Customers today are increasingly rethinking their enterprise data centre strategy due to increasing demands and limitations around energy, space and cost. Analysts are now saying that IT infrastructure power usage will soon cost more than the hardware itself, and enterprise data centres are running out of space and power while cooling and energy costs are rising. More than ever, enterprises need to plan and build data centres that will accommodate these and future IT needs.

"Sun has been driving data centre innovation for more than 25 years with industry-leading technologies like the Solaris 10 Operating System, Java technology and energy-efficient CoolThreads processors. Combining our innovation with professional services expertise, we can partner with customers to help them not only decrease costs in their data centre operations but also embrace emerging technologies, like virtualization and high-density computing", stated Adolfo Hernandez, Senior Vice President, Global Services.

Sun's expanded service offerings focus on providing customers with expert consulting across three key areas: Data centre Strategy, Design and Build. Sun's global practice has the expertise to help key stakeholders such as CFO's, CIO's and Corporate Real Estate Officers realize significant benefits, including consolidation of datacenter space to free up valuable real estate, improvement of data centres' energy efficiency and reduction of operating costs while improving service levels and embracing a Green IT strategy.

Sun's Data centre Strategy Consulting will match business and IT requirements with the number and tier level of physical data centres. Sun's expert consultants can assess all components of the customer's IT eco system, and can help customers connect the dots between their business continuity planning, data centre facility strategy and IT architecture, resulting in a more secure position for their business. Depending on the customer's specific business needs, Sun consultants can recommend optimization of an existing data centre, deployment of a Sun Modular Data centre, or building a new facility to meet efficiency and power requirements. Data centre Strategy Consulting addresses all components of an IT eco-system, including real estate, facilities, hardware, software, network, and security. Modelling and simulation provides the ROI justification for various scenarios under consideration.

Sun's unique data centre design approach combines the best in mechanical and electrical experience with IT infrastructure design and management experience to help customers bridge IT and building infrastructure requirements. Sun subscribes to the concept of a high density "pod" which utilizes the methodology for modular data centre design. It creates a standard that can be used to speed the process of building new, efficient, and up-to-date environments. Sun partners with the leading providers of infrastructure to complete the solution. APC, a global leader in integrated critical power and cooling services, worked with Sun to design a portion of Sun's newest energy efficient data centre in Santa Clara, California.

By utilizing best practices in data centre design and hardware consolidation, Sun was able to cut its utility bill by over 60% and earn over $1.2 million in rebates, and reduce data centre real estate by 90%. Sun and APC are now using their combined expertise of infrastructure design services and innovative cooling solutions to help customers reduce their data centre cost and environmental impact.

"Modern data centres are facing enormous challenges in the areas of high density, power and cooling, and energy efficiency", stated John DiPippo, senior vice president, Data Center Solutions, Services, and Software, APC. "The Sun Microsystems data centre in Santa Clara is an ideal example of the kind of next-generation architecture that can easily be deployed to support high density computing needs while reducing overall operating expenses and improving efficiencies. Based on our success in supporting Sun's Santa Clara data centre facility, we are pleased to continue working with Sun to offer data centre professional services which support a new standard of operational excellence for Sun's customers."

Sun consultants can manage the entire build-out project for customers. This includes selection and management of real estate and property acquisition partners, construction oversite that leverages local construction partners, and data center implementation services which includes IT equipment installation, configuration and readiness services. A final element of this service is the recommendation for interim solutions while the data centre is being built, including leasing of a Sun Modular Data centre or Sun-provided hosting services.