How Managed Services Help with Data Center Infrastructure Management

Data centers provide organizations with opportunities to reduce costs by offering access to shared applications, networks and information storage infrastructure. Now a vital resource, data centers continue to evolve with next-generation technologies, tools and equipment. Those and other advancements present challenges that would benefit from data center infrastructure management. By onboarding a third-party firm with the expertise to oversee data center operations, facilities can function proficiently and more profitably.

What are the Challenges in Data Center Infrastructure Management?

Data center providers continue to face headwinds in terms of seamless network access for customers. Users anticipate logging into network profiles around the clock, making facility monitoring and management a 24-7 task. An increased number of data centers have outsourced many of their internal needs to overcome the following challenges.

Managing Diverse Components

Items such as firewalls, routers, storage drives, servers and cybersecurity infrastructure rank among a data center’s essential components. For it to function at a high level, data centers cannot afford disruptions. Along with avoiding unnecessary downtime, well-maintained data center components can reduce energy consumption and overhead.

Maintaining Uptime and Reliability

Cybersecurity attacks can result in millions of dollars of valuable and sensitive data losses. Beyond the physical security needed to protect hardware, hackers can launch attacks to overwhelm networks and seize operation control. Common tactics include the following.

• Denial of Service: DoS attacks flood a data center with electronic messages and queries to cripple the network. Then cybercriminals take control of the network or pilfer off digital assets.
• Malware Attacks: Human error accounts for more than 90 percent of data breaches. When new hires or even trusted staff members click on a malicious file, malware infiltrates the network. Hackers can then get what they want.
• Compromised Credentials: Hackers use phishing emails and other schemes to learn usernames and passwords. Once inside the system, they can wreak havoc in plain sight.
• Software Vulnerabilities: Unpatched software and other weaknesses can leave a data center open to attack. It’s crucial that proactive data center infrastructure management policies proactively address potential cybersecurity gaps.

A reliable data center provides determined cybersecurity and 24-7 access. Asset theft or unnecessary downtime creates a negative experience harmful to the operation’s reputation.

Optimizing Resource Allocation

The ability of a data center to provide cost-effective services starts with optimization. When a set of best practices is drafted and followed, the facility operates efficiently. One of the prevalent challenges facilities face involves adopting ways to decrease energy consumption while maintaining top-tier access. It’s not unusual to consider physical redesigns and ways to deploy technologies to improve cooling efficiency, among others.

What Role Do Managed Services Provide in DCIM?

A third-party data center infrastructure management model can be meticulously employed and cohesively overseen. Because managed IT firms with expertise in cybersecurity focus exclusively on network management and protection, entrepreneurs and business professionals can focus on growth and other profit-driving aspects of the organization. Along with reducing IT staffing costs, a data center and its users gain the following benefits.

Monitoring and Proactive Maintenance

Hiring IT technicians to monitor a system and perform ongoing maintenance tends to be cost-prohibitive and uncertain. The shortage of qualified IT and cybersecurity specialists tends to drive up in-house employee costs. And when a data center experiences normal staffing attrition, services can become uneven. By contrast, a third-party managed IT and cybersecurity maintains a team of professionals whose sole job is to optimize the data center’s capabilities.

Scalability and Flexibility

Managed IT firms typically offer scalable services that allow companies to integrate the cost into their monthly and annual budgets. As an organization grows and expands, decision-makers can increase the amount or type of services they utilize. Data center infrastructure management service contracts are usually handled in this same scalable and flexible fashion.

Security and Compliance

Maintaining regulatory compliance has positioned third-party cybersecurity as an essential need. Few, if any, organizations can cost-effectively hire cybersecurity experts to implement stringent and changing government mandates. In-house IT technicians are often too busy dealing with internal glitches to pour hours into cybersecurity monitoring, adjusting zero-trust user profiles or spending evenings hunting down threats. By outsourcing this work to an expert, businesses can implement top-tier cybersecurity policies, practices and consistent monitoring that exceed compliance standards.

Key Features of Managed Services for DCIM

When data center operation chooses to outsource infrastructure management to an experienced third-party firm, critical qualitative and quantitative improvements occur. Clients that purchase monthly data storage and application usage enjoy seamless access and the positive experience they anticipated. These are other key features of managed DCIM services.

24/7 Monitoring and Support

A third-party firm works quietly in the background, ensuring users do not experience unnecessary interruptions. This is accomplished through 24-7 monitoring and customer care support. Although this benefit seems qualitative in nature, it eventually translates to positive reviews and more customers.

Performance Optimization and Capacity Planning

Any network can become overrun by traffic. That’s why third-party professionals take into consideration current use, available bandwidth, and address capacity growth before it becomes an issue. Although some people think too many clients is a “good problem to have,” it’s not when they grow weary of buffering laptops and laggy connections.

Incident Response and Disaster Recovery

Any cybersecurity firm that promises that no hacker can penetrate the system is not being entirely truthful. The facts are that cybercriminals work tirelessly to steal valuable and sensitive information every day. A small percentage of threat actors possess the skills and resources to breach the most robust defenses. In recent years, even high-level federal agencies have been hacked.

What a third-party data center infrastructure management outfit does is combat hackers and remain prepared to respond and recover. On the off chance a persistent threat manages to breach a data center network, operational control can be maintained or restored promptly.

Regular Software and Hardware Updates

A percentage of data center oversight involves steady, on-time software and hardware oversight. By making routine, as-needed updates, hackers won’t be able to exploit vulnerabilities. These upgrades also help maximize the user experience that customers expect.

Data centers have emerged as a vital resource for organizations to store and access digital information and applications. Like other elements of a profitable company, they require experts to handle niche aspects of cybersecurity, energy consumption, monitoring, optimization and capacity planning. By outsourcing data center infrastructure management to a third-party firm, facilities get the ongoing attention they require.

Unlock Your Facility’s Potential with Data Center Infrastructure Management

Red River partners with organizations looking to safeguard themselves from ongoing cybersecurity threats and maximize data center infrastructure potential. Find out how we can elevate your data center infrastructure by setting up a consultation.