The largest data centre operators in the world have partnered with Irish construction companies to build the most sophisticated and largest ‘hyperscale’ data centres in the UK and across the globe
LONDON, Tuesday, 12th December 2017. As data becomes an organisation’s most important asset and the world enters the era of ‘hyperscale’ data centres, a new white paper ‘The Future Data Centre’ has been published today. Analysing the evolving data centre landscape, the white paper, commissioned by Enterprise Ireland, the Irish Government agency, and written by Nick Parfitt, Senior Global Research Analyst of the Data Centre Dynamics Group, examines the trends in data centre procurement, design and construction.
The white paper explores some important questions that are emerging for the data centre market, both globally and in the UK. For example:
1. For enterprise companies juggling a complex set of outsourcing options, what can be expected from cloud, colocation and managed service providers in terms of facilities that are future-proofed on behalf of their clients?
2. For companies which invest in the building of data centres either to meet their own IT requirements or to offer IT, cloud or data centre services commercially, there is considerable difference of opinion as to what the future holds. While it is probable that the technological turbulence of the past 5 years will not be repeated, new disruptions cannot be ruled out and how should they therefore be factored in?
3. The driver of the new data centre era is the cloud but are the hyper-scale facilities that the major cloud providers design and build completely removed from other, smaller data centres or are there connections and learnings between the two?
4. What will the next 5 years bring in terms of technological and infrastructural changes and how will these impact on design and construction? Is the data centre build sector prepared for the coming era of digital transformation and edge computing?
5. The data centre industry is becoming increasingly public-facing. How does this impact on the companies that provide services to it?
The white paper has been commissioned by Enterprise Ireland, the Irish Government agency, as part of the international IrishAdvantage.com campaign, which highlights the advantages and capabilities of Irish companies to international partners and clients Ireland’s strength as a location for data centres has led to the development of a world-class cluster of companies with an unparalleled competency in Data Centre Design, Build and Fit-Out.
John Hunt, Senior Market Advisor, Construction Sector, Enterprise Ireland, said, “Ireland has become one of the principal data centre hubs for many of the world’s technology giants, including Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Dell EMC, Yahoo, IBM, HP, Facebook, Equinix and Digital Realty. Leveraging this domestic capability, the world’s largest data centre operators have gone on to partner with Irish construction and engineering companies to design and build the most sophisticated and largest ‘hyperscale’ data centres across the UK and the globe. It’s Irish companies’ large and directly employed workforces, expertise, adaptability and efficient delivery on complex high-tech projects that has set them apart. We are confident collaboration between the UK and Ireland will continue across a wide range of sectors, enabling Irish companies to provide a vital skills injection to the UK economy.”
Nick Parfitt, Senior Global Research Analyst, Data Centre Dynamics Group and the author of the white paper said “Data centres represent the foundation of the digitalised world. The processes of initial design and construction are key to maximising the opportunities and minimising the risks associated with data centre investment, as well as building in the technologies that will deliver on key requirements such as resilience, efficiency, scalability, flexibility and security. The quality of what is designed and built today will impact the future scope of the digitalised era.”