In a data center, future proofing is sometimes seen as simply buying the latest hardware to ensure the facility can cope with demands placed on it, both now and in the future. Many organizations give high priority to investing in the newest technologies, but many are still restrained by tight budgets.

Nevertheless, companies with tight budgets are still able to take steps to future proof their data centers. Even putting in place the correct software solutions can ensure better data performance, preventing a need to spend significantly on new hardware.

Diagnosing problems

IT monitoring systems can be an indispensable tool for organizations looking to use as much capacity as possible in order to gain the highest performance from their existing infrastructure. Common network issues, such as bottlenecks, can cause problems for a data center if left undiscovered. Similarly, if left unchecked, devices can begin to underperform or begin to overload their servers. If these issues are not addressed, outages could be experienced across the data center.

Detecting and diagnosing problems is fundamental to preventing the causes of downtime for businesses. This is where IT monitoring can help. It can also analyze bandwidth use, informing businesses and organizations about how to maximize data usage. IT monitoring is a crucial tool when it comes to making sure that valuable information in the data center does not get lost or become unavailable.

Improving ROI

IT monitoring can also improve budget allocation in IT and retrospectively determine the efficacy of the investment. Businesses now expect this service, where a technology works seamlessly within the existing infrastructure and can immediately demonstrate a return.

Responsibility for this, new technologies, and ensuring seamless integration into the existing network usually sits with the IT team. With an IT monitoring tool, it becomes easier to identify the most effective way to integrate new devices into the network, and IT staff can be more confident in avoiding teething issues.

A new world of data

In addition, data centers must be prepared for an increase in demand in the future. The Internet of Things (IoT) is perhaps the most relevant example of this. The possibilities of IoT are limitless, and it will greatly improve the way businesses and organizations operate and interact with each other. We can only speculate how widely IoT will be adopted at this point, but it is vital to know ways in which it could transform the data center.

When you consider IoT can be used through virtually any new or existing device - from a kettle to a robot on a factory floor – the amount of data passing through the new and existing network infrastructure is set to expand exponentially. A mass of data will be added to the central IT system, which will need to be analyzed and displayed in a logical and consumable way. The IT network will be the key to the interchange of all of this data, thus intensifying the need to ensure constant availability. This is where an IT monitoring solution can prove invaluable.

Monitoring the future

IT professionals must be proactive if their organization’s data center is to keep up with the latest technological developments. An IT infrastructure that incorporates a unified network monitoring solution puts businesses in a strong position to keep their data centers maintained and secure. Although we can only make educated guesses as to how much new technology will become available and what strain that will put on the data centre, it is almost certain that the demands of the data center will increase. Unified IT monitoring solutions can provide IT professionals with the knowledge they need to prepare them for such dramatic change.

Dirk Paessler is CEO of Paessler, an IT monitoring specialist based in Nuremburg, Germany