Data center facility managers certainly have their work cut out for them. In an age of rapidly accelerating tech innovation, these professionals are constantly thinking about how to future-proof, expand and add more power to their facilities—all while ensuring maximum uptime.
At the same time, they also need to be able to meet the increasingly evolving needs of tenants, many of whom are drawn toward energy-efficient solutions and sustainability. Making matters more difficult, they also have to make sure to maintain interoperability across a myriad of hardware and management software solutions.
To overcome all of these challenges, data center managers are increasingly opting to invest in modular data centers. In large part, this is because modular data centers make life easier, while enabling managers to build stronger, more resilient facilities.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at five ways modular data centers make the data center manager’s job more manageable.
1. Modular data centers are designed to meet strict quality standards.
At the end of the day, the most important job of any data center facility manager is to ensure that their data centers are operating optimally around the clock. This is much easier to ensure when data centers are built to the highest-quality standards from the outset.
By opting to go with a modular data center, facility managers can partner with providers that adhere to the ISO 9001:2015 quality management principles. This, in turn, gives them the peace of mind that comes with knowing their modular data center will work as designed, which largely increases the chances tenants are satisfied with their investments.
2. Modular data centers are energy-efficient.
Due to the plug-and-play nature of modular data centers, they can be designed for optimal performance and energy use. In an age where tenants are increasingly demanding sustainable solutions, modular data centers can truly help you differentiate your offerings by selling the most energy-efficient products on the market. At the same time, this enables the facility manager to focus on other important aspects of the data center, instead of spending time managing the power output of the facility.
Not only do modular data centers give you the ability to choose from a number of different sustainable power sources, but the construction process itself results in considerably less waste. And because they are optimally designed, they require less cooling than traditional stick-built facilities.
Add it all up, and the data center manager’s job is easier because they can give tenants exactly what they want, while lowering their operational costs.
3. Modular data centers go through third-party inspections and UL testing.
When you partner with the right modular provider, you can rest comfortably knowing that the modules that are shipped to your facilities comply with the National Electric Code and UL Classifications. That’s because modules get tested in the vendor’s climate-controlled facility before being sent out. In other words, the modular approach provides an easy way to ensure your facility is compliant and your tenant’s data is safe, even before it arrives on site.
While stick-built construction companies can certainly produce compliant facilities, construction takes place outdoors on your property. As such, more variables enter the mix, and you can’t be certain that you’ll end up with a compliant facility right out of the gate.
4. Modular data centers are flexible by design.
Data center facilities managers often run into the same problem: They’re confined by physical space. By taking the modular approach to construction, the facility manager’s job becomes much easier, because modules can fit into unique spaces that you might not be able to build a traditional data center in.
Due to their versatility, modular data centers can solve unique facility requirements. Simply put, the facility manager can build a solution that accommodates their tenants’ exact needs.
5. Modular data centers provide safe, controlled construction.
When you join forces with a leading modular provider, construction takes place off-site in the vendor’s controlled, COVID-compliant facility. As a result, facility managers don’t have to worry about potential liabilities such as a crew coming on-site and potentially exposing the tenants to the virus.
What’s more, you won’t run into any weather delays with the modular approach, and you won’t have to manage the site during construction either.
Instead, modules are sent to your property once they are completed and fully tested. Once they arrive, technicians install them quickly and are then on their way. It’s an easy way to add capacity without damaging the tenant’s experience or disrupting their day-to-day business.
Ready to learn more about modular construction?
As a data center facility manager, you certainly have your work cut out for you. That said, there’s no reason to make your job any harder than it needs to be.
By choosing to move forward with modular construction, you get the best of both worlds: the ability to deliver more value to your tenants while making your load a bit lighter and more efficient.
To learn more about why today’s leading colocation providers are increasingly investing in modular data centers, check out our free guide: The State of the Construction Industry in the New Decade.
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