On 10 December 2020, DCD had the privilege of partnering with Vertiv to stream LIVE from the Vertiv Customer Experience Center, in Padua, Italy. The premiere event included a number of expert panels and deep-dive discussions focused on the development of data center cooling, and how it can meet growing scale and demand.

Joined by key members of Vertiv’s senior management and project teams, the Cooling Innovation Forum was an interactive demonstration of knowledge-sharing and expertise like no other. We were joined by the likes of Giordano Albertazzi, President EMEA and Roberto Felisi, Senior Director, Global Offering Management Core Systems from Vertiv who gave us incredible insights into Vertiv’s ambitious projects.

The action-packed day featured three all-important discussions, two of which are now available on-demand:

• Keynote panel: The evolution of data center cooling: Meeting future demand reliably
• Product Innovation showcase from the Vertiv Customer Experience Center

Meeting future demand reliably

Giordano Albertazzi, President EMEA at Vertiv kicks off our keynote panel with a synopsis of Vertiv’s story in 2020. A story many have become familiar with themselves - the rapid pace of digital transformation, where in some cases what would usually happen in 10 years has happened over just 10 months. Vertiv has been operating for decades across a number of digital infrastructure portfolios, but the focus and commitment on innovative technology has brought the organization to become a leader in the data center industry.

We were also lucky enough to be joined by Lucas Beran, Principal Analyst at Omdia, who, alongside his team, has been conducting primary research to look at wider industry trends. Beran points out that from 2016 to 2020, the trend of data center consolidation really dominated, and was driven in particular by enterprise and colocation facilities. As we look to the future, Beran’s research indicates a future increase in IT demands based on artificial intelligence, machine learning and high performance computing.

The keynote panel is rounded out with a number of questions regarding edge deployment and other systems that are increasing in popularity. Our experts from Vertiv share their insights on some pertinent questions from the live audience. Particular discussions around data and the importance of systems integration take us into the final minutes before jumping into the technology showcase from Vertiv’s team.

A look into the Vertiv Customer Experience Center

After some introductions from Roberto Felisi, Piergiorgio Tagliapietra, Application Engineering Manager in Vertiv’s Thermal Management division walks us through the key features and benefits of Vertiv’s direct expansion system. This expertly designed system can be integrated easily into existing functional systems - and each unit operates separately from each other to ensure maximum viability. The modularity of the system means it is easier to satisfy rapidly growing needs for scalability and expansion in a number of data center configurations. This system has been developed over the years in response to rapidly changing market demands and needs from clients. Vertiv’s portfolio does not end here and Vertiv experts delved into more detail also on the latest chilled water technologies and its state-of-the-art outdoor package solutions.

Following up with an in-depth showcase, we field a number of questions to the Vertiv team in order to gain a better understanding of the products on offer from Vertiv. One key focus of the forum is to understand how these products can meet the rapidly growing demands of the industry. Artificial intelligence has seen a particularly sharp rise in popularity as it improves the ways in which we can operate and maintain data centers. We were able to gain some fantastic insights from Nigel Gore, Senior Manager, Offering Management at Vertiv on his thinking as to what is driving the diversification of compute, among other things. From Gore’s point of view, a majority of new IT equipment is being designed around new application sets: artificial intelligence, machine learning and high performance compute.

To get the full story, and hear more from Vertiv’s Cooling Innovation Forum, make sure you access the sessions on-demand.