Latest Data Center Trends Uncovered at Uptime Institute Symposium 2011

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The sixth annual Uptime Institute Symposium came to a close on Thursday, May 12, with overwhelming feedback from delegates that it was the best to date. Following the event, attendees from over 30 countries will return to their organizations to begin implementing new strategies and best practices shared at Symposium by data center industry thought leaders, innovators and practitioners. The four days of programming, tutorials and master classes at the Santa Clara Convention Center in California included over 120 presentations and sessions led by industry experts and analysts from Uptime Institute, The 451 Group and Tier1 Research, with participation from the most cutting-edge enterprises and organizations in the global data center marketplace, including AOL, Deutsche Bank, eBay, Facebook, GE Energy Services, Google and Microsoft.

“Andrew Stokes, Chief Infrastructure Architect, Deutsche Bank gave a presentation on his organization's 100% free-cooled New York data center design that I can safely say was the best case study presentation I've seen in several years on data center efficiency.”

After a day of tutorials and master classes, Uptime Institute Symposium 2011 kicked off presentations on Tuesday, May 10, with a keynote presentation from senior leaders of Uptime Institute and its parent company, The 451 Group. The excitement grew immediately as key findings from Uptime Institute’s inaugural data center industry survey were revealed, such as that 74% of respondents had deployed or were considering some form of cloud computing, primarily private cloud. Other key discussion points included:

36% of data center facilities would run out of space, power or cooling in 2011-2012.
Over 70% of the respondents measure PUE, and report an average PUE between 1.6-1.99.
Less than 20% of respondents' IT departments pay the data center power bill, a financial structure that makes it far more difficult to drive data center energy efficiency.

"Data centers are attracting the attention of more CEOs and CFOs, not just for their energy use, but also because of the cost of facilities and the digital infrastructure – the entire system by which companies satisfy their computing needs," said Martin McCarthy, Executive Chairman of Uptime Institute and CEO of The 451 Group. "Digital Infrastructure includes the data centers, software, IT hardware and internal/external services. Uptime Institute, with its foundational role as the global authority on data centers, is helping the industry focus on the true cost of these activities."

Throughout Symposium, delegates attended workshops, tutorials and sessions given by over 30 experts from Uptime Institute and analysts from its parent and sister companies, The 451 Group and Tier1 Research. New this year was an Uptime Institute track with presentations and tutorials around data center economics, design and operations.

On May 10, Vince Renaud, Vice President and Managing Principal, Uptime Institute Professional Services, presented on the most significant data center design trend of the decade, modular and/or phased data center construction, featuring a panel of globally recognized data center design experts.

"This is the way to design a data center," Renaud said. "Certainly, every company building a data center today is using phased, modular design to take advantage of the capital expense savings. But the biggest take-away from this panel is that planning is necessary in order to bring on new infrastructure without impacting existing production workloads. Phased, modular design underscores the importance of the Uptime Institute's Tiers Topology and the concept of concurrent maintainability."

On May 11, Tier1 Research Senior Analyst Jason Schafer delivered his latest research on containerized, prefabricated data center designs and participated in a panel of experts moderated by Uptime Institute Director of Content and Publications, Matt Stansberry.

"Modular data centers are off-the-shelf, pre-engineered, tested, fabricated and delivered by one vendor to the location of the customer’s choice," Schafer said. "These are pieced together in considerably shorter time periods than what can be achieved through normal construction methods. Ideally, modular, prefabricated designs remove integration difficulties associated with other construction methods."

Finally, the sessions on May 12 focused on the intertwined issues of efficiency, energy use, carbon management and compliance. A groundbreaking presentation brought together for the first time representatives from leading industry organizations on green and efficient IT to discuss energy and carbon management on a panel moderated by Andy Lawrence, Program Director of the Uptime Institute Symposium and Research Director of Eco-efficient IT, The 451 Group.

"The end-user case studies on energy efficiency have been really popular at this event," Lawrence said. "Andrew Stokes, Chief Infrastructure Architect, Deutsche Bank gave a presentation on his organization's 100% free-cooled New York data center design that I can safely say was the best case study presentation I've seen in several years on data center efficiency."

The Uptime Institute Symposium is the most influential all-stakeholder thought leadership conference serving the data center industry. Attendees enjoyed opportunities to network, learn and form relationships with peers at a level unmatched in the industry. Symposium featured an Exposition Hall with over 60 exhibitors, interactive sessions from award-winning data center operators sharing best practices and success stories, and multiple social events that brought the best minds, companies, products and services together in an open environment.

Symposium 2011 also hosted Uptime Institute’s annual Green Enterprise IT (GEIT) Awards. Winners were honored at a special ceremony during Symposium and were given the stage to share experiences and insights with industry peers through case-study presentations. The GEIT Awards, the Institute's highest honor, recognize pioneering advancements for significantly improved energy productivity in IT and data center operations.

Additional resources include:

Uptime Institute's YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/uptimeinstitute
Uptime Institute's Twitter Feed: http://twitter.com/#!/UptimeInstitute
Uptime Institute's Blog: http://blog.uptimeinstitute.com/

About Uptime Institute

Uptime Institute, an independent division of The 451 Group, is an unbiased third-party research, education and consulting organization focused on improving data center performance and efficiency. The Institute serves all stakeholders of the data center industry, including enterprise and third-party operators, manufacturers, providers, and engineers. Uptime Institute Professional Services is the data center management and engineering consulting arm of Uptime Institute. It delivers due diligence assessments and Certifications of site infrastructure and site management in accordance with the Tier and Operational Sustainability Standards. Serving clients worldwide, Uptime Institute Professional Services delivers consulting, Certifications, and Accreditations to facilities and professionals in 50 countries.

For additional information, see http://uptimeinstitute.org and http://professionalservices.uptimeinstitute.com.

The 451 Group is a leading IT analyst and data organization focused on the business of enterprise IT innovation. The 451 Group also operates Tier1 Research, which analyzes the financial and industry implications of developments impacting public and private companies within the hosting, communications and Internet infrastructure sectors; TheInfoPro, a leading advisory and research firm that provides real-world perspectives on the customer and market dynamics of the enterprise information technology landscape by using a unique research methodology harnessing the collective knowledge and insights of leading IT organizations worldwide; and ChangeWave Research, which specializes in identifying and quantifying change in corporate IT purchasing demand, industry and company trends, and consumer spending behavior.