Data centers are essential components of your business operations. Therefore, you need to ensure that your business keeps up with its rapidly evolving technological landscape. So you may need to completely transition--from old on-premise physical servers to new infrastructure that supports workloads/applications across several cloud environments!!

This entire process of data center modernization is not easy—as it comes with its own set of challenges. So, what are these data center modernization challenges? And can you overcome them? Let’s find out.

1. Unwanted downtime

App outages are one of the most popular challenges that businesses face as they modernize their data centers. This can cost your company thousands of dollars. A survey by Uptime found that severe data center outages can cost businesses over $100,000 (this is by 54% of respondents). Also, it can impact your customer’s loyalty towards your business.

So, to avoid this issue, you should migrate your data and apps during modernization in phases—Use specialist tools, have a rollback plan, etc.

2. Data Corruption

Data corruption is one of the data center modernization risks that most businesses face. This can occur if unwanted data types are transferred into the new system. As a result, your business may face a system crash or data damage.

To avoid this challenge, the data modernization company that you hire should conduct an audit of the—data sources and types that your business uses before moving to the data modernization project!!

3. Data Loss

During data center modernization, there is a high chance of data loss. This data loss can cost your business significantly.

So, to avoid this loss, it is best to use the services of experts. Firms like Aspire Technology Partners specializes in data center modernization—and experts like these come into play ensuring that your data is protected during the entire process.

They have the necessary knowledge to back up and store your data during the modernization process. This can help protect your data from loss and ensure it is restored to its original state.

4. Poor planning

One of the primary challenges that can bar the process of data center modernization is poor planning/lack of it. This poor planning can lead to issues with the following:

• Network Infrastructure
• Hardware
• Operating system
• Security environments

So, to avoid these issues, plan for high server latency during and after the modernization. If you do not plan, your business may suffer since you may not be able to serve your customers during this time/complete projects on time.

5. User training

Modernizing your data center means that your staff’s focus needs to move from the old system to the—brand-new solution!! A lack of knowledge on how to use this new system can contribute significantly to human errors in the system. What does this mean? It means that any collected data can be interpreted/organized incorrectly.

So, to avoid this issue, make sure you have staff training. This training can help your staff members to familiarize themselves with the new data center system!! The result? Staff members who ensure minimal human errors.

Essential steps to developing a modern data center

Data center modernization is a practice that will require you to follow several steps. Here are some of these essential steps that you must follow when making your data center modern:

Assess your current infrastructure

This is one of the steps that you should never miss. So, make sure you evaluate your current infrastructure for security, capacity, performance, and efficiency. This will help you understand what needs to be improved/replaced.

Review the current design

Reviewing your current design is essential for optimal workflow, energy consumption, and air flow. It will also help you determine whether you have the necessary space needed for expansion.

Use automation tools

One of the key elements of data center modernization is ensuring that more automation takes place. Therefore, make sure you use more automation tools in your data centers. This will help to streamline repetitive tasks and ensure your platforms can manage workflows across the data center efficiently!!

Enhance security

For this step, you need to re-evaluate your security controls, procedures, hardware, and software. This will help to protect your new system from threats. Also, you need to make sure that you use a security operation center--to help identify and solve risks.

Bottom Line

Data center modernization is essential, especially if you are still using outdated technologies. It will help ensure that your business is at par with the ever-evolving technological landscape. However, this modernization process comes with several challenges—as you can see from above. So make sure you plan accordingly before you make your data centers modern.