Analysts glum on data centre management

Life to get tougher for admins next year.

Managing an enterprise data centre is a headache that is only predicted to get worse, according to analysts.

A recent report from Gartner said that many of the top issues facing data centre administrators will worsen in 2010, further complicating the task of management.

Top on the list was managing complexity and energy costs. With hardware demands and energy bills climbing, companies are not paying enough attention to the ways in which they can save money and reduce energy consumption.

Analysts recommended that companies take steps to reduce their energy consumption by consolidating data centres, and making better use of the systems on hand rather than adding new hardware.

Additionally, Gartner said that administrators should implement power monitoring and management tools to better gauge the energy consumption of their data centres.

With the recession continuing to eat away at IT budgets, and rising data demands stretching servers, analysts throughout the industry have urged companies to reassess their current infrastructure and make better use of management tools to get the most out of the hardware on hand.

Gartner warned, however, that such consolidation efforts are not without their potential pitfalls and drawbacks.

Analysts noted that the costs of physically relocating and consolidating hardware can add up if not properly done, and that much of the benefits of consolidation will be lost if the hardware and facilities are not able to sustain operations for at least five years and the company is forced once again to expand.