Data center energy costs/equipment efficiency is again a top-of-mind concern for data center managers, according to a fall survey of data center users sponsored by St. Louis-based Emerson Network Power, a business of Emerson.
The fall installment of the biannual survey polled members of the Data Center Users’ Group (DCUG), an association of data center, IT, and facility managers, and captured input from more than 150 respondents across North America. The questions covered a number of data center topics, including energy efficiency, data center monitoring, capacity constraints, third-party colocation providers, and heat and power density.
Like the spring survey, energy efficiency, availability, and infrastructure monitoring are still foremost on the minds of data center professionals. When asked to identify their top three facility/network concerns, 44 percent of respondents cited energy efficiency, making it the leading response to the question for the second time in the last two years for the fall survey. Availability (43 percent) and adequate monitoring and data center management (41 percent) were second and third on the list of top concerns this fall.
Also reflected in the survey is the trend toward data center growth. While 28 percent of respondents said there is no limiting factor on their organization’s ability to accommodate growth, 38 percent cited a lack of capital expenditure to either build new facilities or invest in infrastructure systems.
