Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2022. Read them in this 14th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
The Aftermath of COVID-19 on Flexible Working Environments in the Data Centre Industry
By Stephen Scott, CEO at Datalec Precisions Installations
18 months on from the COVID-19 pandemic we are still evolving and working our way through its far-reaching effects. As we know, the demand for technology and connectivity has significantly increased in the work from home space, encompassing both residential and rural communities. COVID-19 has been a major factor both in dealing with a distributed workforce with substantially increased technical platform demands, along with illuminating what is now possible in terms of flexible working environments. Prior to the pandemic’s lockdown restrictions, very few businesses relied much on IP based or ‘virtual’ communication applications such as ZOOM or Microsoft Teams. With little or no alternative but to explore various communication methods and exploit their functionality to a far greater extent than before, the way we do business has changed forever.
The traditional mindsets, “I have to make that flight” “I need to be in Hong Kong for a day” “I need my team in the office,” have now changed. There are certainly occasions where face-to-face meetings are important, but the world has accepted alternative, equally efficient and effective business practices. Flexible working environments is one such practice which provides many benefits including, but not limited to, improved productivity, reduced employee stress and reduced operating expenses.
As with many other businesses Datalec has encountered numerous challenges due to COVID-19 including restricted travel that has impacted our day-to-day operations. As a provider of world-class data centre design, supply, build, and support services to deliver end-to-end solutions for data centre operators, we require that highly qualified project management and construction teams travel from country to country. Related to this is the increased cost to deliver projects in the event that employees need to have several COVID tests and occasionally to isolate either before or after travel.
Headquartered in the UK, Datalec faces a variety of complex working restrictions in the EU. A failure to accurately track employee travel carefully and maintain thorough records of their occupancy in the workplace can lead to significant tax and regulatory challenges. To counter this, Datalec has a highly qualified logistics team, within the organisation, working full time to interpret various countries specific travel and occupancy requirements to protect our firm, our staff and our clients. Another challenge that Datalec is faced with on a daily basis is the movement of goods across European borders. Brexit has resulted in the loss of the dual tax treaty that existed between the UK and the EU and as a consequence exporting goods and services requires great care to manage the various tax and duty obligations.
With all that being said 2022 is going to be another busy year. Many data centres constructed over the past two or three years now require client fit outs and that is where Datalec operates. Added to this, many older data centres that are 15+ years old will soon require some thought given to refurbishment or even rebuilding. Often the data centre location is excellent, with sufficient power and fibre availability, but the data centre fabric is old and inefficient. These data centres must compete with much newer facilities for the same business.
Our industry continues to evolve at an extraordinary pace and in order to continue to meet, and indeed exceed, customer demands companies like ours must remain agile, responsive and innovate. It is critical for data centre operators and service providers to seek out advancements that are necessary in this evolving digital transformation. We must be in pursuit of perfection.
2022 is likely to be another challenging, yet exciting, year for the industry and one the Datalec team is looking forward to.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stephen Scott spent 18 months as Chairman to Datalec before taking up the CEO role. Prior to this he spent 12 years as COO at Bridgehouse Capital, a UK family office, and a further two years as CEO at a boutique London based Investment Bank. During this time he gained significant private equity experience and participated in multiple sector M&A activities. Stephen has considerable experience in the Data Centre space and has held senior positions in several related companies including Deep Blue Cable (CEO), Global Marine Systems (Commercial Director), PSiNet Europe (CEO), Sentrum Data Centres (COO) and Global Switch (Sales Director). Stephen is a retired Naval Officer with an honours degree in engineering.
