The demand to route, process and store data has grown exponentially in recent years, with no signs of slowing. Data is vital to business productivity and growth. It is also instrumental in keeping the global economy going.

Data centers today face the constant need to do more with less, operating 24/7 with a high level of reliability. For data centers, finding ways to reduce operational expenses (OpEX) and help increase their bottom line is increasingly critical. Here are a few ways that can be achieved:

Driving resilience to improve uptime

Most of a data center's total cost of ownership (TCO) is the OpEx from the commissioned lifecycle of a facility. So, improving operations and creating resilience can be vital in helping deliver higher operational savings and supporting business continuity.

Data center resilience can be improved by adopting automation such as deploying a building management system (BMS). A BMS can serve as a facility's single point of control helping deliver insights into various operating systems and identifying inefficiencies.

Enhancing data center resilience against weather-related outages is also essential [i]. This can be achieved by using renewable energy sources and battery storage. Some data centers are turning to microgrids to reduce costly and unpredictable weather-related disruptions.

Mitigating energy consumption

Energy costs are at an all-time high. These costs can greatly impact a data center’s OpEx budget given the amount of energy a data center uses. OT infrastructure of a facility, like those systems that enable reliable power and cooling, plays a significant role in energy consumption.

Optimizing ventilation systems, air handling units and chillers using machine learning can help deliver valuable savings.

Integrating condition-based maintenance can also help optimize energy use; however, improvements can also be seen by consolidating a site's management into a single view for better data aggregation that can be leveraged to better manage energy costs.

Safeguarding your data center against costly security-related disruptions

There is immense value and commercial sensitivity associated with the information stored and transferred by data centers. As a result, data centers need to have a strategy in place to reduce the risks of cyber attacks. Aside from the reputational damage a facility might face after a breach, the cost implications can be vast. A single data breach can cost a company nearly $10 million in the United States [ii]

In addition to cybersecurity, facility managers must be proactive about physical safety and security. Managing an unforeseen event with a rapid response can be critical to minimizing downtime, protecting facility assets and employees. Integrating security and life safety systems through a single platform, like a control suite, can help defeat downtime events that can significantly impact OpEx.

Optimizing costs with automated and integrated solutions

Lastly, driving down operational costs often falls in the hands of data center managers with limited resources. This can result in increased chances of human error and disruptions. Using integrated solutions that help automate a data center's processes can improve business continuity, reduce expenses and enable data center managers to focus on core business objectives.

Honeywell offers a complete portfolio of outcome-based solutions and ready-now technologies that can help manage, operate and quickly respond to protect uptime. Connect with one of our experts today to learn about our offerings and how you can improve your operational costs, or download our Ebook on Minimizing Operational Expenditures while Maximizing Resilience and Efficiency.

[i] Climate Central, Suring Weather-Related Power Outages, September 2022 [Accessed May 25,2023]

[ii] Technology Magazine, Data breaches cost an average $9.44m in the US last year, Marcus Law, [Accessed May 25, 2023] February 2023