Struggling with inadequate staffing, data center managers worldwide are compelled to deliver better service levels to meet increasing demands while reducing costs, according to Symantec’s 2008 State of the Data Center report. The study, conducted in late 2008, targeted 1,600 data center managers in Global 5000 and large public-sector institutions located in 21 countries.

The second annual study found that data center managers are caught between two conflicting goals — more demanding user expectations and higher levels of performance coupled with a primary objective to reduce costs. The report also found that data center staffing remains problematic, servers and storage continue to be underutilized, and disaster recovery plans are out of date. Finally, the respondents indicated that while they are pursuing “green” data center initiatives, they are doing so primarily based on cost benefits.

“This research confirms what we are seeing in the field,” said Rob Soderbery, senior vice president of Symantec’s Storage and Availability Management Group. “Attention has turned to initiatives that will drive immediate cost reduction, rather than longer-term ROI-driven programs.”

Lean Ways to Meet Growing Requirements

Of those surveyed, 75 percent reported user expectations are rising gradually or rapidly, and, 60 percent saw meeting the service levels demanded by the organization to be more difficult or much more difficult to meet. Only 10 percent saw service levels to be easier to meet.

The key initiatives data centers are pursuing to “do more with less” include automation of routine tasks (mentioned by 42 percent of respondents), cross-training staff (cited by 40 percent) and reducing data center complexity (mentioned by 35 percent). Training is seen as strategic by 68 percent of respondents, and 78 percent expect their training budgets to rise or stay constant over the next two years.

However, staffing remains a crucial issue, with 36 percent of respondents reporting that they are understaffed while only 4 percent report being overstaffed. Furthermore, 43 percent say finding qualified applicants is a big problem.

To address the staffing issue companies are turning to outsourcing. Nearly half (45 percent) outsource primarily to give data center staff more time to focus on other tasks. According to the survey, the top three leading IT functions that businesses are outsourcing include business continuity (46 percent), backups (43 percent) and storage management (39 percent).

Focus on Servers, Storage and Disaster Recovery

Server and storage utilization remains a key issue. Surveyed IT managers reported that their data center servers were operating at just 53 percent of capacity. Data center storage utilization was even lower at 50 percent. Not surprisingly there is a flurry of activity aimed at increasing utilization in both areas.

The major server-related initiatives include server consolidation (80 percent) and server virtualization (77 percent). For storage, the leading initiatives were storage virtualization (76 percent), continuous data protection (71 percent) and storage resource management (71 percent).

Data center managers also continue to report room for improvement in the area of disaster recovery. In fact, just 35 percent report that their disaster recovery plan is above average, while 27 percent say it needs work and 9 percent report that their plan is informal or undocumented.

Companies still find that human error is one of the biggest causes of unplanned downtime, being the culprit 25 percent of the time. Hardware/software failure and power outages were also some of the key causes of unplanned downtime.

 ‘Green’ Data Center Driven by Cost

Continuing the trend first spotted in 2007, the data center’s focus on “being green” was driven by cost issues in 2008 with social responsibility on the rise. The study asked companies why creating a “green” data center was important, and found that it was primarily being driven by cost issues. Reducing electricity consumption was mentioned by 54 percent of respondents, while reducing cooling costs was cited by 51 percent. Just 42 percent noted a sense of responsibility to the community as a reason for creating a “green” data center.

Overall, the study shows the continuing importance for companies to control data center complexity and costs. With the mandate to literally do more with less, companies are scrambling to find solutions that have an immediate effect on cost and efficiency.

“IT managers and executives are in a tough spot,” said Soderbery. “Cost reduction is a non-negotiable objective this year, while user expectations remain high and demand continues to rise. We are seeing this translate into interest in solutions that provide customers with confidence and deliver immediate benefits in reducing server and storage spend without disrupting today’s environment.”