Enterprises must accept the change management involved with data centre consolidation in order to move forward as a business, says Ayman Abusaffaqa, deputy GM for data centres at Emitac Enterprise Solutions.
“Change is not something that is accepted easily in the IT field. You always have the political issues, but we have to start building the change mentality,” said Abusaffaqa.
Data consolidation is a growing trend in the Middle East, primarily as a way of cost reduction. However, issues have arisen in relation to taking away the necessity of certain jobs.
“If you’re going to tell a staff member that through data consolidation his job will become less necessary, it’s going to create issues. But if the customer’s strategy is to go for cost reduction then that is what will happen. The political and cultural issues that arise as a result of data centre consolidation are very sensitive in this part of the world, but this is something that the customer must manage internally with their team,” Abusaffaqa added.
Abusaffaqa also spoke of the other challenges of data consolidation, which stem from wrong perceptions of it.
“People think of it as physical movement of equipment, rather than from a business risk concept and business consolidation approach. This is a very, very big challenge for such people,” he said.
“Even those with the most advanced approach to data centres still have a lot of things to consider in terms of risks. Particularly the down time needed to do the shift, extended deadlines and, the most critical, budget overrun,” he added.
Data consolidation is becoming increasingly popularly in the Middle East, particularly among government institutes and big enterprises, Abusaffaqa said. He added that up to 30% of Emitac’s dealings in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are now in data consolidation.
