Digital Realty Trust Predicts Data Center Expansion
May 9, 2008 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- A study released this week confirmed what inexpert observation would seem to have been suggesting since the beginning of the year: we are entering a period of widespread expansion in the data center space.
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Data center owner and operator Digital Realty Trust (digitalrealtytrust.com) released the findings of a survey it commissioned of senior decision makers at US corporations, indicating that the vast majority of these respondents intend to expand their data center facilities in the coming year.
According to DRT, 86 percent of respondents say they'll definitely or probably expand their number of data centers in the next 12 months.
The company says it compared the results of its study against a similar study it conducted in 2007 in order to produce metrics about growth in other trends.
Forty-five percent of respondents plan to expand in 3 or more locations, an increase of nearly 20 percent over 2007 that suggests a an increase in the scope of data center projects in addition to just the number of projects.
Planned square footage for the average expansion increased 50 percent from 10,000 in 2007 to 15,000 in 2008.
"This survey of Fortune 2000 companies confirms what our team has suspected based on conversations with customers," said CEO Michael F. Foust in the press release discussing the study. "It is particularly significant that 86 percent of companies are planning datacenter expansions in the next 12 months, especially in the context of the current economic environment. Despite the challenging market conditions, companies are making major investments in IT infrastructure, reflecting the critical nature of these assets to today's corporations."
DRT also reported an increase, 52 to 57, in the percentage of companies that expect to rely on partners in their data center endeavors.
And this week's many data center openings were no anomaly, but rather a continuation of a particularly notable recent trend.
Digital Realty Trust says its survey was conducted by research firm Campos Research & Analysis, which surveyed decision makers at large corporations in North America with revenues of at least $1 billion or at least 5,000 employees.
