Enterprise Data Center Trends
Each year the Uptime Institute surveys 1,000 IT leaders to gather current enterprise data center trends. In recent weeks they have released their 2017 research results. Today let’s take a look at some of the findings.
Enterprise Data Centers
Surprising to some in light of all the hype around cloud, 65% of workloads still reside on an enterprise-owned or operated data center. This number has remained about the same since 2014. 22% of workloads run on collocated or multi-tenant data centers and 13% run in the cloud. It is forecasted that more workloads will migrate to the cloud in the coming years as enterprises refine their hybrid cloud strategies and determine the best cost structures. It is also interesting to note that one third of survey respondents are using the cloud to better manage increased data center demands.
From the Uptime Institute: “The survey findings reflect several key trends that are acting together as a powerful catalyst for change within the industry. Increased performance at the processor level, further expansion of server virtualization, and the adoption of cloud computing have all created an IT foundation that differs greatly from those seen just five years ago.”
Server Virtualization
The survey shows further server consolidation through virtualization. Virtualization is the process of creating a software-based representation of something rather than a physical one. Server virtualization helps companies reduce data center costs and total cost of ownership (TCO). Server virtualization also improves operations by centralizing control, reducing provision time and improving business continuity.
Data Center Budget & Business Continuity
Data center budgets continue to remain strong in 2017 and business continuity is on the radar of corporate leaders.
- 75% of data center budgets have increased or stayed the same compared with 2016
- 68% use IT-based resiliency, relying on live application failover in the event of an outage
- 90% of data center professionals believe their corporate management is more concerned about outages now than just a year ago
- 90% of organizations conduct root cause analysis of any IT outage
In conclusion, the survey clearly shows that enterprises are continuing to refine and update data center infrastructure to improve performance and cost while also keeping a closer eye on business continuity.
