The Fourth Industrial Revolution is rapidly gaining momentum – autonomous cars, wearables, drones, smartphones and an endless selection of mobile apps are producing massive amounts of both consumer and enterprise data.
According to recent research conducted by global market intelligence firm IDC, worldwide data is projected to reach 163 zettabytes (ZB) by 2025 – 10 times more than the amount produced in 2016. Given these numbers, it is imperative that data storage centres meet certain requirements in regards to size, reliability and security as well as compliance with political and environmental factors.
Daily Dose of Data
The majority of these data zettabytes being created is shifting from the consumer to the enterprise as data is increasingly automated, analysed and delivered in real-time. Specifically, worldwide businesses’ portion of data creation will double by 2025: rising from 30 percent to 60 percent.
From the consumer standpoint – by 2025, 75 percent of the population will be
interacting with data. The average “connected” person will interact with connected devices nearly 4,800 times per day — that’s equivalent to one interaction every 18 seconds.
Additionally, data is becoming a crucial part in day-to-day life as it is the bloodline of medical devices, cybersecurity platforms, aviation and more use cases. IDC forecasts that 20 percent of data produced in 2025 will belong to data sets that run the risk of being disruptive or even life-threatening, if unavailable at any moment.
Data is becoming increasingly intertwined with businesses, industries and our everyday lives. Therefore, it is critical that it is managed and stored properly.
GDPR Preparation
The growth of data, coupled with the countdown to the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) implementation in 2018, has created a call to action for data centres worldwide. The question is: Where will we store this massive amount of data in a way that is accessible to the end-user and compliant?
Many business executives argue that localising their data processing capabilities will significantly enhance their ability to abide by the new European laws, provide their services to market, and sustain their growth. In layman’s terms: companies that offer goods and services within the EU market will have an easier time complying with local regulations.
The first step in achieving full local compliance is selecting a data centre solution with physical and organisational security that meets the new requirements. These are set by the American National Standard (ANS) and Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA).
As part of the effects from Brexit, the barycentre of the EU has shifted to Milan, Paris and Frankfurt. For example, Northern Italy is an accessible and strategic location for Europe, China and the U.S. companies that want to address European markets and, in the meantime, be complaint with EU privacy regulation and reduce the response time of the online services provided.
Eco-Initiatives
In addition to meeting the GDPR standards, data centre infrastructure must be designed and orchestrated to meet Mother Nature’s standards.
Sustainability is no stranger to the manufacturing sector which continues to innovate alongside technology. Numerous companies are investing in long-term solutions to power their facilities – data centres included. One option is using energy that comes exclusively from certified renewable sources such as the European Guarantee of Origin (GO).
Alternatively, data centres can receive energy via multiple connections to external utilities, such as solar panels, hydroelectric plant and photovoltaic systems. Another energy-efficient practice is utilising a geothermal cooling system that guarantees optimum results with much lower energy consumption.
Big Solution
This is where the ANSI/TIA 942-A comes into play – the standard for building a reliable and efficient data centre. This rating system reviews various aspects including site location, architecture, security, safety, fire suppression, electrical, mechanical and telecommunication.
The highest levels of resilience to strive for is Rating 4, which means the data centre has redundant capacity components, multiple independent distribution paths, allows concurrent maintainability and has protection against almost all physical events.
While the industry races against the GDPR clock and exponential growth of data, it is key that data storage providers have a centre large enough to allow companies of all sizes to grow solidly and sustainably over the coming years, from a more proximal location.
Stefano Sordi – Biography
Stefano is the Chief Marketing Officer of Aruba Cloud, having been in the position since 2012.
Stefano has over 15 years of experience in the field of ICT and web/digital marketing. He has a degree in science and has always worked in the digital industry. Early on in his career, Stefano focussed on managing successful start-ups however moved to managing Aruba, one of the major Italian web companies, in 2012.
Stefano has managed various international M&A processes between top players in the world and has gained extensive experience in specific markets including the UK, Spain and France.
At Aruba he manages an international marketing and communications team which deals with all the business lines of the company Group. Over the past few years he has been in charge of the internationalisation of Aruba Cloud and its ranking among the top cloud providers.
