DCA REVIEW Resilience & Operational Best Practice
DCA review by Simon Campbell-Whyte, DCA Executive Director
THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS of research can be a little slow and frustrating for some, and I include myself as guilty of being impatient. However, only this methodical approach can produce reassurance of belief and certainty of vision. Having spent some 12 months collecting and validating data, the PEDCA project is now entering the phase of developing the solutions, ie the Joint Action Plan for the European data centre sector. This convergence of the project with the real world of constructing solutions to problems enables us to “see” the potential impact possible on the horizon.
For example the development of the DCA Certifications, although based on many voices and many shared views, satisfyingly addresses more than one requirement highlighted by the research.
I’m also glad the programme itself has been developed the “difficult” way ie with all the necessary procedures, processes and rules to ensure it can be more than just a “badge” and can stand
Certification launch
DCA launched its quality assurance programme for Data Centres, which is now ready to deploy, on the 10th June at University Of East London. The launch was chaired by DCA SVP Matt Pumfrey of Smart Carbon Control who introduced a keynote from DCA President Steve Norris of Virtus Data Centres. Steve, a firm advocate in raising the bar of professionalism even higher, gave an opening speech that laid down the challenge our industry faces in dealing with the global economy of the future by bringing forward solutions such as the DCA Certifications.
Steve’s speech reiterated the need for our sector to champion its excellence and raise awareness of the importance of data centres to our daily lives and businesses, enlightening policy makers to see good data centres as assets and enablers that should be encouraged.
The theme of energy consumption is one of the critical areas addressed by the DCA Certification programme. This was discussed at the next keynote by Lord Rupert Redesdale, who as a former Energy Spokesman for the Liberal Democrats and now Chief Executive of the Energy Managers
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www.dcseurope.info I Summer 2014 Steve Norris
Association (EMA), fully understands the issues facing data centres in the UK and many other European countries. Rupert painted a sobering picture of what the future will look like in the midst of dwindling energy resources, rising demand and greater dependence on data centres. It was clear that the DCA and EMA, working together can engage the energy managers of the ICT industry to drive the wholesale energy efficiencies that are urgently needed.
The DCA Certifications mark is underpinned by existing standards and recognised best practices. As Duncan Clubb CTO of CS Technology demonstrated in his presentation, the standards landscape of the
data centre is extremely wide ranging and in some cases fragmented which leads to much subjective debate even amongst the data centre experts. Which can lead to at best, a lack of clarity, and at worst, mistrust amongst the very customers and policy makers data centre sector must to engage with. Duncan’s talk threw out the question of whether data centres standards are currently working for, or against, the interests of the industry – with the consensus view clearly being the latter. One key stakeholder for the data centres is the Cloud industry, driving growth into data centres.
Alex Hilton Chief Executive of the sectors leading association, the Cloud Industry Forum, presented the already established CIF Certification for cloud based services based on a robust code of practice. Alex’s presentation highlighted the urgency and importance of the data centre sector to complete the missing piece in the picture. Alex also demonstrated some of the remaining barriers to cloud adoption which the DCA Certifications will help address. CIF and the DCA have agreed to collaborate on joint programmes and projects for the benefit of both sectors and their respective members.
the test scrutiny and time. It is also realised that this takes time and has recognised steps to follow. The next steps include “Peer” review by four Academic institutions, further industry feedback and the first review of the requirements. The latter is scheduled for September and anyone can participate by joining the steering group at
www.data-central.org
In this issue you can read a report from the public launch of the DCA Certifications programme, if you missed this one, rest assured there will be others across Europe during the year. In closing I would like to thank all the contributors to the development and especially those who participated and presented at the event. With regards to PEDCA we will be running four “focus panels” to consult further with the industry across Europe. In addition, to ensure everyone has the opportunity to have their say in shaping the future of the industry, online participation is now launched at
www.data-central.org
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