Data centres at bursting point

 

Gallery

By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 24 Nov 2008 at 11:00

Data centres in the UK are close to breaking point, with the majority now running dangerously close to storage capacity, claims a new report.

Increased data retention legislation and higher computing requirements mean the majority of European data centres now run at 82% of their capacity, suggests a survey of a 1,000 chief information officers (CIOs) conducted on behalf of HP.

Such high demand for data storage, coupled with shrinking IT budgets, is causing many managers to turn to data centre consolidation as a short-term solution.

The importance of data centres to modern business is undeniable, proven by the fact that 60% of companies plan to invest in improving their storage infrastructure, even in the worsening economic climate. Currently the average number of data centres per company in Europe is 5.7, but this is expected to rise to 6.1 by 2011, claims the survey.

The increased budget for data centres may not be enough, though. Despite these efforts, almost three quarters of CIOs believe that upper management fail to appreciate the importance of data centres.

"Managed correctly, data centre transformation can reduce costs whilst enabling increased flexibility and efficiency," says Reinier van Hoeijen, director of Data Centre Transformation Services at HP. "It also has the potential to transform the entire business, adding competitive edge."