< Previouscomponents will vary from one supplier to another. For instance, they may have different properties or be different shapes, which may require research and development to successfully integrate them into your products, and sustain your capability to deliver. By analysing your supply chain, and identifying what can be dual sourced and who your essential suppliers are, you can be better prepared for supply issues. Risk assessment It is advisable to carry out a supply chain risk assessment which includes looking at the location of factories. By spreading the risk and dual sourcing from various locations, production need not come to a halt. The flexibility to transfer procurement from one supplier to another in response to certain situations is a huge benefit. Although that said, dual sourcing is far easier for larger companies due to the cost implications. When suppliers do not have the capacity to fulfil all customer orders, they may allocate components to whichever customers they choose – a decision that may favour larger customers but could be detrimental for smaller and medium-sized companies. Companies that have built strong relationships with their suppliers have better chances to be successful in a market in which suppliers choose their customers. Suppliers may also request customers follow certain rules and conditions of sale, such as committing to minimum order volumes, offering no cancellation options, and accepting longer lead times. Dual sourcing One way of mitigating the challenge is to not rely on a single supplier and instead adopt a dual or triple sourcing approach, however, being mindful that product design may need to be adapted because the components shortage www.networkseuropemagazine.com 50As well as issues with tier one suppliers, we must also consider there may be issues with their suppliers (tier two and tier three). The whole supply chain must be mapped to see where any potential risks may lie and mitigation plans put in place. Having a deep understanding of the supply chain, the escalation paths within it, and where to find material on the spot market as another point of supply will certainly be advantageous in the long run. In addition, when we look at the supply chain, consider shipments to the warehouse. For instance, is it possible for a volume of finished goods to be stored in another location, or can the factory ship directly to the customer? Digitalise Finally, digitalise your supply chain. This will provide you with the insights you need to understand any constraints you may be facing and enable you to react very quickly. Digitalisation enables transparency with suppliers to have better visibility on forecasts, resources, and a global understanding of the situation, from component level to the delivery of products. Digitalisation helps to enable cross-enterprise collaboration. In addition to it being difficult to get an allocation of components in the first place, and then having to adhere to stricter terms such as not being able to cancel orders, transportation is another issue affecting supply and contributing to increased lead times. Air cargo capacity is under pressure and presenting additional constraints, while port congestion means adding sea freight capacity is not possible. And, as container shipping prices have increased, this has only exacerbated the delays, soaring prices and equipment shortages in Q1 2022. Although the current components shortage is not expected to be solved for some time, there are measures that can be put in place to ensure that businesses are prepared for supply issues in future. The global health crisis has irreversibly changed the way we work and live, and our reliance on technology is only going to strengthen in the future. At the present time, businesses are operating under intense pressure but we look with optimism to the innovations of the future and building the resilience required to tackle upcoming unforeseen challenges and keeping up with demand to make everything connect, more powerfully than ever. components shortage www.networkseuropemagazine.com 51In the wake of the global pandemic, Giancarlo Giacomello, Aruba Enterprise’s Data Centre lead Technical Project Manager, speaks to us about the current colocation market trends, the importance of power and density to customers, and more crucially, why now it’s colocation’s time to shine. It’s been said many times by many industry colleagues, but I’ll say it again also for added gravitas – the global Covid-19 pandemic has radically shifted our understanding of how markets now operate globally. From adapting to remote working to re-learning how to manage new types of projects that require different processes, the past few years have been a learning curve for most, including data centre operators. The industry knows that increased consumer use in gaming or streaming activities, or companies needing more storage space to accommodate the wave of new services driven by new customers, is not a short-term trend, but one that’s here to stay. However, we can also look at the glass as half-full. For one, even though we shouldn’t minimise the negative effects of the pandemic, it has forced us to continue developing technologies that support our increasingly digital lifestyles. The data centre sector has benefited The Only Way is Up... For the Colocation Market! Giancarlo Giacomello, Data Centre Technical Project Manager, at Aruba Enterprise colocation trends www.networkseuropemagazine.com 52Only Way is Up... e Colocation et! colocation trends www.networkseuropemagazine.com 53greatly from the rising drive toward digitalisation and increased reliance on computing. Two, there is more demand on cloud services and thus a bigger