to poor management of the environment.

8. Insurance companies become more aware of the risks of data centres that do not follow best practice in terms of maintenance of the facilities to prescribed ISO and ASHRAE standards. The DCA Anti-Contamination white paper² and the DCA certification³ of best practice in data centres will increase awareness of the correct way to maintain the data centre environment.

9. A growth in alternative energy and cooling sources become more popular as providers constantly look to develop alternate strategies to cope with the ever-rising costs of energy.

10. Although there has been a 2% decline in the overall market size of the UK data centre estate in the past year⁴ this trend cannot continue and the amount of investment in new-build Colo sites will remain prevalent through 2014.


¹ http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240181783/UK-leads-Europe-in-datacentre-demand-finds-European-datacentre-market-study

²http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.data-central.org/resource/collection/78F6045F-6E71-42C6-BD3E-E8779A7A259D/DCA_Data_Centre_Anti-Contamination_Guide_V1_3_final.pdf

³http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.data-central.org/resource/collection/DC0D4492-4312-48C1-92AC-C7FDF1FD98E2/DCA_Certification_Standard_V1.0.pdf

⁴ http://www.slideshare.net/dblatch/census-uk-focus-32final-2



Editor’s Notes:

www.8Solutions.com

8 Solutions has grown rapidly to become a leading UK supplier of bespoke solutions to increase efficiency and mitigate against the risk of down-time in critical facilities. With a track record of over 100,000 completed projects and a client base that encompasses the majority of the FTSE 100 either directly or through the major facilities management organisations.

With technicians who are security cleared and trained in both critical environments and the specialist cleaning tools and techniques required to maintain the optimum performance of critical facilities, 8 Solutions is the perfect partner for reliability and peace of mind.

The company’s highly experienced technicians enables it to provide an exceptional level of service with zero downtime and minimal operational disruption to the client, 8 Solutions operates 24/7/365 and provides scheduled and event based cleaning and decontamination as well as an emergency response service in the event of fires, fire suppression discharges and accidents. The company is ISO9001 and ISO14001accredited and a member of the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM).

Follow 8 Solutions on Twitter: @8_Solutions (https://twitter.com/8_Solutions)

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