The new year is the time to take stock and re-assess ways to improve data center management. In addition, the January/February issue is traditionally our cooling issue as well as our cloud issue. This year is no different; we have all of these topics covered. James Poole of Trane is here to talk about best practices for energy efficiency and reliability in data center cooling and Harris Miller of EATEL writes about the total cost of ownership in the cloud. Continuing our theme of data center efficiency, Jeff Klaus of Intel writes about simplifying data center management with the use of DCIM tools; Adil Attlassy of IO is on board to talk about managing energy efficiency in the modern data center; and JP Valiulis of Emerson writes about new ways to improve data center protection in the new year and beyond. And to wrap up our features, Aaron Duda, Paul E. Schlattman, Matt Tyndall, and Jayson Attaway tell the story of how the Chicago Sun Times building transformed from a printing press into a modern colocation data center.

Of course we also have our talented roster of columnists on hand to share their perspectives on the industry including Julius Neudorfer, Paul V.K. Funk Jr., Terry L. Rodgers, Mav Turner, Chris Crosby, and a guest column from David Meredith of Century Link. Paul Schlattman, who contributes to the aforementioned Chicago Sun Times data center article, has rebranded his “On Target” column for this year. TCO: M&A And The Technology Boom will discuss “the impact of technology on the data center environment both through infrastructure technology as well as data center technologies.” A great first issue for what will be a great year.