• Friday, March 29, 2024
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Companies must invest heavily in data centre to increase reliability -Schneider Electric

R&D: Schneider Electric calls for collaboration among stakeholders

For companies to drive increased product performance, and reliability throughout their operations, Schneider Electric has emphasized the need for companies to invest in a data centre for optimum benefits in the nearest future.

Many companies across the world have already begun their journey in this regard, investing heavily in data centres – a pattern yet to resonate with their African counterparts.

According to Schneider Electric, for industrial operators to capture the benefits of increased automation, they cannot rely on cloud technology alone to bring the resiliency and speed demanded by artificial intelligence, machine learning, advanced analytics, and other Industry 4.0 technologies.

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“As digitization and technological advances bring us hurtling towards a new, more integrated future, not all data centre owners will be equally equipped to handle the new levels of operational agility required,” said Christophe Begat, Managing Director for Anglophone West Africa at Schneider Electric.

He noted that if risks and shortcomings within existing data centre systems and related management strategies are recognized early enough, stakeholders will improve their chances to engineer a smooth transition to a more dynamic future.

According to intelligence and advisory firm Arizton, the global data centre market will reach $174 billion by 2023.

As disruptive IoT technologies create a spike in demand for data centres, while the essence of data continues to grow, more sustainable, efficient, adaptive, and resilient data centre infrastructures will be needed if owners are to cash in on this growth opportunity.

Citing International Data Corporation (IDC)’s predictions, Schneider Electric said that there will be approximately 41.6 billion connected IoT devices by 2025 – three times more than the number of people on the planet.

Out of this number, industrial and automotive equipment represents the largest opportunity for connected things.

Most commercial and industrial companies are experiencing a new challenge meeting the surge in demand from customers while ensuring business continuity in the current environment.

“This means speedier adoption of 4.0 technologies like Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications that involve massive quantities of data,” Schneider Electric said.

The company noted that with more advanced technologies like robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), it is no longer possible for companies to rely solely on a centralized data centre located in an entirely different location.

This is because the transfer of data between the operating system and data centre will be slower – reducing the effectiveness of advanced technologies that were meant to drive efficiencies in the first place.

“To accommodate these rising marketplace demands, data centre owners will be required to step up performance in four important areas, which include sustainability, efficiency, flexibility and resilience,” Schneider Electric said.

In October 2019, Schneider Electric introduced as a first-to-market solution, EcoStruxure Micro Data Center C-Series 6U Wall Mount features a low-profile design, making it 60 per cent less intrusive while allowing heavier, long-depth edge servers to be wall mounted with UPS.

Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Micro Data Centre series are self-contained, single-rack enclosures inclusive of remote monitoring and management, services, physical security, UPS, power distribution, and cooling devices for fast, simple, and customized ways to design, deploy and manage edge computing solutions in multiple environments.