The convergence of IT and energy is opening up a wealth of new opportunities. This is according to Maria de Lurdes Carvalho, vice-president for Data Centre Solutions, EMEA region, Schneider Electric – a specialist in energy management and automation.
De Lurdes recently presented at the IDC CIO Summit in Mozambique, where she in particular spoke about the role that a data centre’s physical infrastructure plays in the heart if IT transformation.
“Today, we are living in a smart world. Everything’s becoming more intelligent; the information and telecommunications technology, the electric grid, and also our homes and cities. These trends are driving massive growth of digital traffic while data generation is accelerating through the network, that is, the Internet of Things (IoT).
“IoT is bringing challenges in data centre security, capacity, and analytics that will require the industry to restructure how it stores and processes data to effectively handle all that IT load,” she continued. “It is however not through efficient components that you will have an efficient data centre, you need to have them work efficiently together. Prefabricated and standardised subsystems are the way to go to ease the nightmare of installing and testing thousands of components on site without guaranteed performance.”
During her presentation, De Lurdes expanded on this topic and said that customers are currently looking for a data centre solution that is more efficient, reliable, predictable, costs effective and understandable, and offers both higher density and a simpler experience.
“What we have learnt is that the before-mentioned wish list cannot simply be achieved by making better components, such as UPSs, switchgears, controls, air conditioners and power distribution,” she added.
“What we do know is that a customer’s supply needs to evolve from components to subsystems – including the IT room, facility power and cooling, security and DCIM – to solutions that offer an innovative combination of technology, products and services, as well as provide an integrated response.”
Facilitating the convergence between facilities and IT transformation has become essential, highlighted De Lurdes. “At Schneider Electric, we believe in a new efficiency paradigm to drive long-term sustainability.”
“These trends are also prevalent in the South African context as well,” said Bruce Grobler, vice president of the IT Business for southern Africa at Schneider Electric. “With our access to global case studies and expertise, we can confidently apply our world-class solutions, knowledge and skills to the market and assure our southern African customers of a sound and thoroughly tested IT investment.”