Vertiv also introduced a thermal management solution- Vertiv Liebert SRC-G for the edge of the network in India. The new solution delivers high uptime and efficiency to small critical
According to studies, the global data center automation market is projected to grow from $8.49 billion in 2022 to $27.35 billion by 2029.
Shrirang Deshpande – Country Manager – Strategic Programs, Vertiv India
How can data centers support hybrid working?
Way before the pandemic hit, the Indian government had started pushing the country toward becoming a digital economy through initiatives like Digital India and Smart Cities. The pandemic only accelerated the need for digitization across sectors including education, banking, manufacturing, automotive, and retail. This boom in India’s digital ecosystem has been a key factor resulting in the unprecedented growth of data creation and increased need for data centers in India.
Hybrid work has been creating some waves in the corporate world and data centers are at the heart of businesses making this transformation possible. For a hybrid workforce, it’s important to establish secure and efficient means of communication and collaborations between teams, and have the ability protect and manage critical equipment remotely.
To support flexible work models which include an in-office and a remote workforce , enterprises will require both on-premises data centers and cloud-based infrastructure to enable a network-based sharing of applications and information throughout the enterprise. With an increased reliance on cloud technologies and edge computing, it’s important for enterprises to be supported by energy-intensive, on-the-ground data centers. From an infrastructure standpoint, hybrid data centers can help distribute workloads between on-premises and cloud environments. Enterprises can create and host applications in a scalable, dynamic manner with the help of hybrid data centers. The combination of on-premises data centers and cloud infrastructures also helps address all security issues that might prop-up as a result of a remote workforce.
What is the importance of IT infrastructure in a hybrid work model?
With organizations operating on hybrid work models for a couple of years now, technology and IT infrastructure habe been playing a pivotal role to support remote operations. The shift to hybrid working required companies to upgrade their existing IT infrastructure to enable communication and collaboration between teams. Added to this, one of the biggest concerns that IT teams face is of data security. With so many employees working from so many different locations, protecting critical company data becomes challenging.
Here’s where ensuring organizations have the right kinds of IT infrastructure plays a crucial role. Some infrastructures that support hybrid work include-
- Virtual workplaces, to help businesses share data and information in a secure manner.
- For OEMs like Vertiv, solutions that support the remote management and monitoring of factory floors, data center sites, and mission critical equipment across all platforms of infrastructure.
- With the increasing adoption of emerging technologies like Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning, the amount of data being generated has increased exponentially. Organizations need hybrid Infra/cloud architectures to store and analyze this data efficiently and securely. While doing so, it is important to deal with Data and Network latency and create a right edge strategy for efficient functioning of business.
Can you share an overview of Vertiv and the range of data center solutions you offer?
Vertiv is a critical digital infrastructure provider that integrates hardware, software, analytics, and ongoing services to ensure customers’ vital applications run continuously, perform optimally, and grow with their business needs. We help to resolve some of the most critical challenges faced by data centers, communication networks, and commercial and industrial facilities through a versatile portfolio of power, cooling, and IT infrastructure solutions and services, spanning from the cloud to the network edge.
Safe and dependable data center networks are essential because of the world’s growing reliance on data. As more businesses switch to a hybrid business model, secure network connectivity and continuity will become increasingly important. Vertiv is aware of this growing importance and is focused on innovating new solutions to meet changing demands.
To support network closets, micro data centers, edge data centers, core data centers, colocation, and cloud computing, our data center portfolio includes prefabricated modular solutions and integrated solutions, thermal and power management systems, uninterruptible power supply systems (UPS), and IT management systems. With customized pre-tested and pre-integrated data centers, we help organizations in maximizing efficiency, delivering flexibility, and ensuring scalability. We also make the process of expanding core data centers and critical facility capabilities easier. Worldwide, our solutions create and provide scalable, customized data centers that accelerate deployment, reduce risk, and control costs to open new possibilities at the edge. Our brands include- Alber™, Avocent®, Geist™, Liebert®, NetSure™, and E+I Engineering Group, among others.
What are the upcoming trends in the data center space in 2023 that you anticipate?
Every year Vertiv comes out with a predictions of trends that we anticipate to be most impactful in the data center industry in the coming year. Discussing below each of these trends-
- Data centers face increasing regulations: Mounting pressures to meet consumer demand for energy and water are forcing governments at all levels to take a harder look at data centers and their outsized consumption of those resources. Data centers are estimated to be responsible for up to 3% of global electricity consumption today and projected to touch 4% by 2030. The average hyperscale facility consumes 20-50MW annually – theoretically enough electricity to power up to 37,000 homes. We expect this to prompt increasing governmental scrutiny in 2023. The industry will continue to take steps to self-monitor and moderate – including an increasing preference for environmentally-friendly thermal designs.
