With data center operating costs rising, what are some of the challenges when it comes to keeping costs under control?

Wee Wah: With the economic turbulence and rising data centre operating costs forming the backdrop of the last decade, one of the main challenges to keeping overall costs under control would be the ability of the organization to balance operating costs against growing demands for computing resources so that the long term benefits outlast the overall capital and operating expenditures. The greater challenge then, is to make IT the key driver of growth within the organizations by knowing aspects of IT organisation that provide value directly to the business, and leveraging third parties for offerings that are not strategic.

Another area of concern is Data center assets that have reached their power, cooling and space capacity limits. Assets being regularly upgraded to meet growing demands, consume more energy, generate more heat and take up more valuable floor space. Thus, a new challenge for data center managers would be finding the right balance in costs, operational efficiencies and improved capacity. With this right balance in place, growing business demands would translate to lower total cost of ownership. If the prediction from Gartner is right, “by 2015, information-smart businesses will increase recognized IT spending per head by 60 percent” - See “Gartner Top Predictions for 2011: IT’s Growing Transparency and Consumerization”. When the increased spending on IT contributes to economy of scale, we could expect a greater control on costs.

* This article is an extract from the media interview I've done with Divya Sangam, Online Communications Manager. For full interview's content, refer to IQPC Worldwide www.iqpc.com.sg