Predictive hardware monitoring, resource efficiency and innovative staffing models are all driving competitive advantage, writes Sean Sears, managing director EMEA at Park Place Technologies
Innovation is central to the technology field. The focus, however, tends to be on the latest hardware products, such as hyperconverged systems, or shifting models like the software-defined data centre (SDDC).
But what about day-to-day maintenance and management—those “keeping the lights on” functions that can eat up 80 percent of IT spending? Can they be modernised, optimised, and enhanced with new technologies and approaches?
Fortunately, innovation has reached the data centre maintenance space. There are numerous emerging methods to transform the foundations of data centre management—and many of them are already highly accessible.
Monitoring innovations maximise performance and uptime
Among the most exciting developments in data centre maintenance is predictive hardware monitoring. The advances are currently rooted in machine learning (ML) algorithms and will eventually lead to true AI solutions.
Data centres are great places to apply ML and AI. These facilities generate massive volumes of data, which will only increase in the coming years. ML thrives on such data to derive unexpected insights. Built into remote monitoring systems, ML solutions can—and are—predicting equipment faults and enabling a better type of support.
No longer must data centre managers react to the latest emergency or even rely on scheduled maintenance; they can take a truly proactive stance as ML systems flag and triage potential sources of downtime before it happens.
Data-driven analysis and ML-based monitoring are slashing unnecessary maintenance in favour of fewer, faster, more accurately targeted interventions, while simultaneously increasing uptime and ensuring optimal performance.
With customers’ expectations rapidly escalating, these tools help keep pace with the digital enterprise—delivering six-nines availability while limiting financial and staffing investment.
As powerful as today’s solutions are, the maintenance industry is already looking forward to doing even more with the granular facility, equipment, and conditions-specific information soon to be available. These developments will be paired with increasingly automated, AI-driven support solutions.