strain on the data centre/colocation markets, but that same demand has pushed us to evolve, increase capacities and adapt to become even more resilient. Three, it has brought the industry’s most important issue to the fore, and that is sustainability. If the majority wasn’t involved, they certainly are now, from tapping into solar energy or making use of hydroplants, most, if not all operators are rethinking their strategies. So, our industry is certainly keeping busy, but let’s look at what else is trending now and what we’ll be seeing more of going forward. Effects of the pandemic As mentioned before, the pandemic has set everyone back, it’s had a direct impact on the colocation market too. In the beginning, we had to learn how to work remotely and re-learn how to take care of data centres with new regulations in place. The real challenge was in continuing to work regardless of the situation. However, the biggest impact was definitely on suppliers. Those folks supplying materials always knew how, when and at what cost they needed to deliver. Now, copper, as an example, is more than double the price. Vendors are taking more than double the amount of weeks it took before to receive the raw materials. Everything has changed and within the process, we’ve had to adapt and re-learn. Huge volumes vs more resilience Currently, the colocation market is split into two. On one side you have this huge demand from the big players that are buying huge volumes of data centre capacity across the sector to feed consumer demand colocation trends www.networkseuropemagazine.com 54for cloud-based types of services. These guys purchase big capacity volumes and try to spare as much of it as possible. This, of course, is expensive and the standard infrastructures design they seek leaves room for some compromise, and might appear to be less resilient in the long run, compared to other types. On the other hand, you have SME type businesses who are looking to secure their data and services, looking for as much resiliency as possible, as well as high rating certified infrastructures. They’re looking for the best resiliency and reliability of facilities to ensure their data and services are always safe and readily accessible. At the moment these are the two types of demands that are quite evident in today’s market and something we’re prepared to see more of. Environmental considerations Of course, an important outcome or industry revelation that was born out of the pandemic, was the special attention given towards the environmental impact. Now, it’s hard to measure it exactly as sustainability initiatives across the industry have been happening for a few years now, but the pandemic has certainly accelerated things forward. What we can say is that previously, say 10 or 20 years ago, customers used to sign with us and brought attention to the standard environmental clauses within a contract. At that time those industry requirements were minimal. Now, it’s arguably one of the first points to address in a meeting and something that has grown in importance and focus over the years. It’s all about being carbon neutral, having the right certifications in place, sourcing sustainable materials, drawing renewable energy, and so on. However, we’re also seeing more demand for higher density colocation. For those that don’t know, this is the relationship between square metres and capacity. The most important thing that the data centre sector requires is reliability; reliability requires redundant infrastructures, and redundancy means losses and thus less efficiency. Factories that require huge amounts of energy need to have the guarantee of their capacity to work, so our business is particularly affected by the actual rampaging on the market in terms of pricing of energy. We’ll see how far the price of energy will go considering the current socio-economic issues across Europe, however, high-density colocation is the trend for customers looking to consolidate their critical IT infrastructures, as well as reduce their overall footprint and costs. Looking ahead The only way for the colocation market is up. We can expect the market to continue growing due to ongoing demand in 2022 and beyond. We’ll also see more services open up as operators are shifting away from older legacy type infrastructure to newer, more digital ones. However, besides machines having greater computing power and performance, companies will change their approach – going away from the “faster” type machines to ones that use less power. The great colocation cost is obviously power, so that is and always will be a big factor. Especially with the ongoing war in Ukraine that is poised to change the way we access and pay for electricity in the future. Nonetheless, the data centre and colocation market is resilient and always has been, pushing through many industry obstacles over the years, I expect we’ll have no trouble in working to find the right solution for customers out there. colocation trends www.networkseuropemagazine.com 55Fibre Optic Networks Will Rely on Advanced GIS Technology fibre optic networks www.networkseuropemagazine.com 56Compared to a classical Physical Network Inventory solution (PNI), these processes can be far better guaranteed through the use of next-generation Geographic Information Systems (GIS) that can fully facilitate the details and model the relationships needed to ensure a network’s physical elements. As fibre optic networks are here to stay, it is paramount that telecom network operators advance their GIS technology accordingly and embrace this new era of network connectivity. Otherwise, there will be risks and costs to the UK’s telecom infrastructure. A surge in data In the information