"Data is big. And it's getting bigger. Currently, just in the U.S, data centers take up a whopping 666 million square feet of floor space, and by the end of the year that number is to rise to an estimated 727 million square feet. We're going to need a bigger, er, data center.
Currently, as our world moves to the Cloud, our ground-based operations in the data center seem almost like an alien race, terraforming and transforming the landscape as our current paradigm shifts to see another big data center popping up left and right.
If you'd like to see just how big the biggest data centers are in the U.S. Click Here and get your mind blown a bit: http://www.geo-tel.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/GTC_FortuneMag_2014.png
Part of the Map of the Largest U.S. Data Centers
So it begs the question: at the end of the day, with all those patterns and numbers and logs what's happening to the newest frontier in the datacenter world: Big Data? As IBM's newest motto, announced last week: ""The Future Will Be Quantified.""
With that being said and with the possibility of a ""predictable"" future, thanks to the datacenter and its by-product Big Data (not to mention that everyone from Barack Obama to the CEO of Aetna, Mark Bertolini, weighing in on how to use the numbers for the Cloud and what it means to them), the following is a diverse group of five Fortune 500 Executives and their opinions on what do with the patterns of Big Data, and if indeed, we're moving towards a ""quantifiable future.""
Phil McAveerty, CEO Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide:
""Our oldest hotel, the 600-year-old Goldener Hirsch in Salzburg, has a tunnel from the general manager's office overlooking the front desk so he can see and hear new arrivals and greet each guest like an old friend. Big data is a 21st-century version of this tunnel. Really knowing our guests means we can send people offers that matter to them, customize their visits, do more than they actually want, and avoid doing things they don't, which makes us better operators while providing our guests superior experiences.""
Rory Read, CEO Advanced Micro Devices:
""For me, big data means the end of this historical separation between what was in the local data center and what was on our personal PCs. The cloud is going to become the center of all information, video, content '” and we're going to be able to access it all from our devices. It's going to change the world.
Jamie Miller, CIO General Electric:
""Big data is transforming how we deliver service for our customers, while simplifying the way we run our company. We firmly believe that the apps and services that can be built off of big data from machines will unlock new levels of productivity and value for our customers. It also helps us analyze and simplify the things that drive employees crazy, removing complex systems and arming them with the technology and insights they want and need to do their jobs.""
Ellen Richey, CEO - Risk Division, Visa
""Data use holds the promise of making new connections between dispersed bits of information creating value, both economic and social. In the context of risk management, data analytics help us identify criminal patterns and create next-generation intelligence that saves our financial institutions and retailers millions in fraud losses, while providing consumers with peace of mind.""
Gregory Hayes, CFO Unified Technologies
""This is a data-driven company. Pratt & Whitney uses information from sensors on its jet engines to forecast when maintenance can be performed most effectively and efficiently. UTC Aerospace Systems uses Health and Usage Management Systems to boost aircraft readiness, enhance flight safety, and lower maintenance costs. Advanced data analysis will grow as we find more ways that it can help us improve performance while lowering costs for our company and our customers.""
Big Data: Fortune Telling of the Future?
From Data-as-a-Service companies to those who look at the patterns through the spyglass of Apache protocols, their impact coming from the Cloud and the data center will fuel our future, and possibly make fortune-telling a legitimate trade, or perhaps director Francis Ford Coppola said it best:
""Anything you build on a large scale or with intense passion invites chaos.""
For all things data center related visit datacenters.com or call one of our experts at (877) 406-2248."
