The fate of the in-house data center

The availability of public storage services and the appeal of virtualization have driven many small and medium-sized companies to shift a vast majority of their data center needs to the cloud. However, firms with unique security or data processing requirements are often hesitant to transition to the public cloud. The hybrid data center infrastructure has become the go-to compromise for companies looking to take advantage of the cloud without a full commitment, and this trend has shifted the methods and motivations for IT teams to build an in-house data center.

High demand for IT experts
One of the major factors that determines if small or medium businesses dissolve or scale back their internal IT is the availability of highly skilled IT experts. Managing an in-house data center smoothly and efficiently takes diligent work from a team of experts. Ideally, a company's IT staff possesses enough combined experience to keep the in-house infrastructure current with new technology. However, this hiring process isn't nearly as easy as it sounds.

Highly prized IT professionals are shifting away from in-house positions at smaller companies and looking for better-paying work within the tech and big data industries. Hagen Wenzek, CTO of IPG Mediabrands, confessed to Computerworld that his firm was unable to "hire enough experts willing to work for a media company." Businesses that are able to build an IT team with sufficient experience are in a better position to retain data storage services in house with limited dependence on the cloud. Companies who are short on experts may find it more cost effective to simply outsource sensitive data to a private cloud housed in a colocation facility.

Balancing scalability and growth
Despite the popularity of the cloud, IT teams still have access to a long list of resources for running an efficient in-house data center. Facilities that find a balance between ease-of-use and scalability will be able to expand their data without a huge headache. For example, IT professionals can implement data storage management and clustered storage infrastructure to simplify the organization of their servers. Likewise, teams can deploy serial to Ethernet devices to simplify the process of adding and integrating new hardware. These creative solutions, when used in tandem with cost-cutting measures like recycling hardware with data erasure technology, can help to minimize the challenge faced by medium businesses when running an in-house data center.

Perle's serial to Ethernet converters connect serial based equipment across an Ethernet network. The Perle IOLAN range of Console Servers, Device Servers and Terminal Servers feature built-in support for IPv6 along with a broad range of authentication methods and encryption technologies.