era, the world now truly runs on data and our consumption of it has exploded. While previous typical data usage may have been just sending an email or placing a call, residential consumers now y Jean-François Allard, Director, EMEA Utilities & Communications, Hexagon’s Safety, Infrastructure & Geospatial division Fibre optic networks are rapidly expanding. This change is being driven by digital transformation, upscaled competition and increasing demands for service reliability. While this expansion will serve the UK’s telecom networks well, it is being stymied by network providers needing more real- time information and optimised connectivity. www.networkseuropemagazine.com 57 fibre optic networksexpect a high-speed internet service for multiple users across the entire household – a trend that has only increased since the dramatic shift to working from home sparked by Covid-19 restrictions. The network channels must now uphold the demand for the high-quality streaming of television shows, multiple zoom calls and video games being played over several devices. This comes at a cost to our business and critical services, which also rely on these channels and are inhibited from best performance through demands made on the network. To facilitate this data demand, fibre optic networks are expanding at a pace and have become an integral part of high-speed broadband communications networks required for smart grid, fibre to the home (FTTH), and intelligent information management systems. The emergence of 5G and IoT While improving high-speed and low-latency networks, 5G is also predicted to increase the pace of next-generation networking solutions. This will underly digital transformation; bringing the likes of autonomous driving, augmented reality, the digitalisation of infrastructure, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Smart Cities to society. However, implementing 5G is very costly and requires a revamp of the existing network infrastructure. This will require knowledge sharing, field activities management, and control of infrastructural costs. Operators will further require holistic collaboration between the field and back-office with wider availability of analytical tools for real-time activity insights. Adding to demands on the network is the continual rise of IoT, which will further complicate data and connectivity needs as more devices are introduced to the network. In the realm of utilities, for example, there will be a demand for better data interoperability between smart devices and power providers. Fibre optic networks will act as a framework to these increased demands, allowing organisations to improve data and performance across the smart grid. fibre optic networks www.networkseuropemagazine.com 58Putting fibre optic networks in place Implementing fibre optic networks is not a simple task. They are hugely complex to develop and have to be designed precisely to minimise cost overruns and follow the overall strategic principles of the provider. Exacerbating this issue is the fact that many providers develop their network designs internally and have external engineering companies managing the more detailed designs and overall implementation. Therefore, the task ends up decentralised, and providers often rely on manual tools like spreadsheets, which leads to errors. Digital solutions can help encourage more centralised design and implementation processes, but there is often also a stark lack of real-time information surrounding the necessary integrations and connectivity. To ensure optimised fibre optic implementation, network providers should install a digital model that can provide accurate, real-time data across their organisation. This is where GIS technology comes in, as it can give visibility into and optimise network engineering processes across the company. The technology provides much-needed location-based information and tools for the complete lifecycle of civil infrastructure and fibre optic management. This spans from design and construction to maintenance and operations, both in the back-office and out in the field. How advanced GIS can help Advanced GIS technologies can deliver a further raft of benefits to implementing a fibre optic network. First, they model asset details and relationships to support most functions by filtering and rendering information in multiple different ways, on the go. For example, as text, maps, schematics, or diagrams. This provides each operator with the appropriate level of detail in the correct way for their task. Vitally, advanced GIS can also keep large projects within budget, delivering a better ROI through coordinating engineering capabilities with other business systems. This provides streamlined workflows and valuable insights, such as comparing alternative design proposals from technical and financial perspectives. The technology also improves processes, as lower data latency and universal access allow advanced GIS solutions to support time-sensitive use cases, resulting in faster operations, greater efficiency and enhanced capabilities. Lastly, advanced GIS reduces fibre optic financial risks by accurately assessing the high-level cost of proposed plans. This then enables telecoms providers to design and assess alternative proposals for buildout, including the building of distribution points, service areas and deployment methods. With fibre optic networks set to be a key component of the national telecom infrastructure, it is vital that their implementation is done correctly. Advanced GIS technology can ensure that, as these networks are developed, they will not come at a cost to the companies creating them. fibre optic networks www.networkseuropemagazine.com 59Next >