HP Offers New Data Center Design Service

Hewlett-Packard Co. offered a new data center design service, which it termed “an architectural blueprint for the data center of the future,” that it said will help clients expand or retrofit existing facilities or build new ones by drawing on the vendor’s design, construction and project management experience and expertise.

The vendor said that its Critical Facilities Implementation (CFI) service offers design/build turnkey solutions for data center construction, on-site management, pre-fabricated modules to lower costs and streamline the building process and other services.

HP believes that clients will benefit from the vendor acting as prime contractor for the planning, design, building and commissioning of their data centers because it can offer speedier implementation with fewer complications. Customers may use the CFI service and still equip their data centers with equipment from suppliers other than HP, the company said.

The vendor said that its CFI service is well-timed to an expected uptick in data center construction over the next two years.

“HP Critical Facilities Implementation service converges technology with strategic facilities planning to cover all aspects of client needs, whether they are updating an existing data center or building from the ground up,” said Rick Einhorn, HP worldwide director, Critical Facilities Services.

Einhorn said that HP already is providing the CFI services in growth markets such as China and India for “large-scale data centers.”

For example, HNA Group, a former Chinese airline company now diversified into a multi-enterprise organization in the air transportation, tourism services, logistics and financial services markets, recently deployed the CFI service.

“As our business portfolio continues to expand, we needed to quickly create a new data center that complied with international standards,” said Li-Chao Tang, HNA general manager, Information Technology Management.

“HP provided us with end-to-end support for our new facility, providing first-class data center design and technology and allowing us to open as scheduled,” he said.

Expected uptick in data center construction

To support its point that data center construction is expected to pick up in the next two years, HP pointed to findings in a recent study conducted by researcher Gartner Inc. The research, an update of earlier data based on interviews with 80 participants in North America, indicated that 46 percent are planning to build one or more new data centers in the next two years and 54 percent expect to expand an existing facility during the same time frame.

“Constructing a data center is an enormous undertaking for any business, and taking an integrated approach with a single vendor will help maximize cost and efficiency, while reducing headaches,” said Dave Cappuccio, Gartner research vice president.

“As customers’ data center computing requirements add complexity to the design-build process, comprehensive solutions that provide clients with an end-to-end experience will allow them to realize their plans within the required timeframe and constraints,” he said.

HP said that it has designed more than 50 million square feet of raised-floor data center space. The company said that pricing for the CFI service will depend on location and implementation.