DCD’s Award for Mission Critical Innovation is now open for entries, sponsored by CBRE Data Center Solutions.
This award category recognizes the thinking that is shaping the next generation of data center solutions. The winner will be the entry that makes the most positive difference to data center design, operation and management in the eyes of the judges. The winner will be announced at a gala ceremony on the 6th December in central London.
Fuelling innovation
The 2017 Mission Critical Innovation Award went to Microsoft for a data center powered by fuel cells installed directly above the racks, developed with McKinsey and Cummins. “We eliminated electrical infrastructure from a data center,” said senior research program manage Sean James receiving the award at the 2017 ceremony. “We’ve taken a fuel cell and located it right there at the racks. We are powering a small data center from the fuel cell.”
The concept was risky, he said, but whether it succeeded or not, Microsoft would share the results with the rest of the industry.
Sponsor CBRE is looking forward to similar useful innovation from entrants to the 2018 Award: “At CBRE we rely on great innovation to stay ahead of the game, so supporting this award category is really fundamental to our business,” says Paul Saville-King, President, Data Center Solutions, CBRE. “No doubt this year’s winner will help the industry overcome one of its many challenges.”
Who should enter
The Award is open for innovative ideas or concepts which have been developed, applied or tested
- in the mission critical IT environment
- since 31st October, 2017,
- by any sector of the data center industry, including owners, operators, consultants, vendors, suppliers or academics
- for categories including data center cooling, power distribution, power protection, monitoring and analysis, cabling, security, containerized or modular solutions
An international panel of judges will select a shortlist and then a final winner for the 2018 Award, which will be presented at a Gala Dinner on December 6.
Previous winners of the Mission Critical Innovation category include, Romonet, Excool, NEC and the Spanish banking giant BBVA.
The sponsor, CBRE Data Center Solutions is an integrated data center real estate team, offering strategy, acquisition, project management, and integrated data center operations. CBRE provides 24x7 technical support to over 70 million square feet of white space across more than 610 critical sites in over 50 countries.