Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2023. Read them in this 15th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
The Hunt for New Efficiencies in the Data Centre Space
By Stephen Scott, CEO at Datalec Precisions Installations
COVID-19 is behind us, at least we hope so! Notwithstanding the likely spikes in COVID outbreaks as we head into the colder European months, there is a degree of confidence that the strategies for managing outbreaks through travel restrictions and vaccination programs will minimise the disruption to our working lives. That said, remote and flexi working is with us to stay and the distributed cloud-based services we all now rely on are critical to our new way of life. The pandemic that forced us all to find a new way to work has been replaced with a drive to find new efficiencies especially in terms of power and carbon-based fuels.
The conflict that exists between Russia and Ukraine has had far reaching economic consequences and even in the event that a peaceful settlement can be found in the coming months, the repercussions and the global recovery process will probably exist for years to come.
18 months on from the COVID-19 pandemic we are still evolving and working our way through its far-reaching impacts. As we know, the demand for cloud-based services and connectivity has significantly increased in the work from home space, encompassing both urban and rural residential 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 now 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,” are for the most part consigned to history. Certainly, there are 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 greater wellbeing and of course reduced operating expense.
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 can lead to significant tax and regulatory challenges. To manage this, Datalec employs a highly qualified logistics team, working full time to interpret various countries specific travel and occupancy requirements to protect our firm, our staff and our clients. 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, 2023 is going to be another very busy year. Many data centres constructed over the past two or three years now require client fit outs and that is the core of Datalec’s business. Added to this, many aging data centres will soon require refurbishment or even rebuilding. Often the data centre location is excellent, with sufficient power and fibre availability, but the data centre fabric itself 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 innovative. It is critical for data centre operators and service providers to seek out advancements that are necessary in this ever-evolving digital transformation.
Looking into 2023, we must be in pursuit of perfection.
##
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stephen spent 18 months as Chairman at Datalec before taking up the CEO role. Prior to this he spent 12 years as COO at Bridgehouse Capital, a private equity fund, and a further two years as CEO at a boutique London based Investment Bank. Through these two roles he gained significant 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.
