“The data center may not be the most glamorous or flashy technology, but they are the “brains” behind many of the devices and services that garner headlines. Because they are such complex and high-cost facilities, the industry tends to see few unanticipated shifts in the fundamentals. But the dynamics of a given year can often shed light on what’s to come,” writes Jeff Clark of The Data Center Journal. Mr. Clark looks at what developments in 2015 are shaping the data center in 2016:

• Energy.  A major cost point for data centers all around, reducing energy consumption has been a focus point for quite some time. In fact, reducing more PUEs is getting more challenging because the lowest hanging fruit has already been plucked. Mr. Clark points out that in the coming year it may not be about getting large data centers to continue to reduce their energy consumption, but instead getting smaller firms to implement tried and true energy saving technologies at their own data centers
• Cloud. Enterprises will continue to move aspects of their operations to the cloud and a corresponding rise in the need for centralized management
• Zombie servers. Mr. Clark cites a study that found 30% of physical data center servers are drawing power but do not contribute to data center operations.  This could be an energy saving opportunity in 2016 but he points out the problem may be widespread versus centered in specific areas, making it a more difficult problem to solve
• Security. 2015 continued to highlight the vulnerability of our data with stories of data breaches regularly in the news. Enterprises will continue to focus on how to keep data safe but Mr. Clark points out that the best path forward is still uncertain

Cloud, security and Energy will continue to drive how the data center operates in 2016. Are these common themes in your data center? Share what projects your team is planning to undertake this year.