- Hyperscalers and others shop off the rack: According to a recent Omdia survey, 99% of enterprise data center operators say prefabricated, modular data center designs will be a part of their future data center strategy. That’s more than a trend; it’s the new normal. In 2023, Vertiv’s experts anticipate a continuing shift in the same direction among hyperscalers as they seek the speed and efficiencies standardization delivers.
- Diesel generators see real competition: The diesel generator has long been an imperfect but inescapable piece of the data center ecosystem. It represents stored energy that largely goes unused while still requiring maintenance or fuel replacement after periods of inactivity. Then, when pressed into service, generators produce carbon emissions operators are desperately trying to avoid. Already, some organizations are relying on batteries for longer load support – up to five minutes in some cases – and even designing their data centers with minimal generator capacity.
- Higher densities alter thermal strategies: After years of relatively static rack densities, data center operators are increasingly requesting higher-density racks. According to the Uptime Institute’s 2022 Global Data Center Survey, more than a third of data center operators say their rack densities have rapidly increased in the past three years. This is especially true among larger enterprise like telecom, banks and hyperscale data centers, where nearly half of those operating facilities at 10MW and above reported racks above 20kW and 20% claimed racks higher than 40kW.
Vertiv offers solutions like Liebert® VIC to cope with these rapidly increasing requirements. This solution enables full computing potential with immersion cooling technology, where servers are installed vertically in horizontal racks filled with a dielectric coolant. In September last year, Vertiv also introduced a thermal management solution- Vertiv™ Liebert® SRC-G for the edge of the network in India. The new solution delivers high uptime and efficiency to small critical infrastructure, while using ‘zero’ indoor footprint.
- 5G meets the metaverse at the edge: India is set to have around 31 million 5G users by the end of this year, and the number is set to reach 690 million by 2028, according to Ericsson’s Mobility Report for November 2022. As the edge of the network becomes more sophisticated, so will the infrastructure needed to support it. This will include technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality planning and management systems.
How can next-gen tech like AI/ML improve data centers’ operational efficiency and productivity?
Due to the pace of the digital transformation, including remote and hybrid working, the generation and consumption of data has increased over the past two years. Because of this, businesses’ reliance on data centers has reached a breaking point, leaving little to no room for any downtime. Here is where automation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) come into play.
According to studies, the global data center automation market is projected to grow from $8.49 billion in 2022 to $27.35 billion by 2029. There’s rising adoption of cloud services, Internet of Things (IoT) devices across enterprises, and the recently deployed 5G networks in some countries, resulting in increased the demand for improved data center performance. As a result, globally it is speculated there will be an increased demand for data center automation to manage and monitor data center sites.
Data centers can use automation, AI and ML to optimize cooling to meet the capacity demanded throughout the day with variable capacity and speed components, lowering the likelihood of an unplanned outage. To manage servers effectively, data center administrators will also be able to automate some data-driven operations, assist data centers in reducing workloads, and support in workload distribution.
Data centers were understaffed in terms of on-site employees and engineers to troubleshoot and handle any unexpected challenges because of the nationwide lockdowns during COVID. Although AI has facilitated remote management of data centers, automation, but when paired with machine learning and analytics, it may also help administrators find irregularities and inefficiencies in real time, enabling more efficient operations.
What are Vertiv’s plans for 2023?
At Vertiv, we’re constantly focused on product innovation, to provide efficient and reliable IT infrastructure to our customers. We’ve brought in the new year with the announcement of Giordano Albertazzi assuming the role of CEO. We expanded our portfolio with our enterprise key accounts across key verticals; enterprise business partners; global alliances; and IT systems integrators and national value-added distributors extend our E-commerce footprint in India.
From a product standpoint we’ve already launched the new Vertiv™ NetSure™ IPE outdoor rectifier, to facilitate 5G rollouts and enable operators to increase capacity in areas where demand for data is vast. Another recently launched product is the Vertiv™ Intelligent Fingerprint Rack Access Control System (iFACS). The integrated Internet Protocol (IP) based access control solution is designed to physically secure the racks housing mission critical equipment, assets, and enterprise data. We’ve got more thermal, cooling, power, and data center solutions in the pipeline. We also announced the release of the Vertiv™ XR app, a first-of-its-kind tool in the data center space that allows data center operators, IT managers and channel partners to visualize Vertiv products in the location they would occupy in any given facility.
