More than ever, companies are leveraging data centres to connect with employees, facilities, customers, vendors and the Internet.
This is according to Warren Olivier, regional manager at Veeam Software, who notes a data centre is the brain of a company and the place where the most critical processes are run.
Given the virtual and mobile nature of how companies do business today, data centre connectivity plays a vital role, he says.
However, when it comes to the maturity of companies in SA regarding data centre connectivity, the industry is still taking baby steps, given the challenges of line theft, slow links, expensive broadband and low-end infrastructure, adds Olivier.
"With the huge explosion in data growth, getting a large amount of data moved around over slow, high-latency links is very challenging. This also affects the ability to move copies of this data into the cloud for redundancy and cheaper disaster recovery."
Olivier, one of the speakers at this year's ITWeb Data Centres: The Next Frontier 2015 conference, notes physical infrastructure is a big factor with regards to managing data connectivity, and often the remote sites are the hardest hit, as this will also hinder central consolidation strategies based on poor connectivity.
He points out, companies are not able to fully take advantage of cloud if they have poor connectivity, and often battle with moving data around the country.
"There have been some cases where it is physically quicker to put data in a vehicle and transport it than run it over the network due to high latency and poor connectivity, but this poses an additional threat as there have been cases of trucks going missing off the road, data being physically lost."
Nonetheless, Olivier notes, there have been some improvements in this space brought about by reduction in prices.
"Also, some vendors have capitalised on these poor links by providing software that can accelerate or enhance the connections by reducing traffic that is passed through it, with technologies like WAN [wide area network] acceleration and deduplication."
He believes there is always room for improvement and efficiencies and those responsible for the IT function in businesses could "leverage technology to make our lives a little easier".
As a result, IT departments can spend more time on day-to-day activities rather than fighting outage fires and connectivity issues, says Olivier.
"IT departments should be looking at ways in which they can reduce risk and provide levels of availability unseen before, and in doing so, remain compliant, efficient and agile, with a new sense of confidence in technology and the ability to execute at levels that are required by the always-on business."
The ITWeb Data Centres: The Next Frontier 2015 conference will be filled with insightful presentations and case studies that will see C-level executives and other senior business and IT decision-makers responsible for data centres receive key insights and practical advice from industry experts and thought leaders. The event takes place on 21 and 22 July at The Forum, in Bryanston.
Click here to find out more and register your interest in attending.
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