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Dimension Data Launches Data Centre Maturity Tool To Help Companies Migrate To The Next-Generation Data Centre
March 2015 by Marc Jacob
Dimension Data launched a new maturity tool that helps organisations assess their capabilities and prioritise initiatives for building a next-generation data centre. The Data Centre Development Model – the first assessment that covers such a broad spectrum of the data centre – was created off the back of strong demand from clients seeking guidance and actionable plans to make their data centres more responsive and agile.
According to Steve Joubert, Group Executive for Data Centres at Dimension Data, global competitive pressures brought on by social, mobile, analytics and cloud have had a tremendous impact on data centres to transform to remain relevant. “Every client we speak to, is looking for ways to transform their data centres to become more responsive to business needs. This is not an easy undertaking.”
With the expansion of the data centre beyond traditional boundaries to include cloud, networking and security, it’s important to look at these areas holistically and not in isolation. A change in one area can have a costly impact in another. Most IT departments still have siloed functions and don’t understand the impact of their projects on other parts of the infrastructure, including the data centre. And deciding where to start for the maximum benefit, isn’t easy either.
For example, Dimension Data has seen that virtualisation and converged infrastructure projects that don’t include a review and strategy for the underlying network, can increase the ultimate cost of the project three-fold.
Dimension Data’s Data Centre Development Model is ideal for organisations that need to understand the requirements of building a future-state data centre. The Model scrutinises the 11 critical domains in the data centre (“as-is” state) and what their future needs are (“to-be” state). The output of the workshop-style engagement is a roadmap which provides practical implementation recommendations for the most valuable initiatives around their data centre. Recommendations include:
• identifying infrastructure gaps in an organisation;
• determining the most efficient operating model for the data centre, inclusive of management and operations;
• understanding the best ways to exploit public cloud, hosting, and co-location where it creates value for the business;
• ensuring the network is geared to support the journey of transformation; and
• embedding security at every step of the journey.
