The CIO's Dilemma - How to Meet the Challenges of the Modern Data Centre

Business Wire, March 27, 2008

OXFORD, U.K. -- Data centres are essential to modern organisations. The data loads are forever increasing, and that trend is set to continue. At the same time, a multitude of rules and regulations have come into force in recent years, creating almost insurmountable challenges for data centers.

Sponsored by e-shelter, and including a tax statement by KPMG, Frost & Sullivan has published a whitepaper that identifies and analyses these challenges. Increasingly, the quality and the resilience of a data centre is closely linked to a company's business model: "An organisation failing to meet all these challenges excludes itself from adopting many innovative business models that might have generated substantial benefits," says Alexander Michael, Principal Consultant at Frost & Sullivan, "It is not only about the legal conformity of a company, it is about securing its survival."

The Whitepaper identifies two types of challenges. Most well managed companies are capable of handling the so called "hard" challenges (e.g. business continuity, scalability and financial optimization). The "soft" challenges, however, are getting bigger and bigger, and even the best run companies are facing considerable problems.

The "soft" challenges include energy efficiency, security and public relations. A CIO has different alternatives available to address the "soft" challenges. First and foremost, a CIO must decide whether to build a new data centre, refurbish the existing one or outsource the function. Outsourcing will often solve problems with power supply, cooling and security. However, outsourcing is almost universally unpopular with the workforce and could damage a company's image.

"On the basis of an analysis of the in-house data centre and of four alternative models, Frost & Sullivan has found an approach that will enable most organisations to effectively meet all their data centre challenges," says Alexander Michael.

If you are interested in receiving a free copy of the whitepaper The CIO's Dilemma - How to Meet the Challenges of the Modern Data Centre or you would like to request more information regarding Frost & Sullivan's custom research and white paper services, please send an e-mail to Joanna Lewandowska, Corporate Communications, at joanna.lewandowska@frost.com, with your full name, company name, title, telephone number, company e-mail address, company website, city, state and country. We will send you the requested information via email upon receipt of the above information.

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