Beyond cost inefficiency, underutilization is inefficient from a growth management perspective as well. When data center utilization isn’t optimized, enterprises end up having to build out new capacity sooner than they otherwise would to accommodate growth — at hefty capital cost.
The average data center is utilized at 56% capacity from a power perspective, according to a 2015 enterprise data center survey by 451 Research. So on average, 44% of the power that enterprises are allocated — and paying for — is unused.