A traditional “brick and mortar” data center is a major capital expenditure (CapEx) which requires considerable upfront costs and can take years to plan and build. In a traditional build approach, corporations need to prepare for the anticipated growth in their IT requirements at least 10 years or more in the future. The pace of technological change makes this prediction difficult and, consequently, many traditional data centers are built with excessive surplus capacity well beyond their actual future demand. In addition, a traditional build approach may take longer to complete due to its complexity, overcapacity requirement and possible coordination conflicts between multiple trades. As a result of the long planning processes with traditional data centers, the needs of the organizations may have changed in the time between the initial data center design and when it actually goes into service. Also, the existing data center must “cope” with its limitations regarding technology, space and power.
With all this in mind, customers who are backed up against the proverbial “wall” are turning to a relatively new option: the modular data center.
The modular data center can be deployed in a much shorter time interval than traditional data centers and the time to revenue for new data center services is much earlier. Operational inefficiency in the data center makes it more difficult for organizations to stay competitive and diverts money that can be spent on more strategic investments to help drive more revenue. Data centers that can’t enable revenue-generating applications in a timely fashion or help scale to meet business needs and growth have a negative impact on an organization’s bottom line.
The short deployment interval of the modular data center is a viable option when extra capacity is needed. So whether a company is opting to manage its own data center or utilize a co-location center looking to expand rapidly in catering for the needs of its tenants, a modular solution will increasingly have a place in the provision of data center capacity.
When selecting a modular data center solution, organizations should look for an option that is truly designed for the IT data center application. One important aspect to note is that not all modular solutions are the same – some are just shipping containers or pre-fabricated structures and can limit an organization’s options. But it is important to note that some modular solutions have benefits that include lower power usage effectiveness over its brick and mortar counterparts.
For faster deployment at a lower cost, it is easy to see why this modular data center solution is a growing option for the enterprise. What do you think of the modular data center? Do you think your organization’s network can benefit from this solution?
