Monday, 31 October 2005 18:09 EST

41% of companies surveyed across Europe are putting their mission critical IT systems at risk, say the experts

Global Switch, a leading provider of purpose built, high specification data centres, has today issued a stark warning to businesses across Europe regarding the dangers of housing 21st century IT infrastructure in the majority of office buildings.

Survey results published today by Global Switch reveal that 41% of companies (with 1000 or more employees) surveyed across Europe are confident that their mission critical IT infrastructure is housed in a ‘fit for purpose’ environment despite being located within an office building. This is particularly alarming when 72% of respondents consider the overall resilience of the ‘facility’ as the most important feature when choosing where to house their IT infrastructure.

The survey highlights that most businesses continue to choose to locate mission-critical IT systems within the same building as their staff, which according to Global Switch is not only increasingly risky, but also a highly impractical option. Office buildings are primarily designed to accommodate people and there are conflicting demands between ‘people space’ and ‘IT space’.

Julian King, commercial director of Global Switch explains: “Office buildings simply cannot supply the necessary power, cooling and security to minimise the risk of costly downtime and meet business continuity requirements.”

As businesses grow and technology becomes an integral factor in the company’s success, many office buildings are struggling to provide the necessary resources to keep the infrastructure functioning continuously. The solution, according to the experts, is to completely remove IT equipment from the office environment and house it in a purpose-designed space.

Research group Gartner’s Rakesh Kumar warns of burdening offices with the requirements found in modern data centres: “We always encourage clients to get data centres out of headquarter buildings. The space and infrastructure needs for people are totally different to those of a data centre. Typically the data centre needs a more controlled environment.”

Data centres are usually located in more economical locations, so in addition to being better value, their facilities offer companies a secure and resilient environment that ensures the smooth-running of mission-critical IT systems. One example of the advantages of data centres over office space is that of power supply. Office buildings usually provide power of between 30-40 watts per square metre, this compares with levels of up to 700-800 watts per square metre supplied in purpose-built facilities.

Julian King concludes: “The research we conducted across Europe reveals that nearly half the respondents if given the opportunity to house their IT equipment in a building specifically designed to provide resilient power and cooling would choose this option. Fundamentally office buildings are not designed to meet the demands of today’s high tech environment. The sensible business strategy is to house IT equipment in purpose-designed buildings. These provide flexible, resilient, cost-effective and secure environments for all types of businesses.”

About Global Switch
Global Switch own and operate a portfolio of eight self-contained, purpose-built data centres in key gateway cities across Europe and Asia Pacific. These facilities are designed to provide secure, resilient and scalable environments for businesses to house their IT infrastructure. Each data centre is highly-specified to include diverse power supplies with back-up generators, temperature and humidity monitoring, stringent security and access to multiple telecommunication and service providers. Further information can be found at www.globalswitch.com