Deployment speed should become an increasingly critical differentiator

In 2020, the challenges linked to the enterprise and the cloud, which have fueled the discussions of IT managers in recent years, will give way to hybrid architectures that incorporate public and private cloud models and peripheral assets around a reconfigured central system. This scalable approach to data and IT resource management is one of five emerging trends in data centers for 2020, identified by experts from Vertiv, a global provider of IT infrastructure and continuity solutions.

The trendy hybrid architectures will allow companies to keep control of sensitive data while meeting the growing demand for larger computing capacities closer to the consumer. As connectivity and availability become true common concepts in this new data ecosystem, greater importance will be given to fluid communication from the heart of the network to the cloud and the periphery.

” A new balance is emerging in the data center sphere as the industry faces capacity challenges and cutting-edge applications that are imposing significant changes on data centers of all shapes and sizes, ” said said Rob Johnson, CEO of Vertiv. “ At the same time, the speed of deployment is becoming more and more a critical point in technological decisions and will probably shape investment and innovation in this universe in 2020. This will manifest itself in many ways, but the message to suppliers of data center equipment is clear: the status quo is not acceptable. “

Hybrid IT and other trends that will influence the data center ecosystem, according to Vertiv experts:

1 – Hybrid architectures are becoming widespread

While cloud computing retains an important place in the IT strategy of most companies, we are witnessing a subtle change in strategy, as companies seek to adapt their IT infrastructure and their costs to the needs of their applications. With the multiplication of these hybrid architectures, it is becoming more and more evident that the corporate data center is doing well, even if its role is evolving to represent a set that best serves modern businesses.

2 – Deployment speed as a new race to overbid

As technology and system capacities become more equal, data center and IT managers are increasingly turning to other criteria to select equipment. The cost will remain a decisive factor, but the decision will increasingly depend on the speed of deployment of the assets. When all the other factors are close, any advantage in terms of speed of deployment and activation can be decisive. This is especially true as IT continues to migrate to the periphery in today’s distributed networks, where delivery delays mean a lack of service – and revenue.

3 – The average density of the racks remains static, but …

While average rack density is likely to reflect marginal increases at best, soaring advanced applications and artificial intelligence (AI) workloads, such as machine learning and deep learning, will make high-performance computing areas necessary and more common. Vertiv experts predict early activity in this universe in the areas of defense, advanced analytics, and manufacturing in 2020, laying the groundwork for more widespread adoption in 2021 and beyond. These racks represent so far a tiny percentage of the total number of racks, but they can nevertheless pose new power and cooling problems that must be solved.

4 – Profitable batteries

In 2016, Vertiv experts predicted that lithium-ion batteries would begin to find their place in the data center, and this proved to be true since lithium-ion now holds a significant share of the UPS battery market. This share is increasing and is starting to spread to peripheral sites, where a smaller footprint and reduced maintenance requirements are completely natural. The next step is to take advantage of the flexibility of lithium-ion and other emerging battery alternatives, such as thin pure lead plates (TPPL), to offset their costs. By 2020, more and more businesses will begin to resell the energy stored in these batteries to the public utility to help stabilize the power grid and clip.

5 – Cross-pollination on a global scale

The United States, especially Silicon Valley, has been the epicenter of the digital world and this generation of data center development, but innovation is everywhere. A parallel digital ecosystem, with clear differences, is emerging in China. Data centers in Europe and other markets in Asia and the South Pacific, such as Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, evolve and diverge from traditional practices based on specific regional privacy and control issues data and sustainability. For example, general data protection regulations (GDPR) are behind difficult data management decisions around the world. These questions, and greater attention to environmental impacts,

Several data centers in China have used 240 V DC power to power servers modified by the manufacturer to improve efficiency and reduce costs. DC power has long been a theoretical goal for American data centers, and it is not difficult to imagine that other regions of the world will adopt the model currently applied in China.