Data centre consolidation involves integrating multiple data centres into fewer physical sites to improve efficiency and reduce costs. It is a complex process that requires careful planning and facilitation to realize savings without compromising operations. Advanced analytics can help by establishing a baseline of current infrastructure usage and capacity, and modeling different consolidation scenarios to identify the optimal approach. This enables organizations to consolidate aggressively while maintaining performance and choosing technologies that maximize savings through a right-sized data centre footprint.

1. design & facilities managementdesign & facilities management
D
ata centre consolidation
is one of the most
complex IT integration
processes, however
it can vastly improve
the running health of your data
centre as well as reduce its energy
consumption. The complexity of data
centre consolidation means if it is not
facilitated in the correct manner, a lot
of money stands to be lost.
Why consolidate?
The day after the 2015 government
budget was announced, the UK
government announced its target
of saving up to £105m in IT
consolidation. The truth is that
resources are limited and demand
is unlimited – not least for storage
capacity, and all businesses are run
with budgets.
In order to deal with growth,
many data centres turn to buying
more hardware, and when space is
exceeded, they turn to real estate.
Resorting to buying land and buildings
to expand a data centre estate
is a significant decision to make
though, not to mention a substantial
capital investment, especially for
those based in expensive areas like
southern England.
This of course satisfies demand
from the business, however as a long
term solution it can cause a growing
headache. Multi-layer application
architectures and heterogeneous
platforms can result in a fragmented,
silo managed infrastructure, which
stretches resources and budgets to
their limits.
It is the responsibility of those in
charge of data centres to maximise their
utility and keep their estate organised;
consolidating an organisation’s IT
landscape can lead to savings of
millions of pounds. There’s no denying
that responsible IT planning leads to a
healthy data centre as well as a healthy
balance sheet. A report from the
Government Accountability Office found
that collectively across 24 agencies
participating in the Federal Data Center
Consolidation Initiative, $1.25bn is
planned to be saved through data
centre consolidation in 2015.
Energy issues
Regardless of the costs of hardware
and real estate, the energy and cooling
costs associated with an expansionist
attitude to data centre management
are substantial. A recent Merrill Lynch
report found that 10 per cent of the
world’s electricity goes into data
PLANFORPROFIT
Peter Duffy of Sumerian takes an analytics approach to data centre consolidation.
IT infrastructure
from smallest
to largest.
POWER DISTRIBUTIONENCLOSURES CLIMATE CONTROL

2. design & facilities managementdesign & facilities managementdesign & facilities management
centres, a staggering testament to
their global footprint, as well as their
influence on rising energy costs.
While money is a factor,
environmental initiatives such as the UK
government’s CRC Energy Efficiency
Scheme are also putting pressure on
organisations to reduce emissions.
How do you minimise
facilities costs?
Demonstrating the business case
for a consolidation program requires
a clear understanding of the existing
hardware and its current utilisation,
as well as information about what
capacity would be necessary
to support the same business
applications on various hardware, and
at the same time leaving enough room
for growth and failover requirements.
All consolidation strategies should
be based on a robust planning
framework encompassing quantifiable
performance and capacity metrics
for correctly sizing both current and
future requirements.
Gathering this intelligence is
traditionally a substantial task,
requiring phased implementation and
considerable testing procedures,
and many organisations will find
implementing a strategy to realise
its cost savings without sacrificing
service quality a difficult undertaking.
Take an analytical approach
Advanced analytics enables
organisations to maximise the
successful outcome of their
consolidation strategies as decisions
will be made confidently based on
the hard, quantified data collected
during the planning process.
Firstly, an accurate baseline
of current utilisation and capacity
headroom can be established
through data collected from the
current data centre estate. Advanced
statistical modelling can then be
used to accurately model and assess
the outcome and impact of multiple
‘what if’ consolidation scenarios.
This highly accurate scenario
modelling enables organisations to
understand the complete before
and after picture of the different
consolidation options available,
and assess their impact - enabling
them to act with confidence and
drive more substantial cost savings.
Including, for example;
Identifying how aggressively it
is possible to consolidate server
resources without impacting end
user and business performance.
Assessing the optimum choice
of technology platform out of the
different hardware and technology
options available, including both
physical and virtual.
Maximising the cost savings
that can be achieved through
a reduced and right sized data
centre footprint.
Consolidation offers many benefits
for organisations, and if done properly
can enable them to have a dependable,
efficient and agile IT infrastructure.
One of the most important things
to consider is the planning involved,
and to ensure maximum advantage
is taken of the technologies and
specialist skills available.
By using analytics to baseline
current performance and capacity
model scenarios and accurately
assess the options, IT organisations
can be confident in implementing
initiatives that achieve their desired
cost of performance objectives for
their data centre consolidation.
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