STEP Up to AI Enabled Operations

In an industry that has been rapidly growing for a few decades, the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have broken even the most aggressive demand forecasts. Many are focusing on the rush to build infrastructure to support the performance needs of AI, but the industry cannot afford to ignore the benefits of bringing AI into data center operations. After a record level of building, the need to support this unprecedented space will quickly become evident.

Imagine cooling goes down on your ultra-high-density racks without 2N redundancy. Recovering from that without loss or error that leads to more trouble with just manual human intervention is not practical. Examples like this are endless and can lead to disastrous consequences. That’s why the data centers that prepare now to fully leverage AI and ML in their operations will be strongly positioned for stability and future growth.

AI and ML enabled automations embedded in your data center operations are the key to getting the most out of your capital investment.

They produce far greater efficiencies, which enables much higher capacity than was previously possible. If you’re not preparing for this, you’re setting yourself up for suboptimal yield on your investment and creating intolerable risk. Traditional operational procedures need to adjust to a non-traditional workload. Automation is able to respond to emergency situations in a fraction of the time, consistently manage high complexity projects, and produce greater results when compared with human intervention.

Like anything in a complex environment, it is not a simple adjustment to make these changes. But the good news is that there are clear and specific steps to get you to fully AI enabled operations. This can be viewed as levels of maturity or a journey, but it is most important to be accurate in your self-assessment. Avoid glossing over key steps as you review operational profiles and consider how your capabilities align to service level requirements. When most people think of data center operations, they think of what we call Legacy Operations. In the modern era, this is only minimally sufficient in cloud services and is a risk if not amended. We encourage you to take the time to determine where you are in your journey and from there, determine how you can become a Data Driven Operation. One that uses data configuration and collection to access, analyze, and ultimately, action. Only at that level will you be able to automate with accuracy and assurance to increase the capacity of your assets.

Operational Proficiencies

The key has always been finding the optimal blend of data, systems, and processes. A data driven operations team can deliver far more from an asset than ever before. Salute is delivering these outcomes to clients globally today with the Salute Technology Enabled Platform or STEP™. With STEP™, we are able to unlock the full capacity of modern technology in data center assets.

It is too tempting take a half-step and simply deploy IoT devices to automate environmental systems, but the millions invested in data center equipment should be leveraged with an effective asset focused solution. The old saying of “garbage in, garbage out” is absolute when dealing with automation at this level. The quality and accuracy of your data and processes when trying to implement new systems in the data center is critical. Having pristine data as well as accurate procedures and processes produces positive returns. But most importantly, it will enable you to seize the opportunity to automate, which is key to have your AI assets perform at the speed that the infrastructure was built to support. It’s time to STEP™ up to AI Enabled Operations.