management
FACILITIES ener gy
Research carried out by Enlogic at DatacenterDynamics Converged, London, showed that more than two thirds of IT professionals lack the freedom to choose innovative technology over the old ‘one stop- shop’ solutions. Although only nine per cent of those questioned attributed this to IT managers themselves, just over half (53%) blamed finance. Managers should be doing more to ensure that the finance department is aware that whilst ‘best of breed’ technology might carry a high purchasing cost, the long term savings will more than make up for this. And this is where vendors must also play their part – IT managers need to have confidence that new kit will work as expected if they are to fight this corner.
Furthermore, as well as an unwillingness to evolve technology in the data centre, DCMs are also turning a blind eye to the palpable failings of using PUE as the only metric for energy efficiency measurement. To clarify, imagine a data centre has 1000 servers but only uses 100. To increase efficiency it would be prudent to turn off the unused 900. Yet this action would in fact raise the PUE ratio, as the energy consumption by IT equipment would go down, while the facility’s non- IT energy consumption would remain the same- thus widening the differential and raising the PUE ratio.
Sure, PUE has its place in energy management but to isolate it as a metric is old fashioned and ineffective.
Young blood
Merlin is often depicted as being keen to impress his experience on the younger generation and share knowledge. Global established brands such as Coca-Cola and Microsoft have withstood the test of time because they know that to continue their legacy, fresh talent must come in. Not only can this reinvigorate a work force, but it can provide a different perspective on potentially long-running issues that may go unnoticed by experienced staff stuck in their ways. With few graduates coming through the ranks it is no wonder that the data centre has stagnated and is out of fresh ideas.
big challenge though, as many managers are resistant to change and are afraid of trusting new technology. Instead, they have put their faith in the old tried and tested (but incredibly inefficient) technology they know. This means that innovative, ‘best of breed’ products such as the intelligent PDU are being neglected for no good reason. Take the PDU as an example.
An ‘intelligent’ model acts as a brain within the server rack, constantly monitoring the environment for threats from electrical circuit overloads or from any physical and environmental conditions - it has the ability to save the data centre from meltdown. But IT managers still refuse to invest and prefer to stick with the old ‘dumb’ PDUs instead, adopting the ‘if it isn’t broken then don’t fix it’ approach. The problem with this is that while the technology still works, it is woefully inefficient.
Industry managers in particular are not doing enough to attract graduates. The data centre should be a pioneering industry and graduates should think of it as the pinnacle of technological innovation and an evolutionary environment – but they don’t. Everyday life always relates back to the data centre but little is being done to highlight this to people who are considering a job in IT. Instead, many of the most talented graduates are lured to young, vibrant organisations such as Facebook, Amazon and Google. To address this, DCMs must put in the necessary time and effort to speak with students, both at schools and universities, and encourage them into a fantastic industry. This generation of managers cannot afford to be afraid of the talented youth, they will not come to steal jobs, they will come to learn and give the business a new lease of life. It is crucial that managers put the industry first and educate the next generation. After all, it makes sense to have the ‘online generation’ at the heart of the online life system.
Imagine an artist who is too afraid to paint something new and original. If he always copies old work, he will include the good aspects, but the flaws too, and standards will never improve. It’s now time for the industry to take the brave step to do something new, with the support of best of breed suppliers and partners, and see what actually happens when you really make a change.
Summer 2014 I
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