Saturday 30 September 2017

October Update

Its been a busy few months since our last update but exciting times as well.
The EURECA project continues at pace, more information can be found on the project website www.dceureca.eu
As many will be aware the project has been extended due to two new public sector data centre project that the project is working with, data has been collated on both and the findings are due to be presented to the clients in the next few weeks
Our next workshop will take place in conjunction with Data Centres Ireland, more information and registration can be found on this link http://www.datacentres-ireland.com/

Its always great to go back to Ireland, and I'm sure that a great time will be had by delegates and exhibitors alike.

As a result of this extension we are still available for work on EURECA pilot projects, please let us know if you would like some free consultancy (terms and conditions apply).

Our midlands datacentre standards project has been cancelled due to various issues, but we have been in discussions with the principles about a new data centre project in Manchester.
This site will also incorporate the  "National Data Centre Academy" Manchester facility, this will be somewhat smaller than we have envisaged but will provide a great location to prove our proof of concept which will hopefully lead onto the main facility, which we hope will still be located in the Birmingham area.
On that note, if you are interested in learning more about the NDCA and its facilities please drop me a line at john.booth@nationaldcacademy.com

The NDCA exhibited with our partners (Data Centre Alliance and IDC Achill Rock) at edie.live on the 23/24th May 2017 at the NEC in Birmingham, we had a number of visitors and I presented on the topic of sustainability for data centres, all in all the event was moderately suscessful in terms of potential new clients but more so on the awareness side of things.
Many enterprises still consider the data centre as a necessary evil and of course IT departments still have trouble with Shadow IT (The use of unauthorised cloud and colocation services) but in my opinion them only have themselves to blame (catch up with my at an industry event to find out more!)

The NDCA project is essentially a step change in the delivery of data centre training, we'll have the usual classroom environment, but we're adding special rooms to deliver practical skills including something very special.

I completed 3 CEEDA assessments, one, one in Ireland and 2 in Gibraltar, one is a new assessment of a legacy facility, one, a reassessment and one, a new facility. We also have a number in the pipe for later this year, I'll keep you posted.
If you would like a Certified Energy Efficiency for Data Centres Award (CEEDA), please visit CEEDA.
We provide a number of pre-ceeda and EUCOC services, please contact us directly on info@carbon3it.com for pricing and availability.

Our work with the DCA continues and we have been very busy with 2 exciting new projects, of which more will be revealed by the DCA themselves, we wouldn't want to steal their thunder.
We attended the Datacentre Transformation Conference in Manchester on the 11th July,  and the DCA industry Update (approximately 40 delegates turned up and a very good networking session in a local hostelry, followed by a ather excellent curry ensued.

The latest DCA Golf Day was an eventful affair, I was unable to attend the morning session due to other commitments (more on that below) and in the afternoon it was literally 4 seasons in one day, we had rain, hail, mist, and finally sun, conditions were challenging but as usual the drinks buggy provided some much needed liquid refreshments (hic). The John Booth Wooden Spoon Award (named after my goodself and indicating a really rubbish golfer, usually me!) in fact was awarded to someone else, so I'm not sure that it is an indication of improvement, or that this year even worse golfers were in attendance.

The reason I was unable to attend the morning session was that we (NDCA) applied for some assistance from the Climate Launchpad programme and we had undertaken some 10 sessions with mentors to sharpen up a pitch deck in order to obtain finance. This was a very useful exprience and whilst we were ultimately unsuccessful (we came 4th!) it provided some strategic focus to the NDCA, which is always good.

Last week I was in Milan for the 2018 EUCOC best practices review, together with 20 or so colleagues from data centres owners, operators and supply chain organisations across the EU, as usual we reviewed S10/11 with a view to moving and enhancing the best practices, reviewed some external comments for new or revisions to current best practices and introduced some new bets practices at the event. The latest versions (2018) for the best practices document and the reporting forms are now in preparation and will be published when they are finalised.

In early June we were at the Data Cloud Congress, Monaco, this is the premier event in the data centre annual event season, and I am lucky enough to obtain free tickets through my work reviewing the EUCOC participant applications, thank you to Broad Group and the EU-JRC.

Its always a pleasure to meet up with colleagues from across the EU, but to quote a famous film, what happens in Monaco, stays in Monaco.

We ahve a busy few months ahead but we will attempt to attend the following events

5th October IP Expo - London
2nd November IM Meeting London AM
2nd November UKDCIG London PM
6th November BCS DCIG London Committee Meeting/AGM
7-8th November DCD Zettastructure
16th November EU GPP Seville, Spain
22 - 23rd November, Data Centres Ireland


Until next time...