The spike in internet use during the COVID-19 pandemic called for an abrupt scaling up of IT infrastructure among businesses, not only to support platforms and apps but also to manage the sheer amount of data generated in the process.
Data centers host the computing equipment that run co-located server or cloud-based applications that ensure everything works. Here are key industries that experienced significant workloads due to COVID-19 and how data centers help them push through.
1. Healthcare industry
The healthcare industry is at the front and center of the pandemic. Not only were hospitals overwhelmed with patients, but they also had to bolster their digital infrastructure since strict quarantine protocols pushed people to rely on the internet to obtain health services. By co locating to a data center, hospitals are able to free up their server rooms and use the valuable real estate to provision more patient rooms and other hospital facilities. Data centers also ensure that a patient’s critical health information is easily accessed yet secured through their ability to provide advanced data security measures and 24/7 connectivity.
2. Over-the-top Platforms and Streaming services industry
Streaming platforms saw incredible growth during the pandemic as more people looked for other entertainment options while being stuck at home. Netflix, for example, saw its total number of paid subscribers reach 203 million during the period, with 37 million new paying members in 2020 alone. Millions of people streaming at the same time around the world could have taken down the entire platform, but Netflix managed the traffic demand through the use of cloud based services. Utilizing the flexibility of delivering resources in the cloud, Netflix was able to scale quickly for a better, uninterrupted viewing experience for everyone.
3. Financial industry
The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown protocols prompted everyone to rely on online banking and payment portals for transactions. To support this increased demand, financial institutions strengthened their digital infrastructure especially their web facing infrastructure. Data centers such as BeeInfoTech PH allows banks to spin up resources such as computing power to support online banking solutions in an instant. Moreover, data centers make sure that digital channels are accessible through any device and are secure enough to meet requirements on financial data security. The PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) certification, for example, is inherent in the setup of the Beeinfotech PH datacenter.
4. Retail industry
We’ve already discussed how e-commerce greatly benefits from data centers in a previous blog. What players in this industry get in return are similar to those in the financial sector — 24/7 connectivity, enhanced security, and flexibility to cater to every customer’s needs. The data center’s ability to scale up resources in an instant can overcome the strain that comes with the surge in customer transactions. In addition, stores that closed due to the pandemic can open again online. BeeInfoTech PH, for example, can host a store’s website and payment portal through co located servers or in the cloud.
In addition to enabling organizations to operate 24/7, data centers provide the platform and support for integrating digital technologies. By building and strengthening your infrastructure around data centers, your company can achieve the resiliency needed to quickly adapt and recover from disasters now and in the future.