Data center costs are rising, and it can be easy to overlook what your organization is truly spending money on when building a new one. From rising equipment prices to sourcing parts and skilled labor, these added steps have costs associated with them, which end up making their way back to your organization, one way or another.
There’s a reason more and more companies are opting to go with modular data centers: They just make sense.
It used to be that if your organization needed a data center, you had no choice but to break ground on-site and take the traditional stick-built approach for your construction project.
Every commercial construction project has specific requirements and unique design challenges. There may be space limitations, scheduling issues, difficulties acquiring building materials and other concerns; and almost every construction project has to deal with limited budgets, tight deadlines, quality control and environmental regulations. Applying off-site construction can address all of these issues and more.
Everyone has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the construction industry. Shelter-in-place orders have inevitably created construction delays, and while some contractors can continue working, most non-critical building projects have been placed on hold until the threat to the general population has been contained. As a result, general contractors are going to have to revise their construction schedules, which is going to cost some a lot of money and may drive others out of business.
Technology continues to have a substantial impact on building techniques and construction trends. Whether it’s digital technology, computers, wireless networking or other critical innovations, the goals are always the same—cut costs, shorten time to completion and increase safety. In addition, technological innovations are helping many companies deal with endemic problems, such as the growing national skilled labor shortage.
When it comes to data center design, construction, and operation, the goal is to create a scalable, high-performance data center while expediting time-to-revenue. However, cost considerations will vary depending on where you are in data center deployment. You want to minimize construction costs, only if cutting construction costs will not negatively impact operational costs later. By deploying a modular data center, you can benefit cost savings in both construction and operations, ultimately minimizing total cost of ownership (TCO).
When it comes to data centers, how much capacity is too much? That’s like asking, “how high is up?” Capacity requirements are going to differ for every organization, and even after adding more computing power, it may seem that you still don’t have enough. The challenge for data center architects is designing an infrastructure that has scalable capacity without overprovisioning or breaking the budget. That’s why more enterprise data center designers, especially within the colocation space, are turning to modular data centers to help them scale their operations.
The concept of using prefabricated components in construction certainly is not new, but with new technologies and techniques, it continues to become more cost-effective and efficient. In the realm of electrical power distribution systems, we have seen preconstruction and prefabrication grow in popularity. This is due to the rise of new building information management (BIM) systems that make it easier to plan out wiring in advance, as well as the increasing demand for greener building strategies with a smaller footprint. Those who have not worked with factory-built electrical power distribution systems before, will find that the benefits keep stacking up.
Prefabricated electrical power distribution systems are growing in popularity because they save time and money in construction. However, to get maximum value from any form of modular electrical system, your entire team—from design engineers, to the construction crew, to contractors—needs to understand what to expect during the process and where their responsibilities lie.
