Over Three Quarters of Australian Organisations Expect to Increase Spending on Data Centre Facilities within the Year
Big Data to drive data centre growth in Australia
SYDNEY – June 25, 2014 – Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR, news, filings), a leading global provider of data centre and colocation solutions, today released Australia-specific findings following its annual commissioned survey of Asia Pacific data centre trends conducted by Forrester Consulting.
According to the survey, 76 per cent of Australian organisations expect to increase spending on data centre facilities over the next 12 months, with 59 per cent of respondents expecting to increase spending by 5 – 10 per cent and 17 per cent of respondents expecting to increase spending by more than 10 per cent.
Big Data was cited as the key driver of data centre growth in Australia by over half (51 per cent), followed by virtualisation (39 per cent) and business continuity (37 per cent).
“As consumers continue to become more connected and trends such as mobile computing, Big Data analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT) gain momentum, copious amounts of data are generated which need to be analysed and processed in real-time, highlighting that the role of the data centre has never been so important. Organisations are realising the true business benefits this data holds and this is reflective in Australian organisations’ intentions to increase spending on data centre facilities,” commented Kris Kumar, senior vice president and regional head, Asia Pacific at Digital Realty.
Network connectivity options, carrier availability and carrier density were also identified by the survey as top considerations when making decisions about new data centre facility investments, with 73 per cent of respondents attributing this as very important. Other very important considerations included access to cloud, managed service providers or other partners (61 per cent) and the cost of energy at the data centre location (59 per cent).
“The cost of energy and energy efficiency have always been high on the agenda for Australian organisations and initiatives like the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) are being implemented to meet organisations’ demands for data centres that are as energy efficient as possible. This is enabling the Australian data centre industry to be a forerunner in energy performance and sustainability,” continued Kumar.
Additional key findings from the survey include:
§ CIOs continue to have the strongest influence on data centre spend in Australia with over half (52 per cent) of respondents identifying the CIO or most senior IT decision maker as influencing the decision, closely followed by the CEO (46 per cent) and the IT VP/manager/director (46 per cent).
§ Over half (52 per cent) of Australian organisations surveyed have between one to four data centres.
§ Exactly half of respondents (50 per cent) cited the need to expand space and number of cabinets/racks as the main reason their data centre facilities are running out of capacity.
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Survey Methodology
In this Digital Realty-commissioned study, Forrester Research conducted an online survey of organizations in the US, UK, Singapore, Japan, Germany, Hong Kong, France, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, and Ireland to evaluate their data centre investment plans and drivers. Survey participants included senior-level decision makers in IT, finance, and line of business roles with responsibility for data centres. Results of the Asia-Pacific portion of the study are based on surveys of 245 senior-level decision makers with responsibility for data centres. Almost all (90 per cent) of the Asia-Pacific survey respondents work for firms headquartered in the Asia-Pacific region, and more than half work at firms with more than 1,000 employees. Asia-Pacific survey respondents were located in the following regions: 30 per cent in Singapore, 29 percent in Hong Kong, 25 per cent in Japan, and 15 per cent in Australia. The majority of Asia-Pacific respondent organisations (52 per cent) had 2013 revenue of US$100M – $500M; and 22 per cent had US$500M – $1B in revenue. The survey began in January and was completed in February 2014.
Jihann Pedersen
About Digital Realty
Digital Realty Trust, Inc. supports the data centre and colocation strategies of more than 600 firms across its secure, network-rich portfolio of data centres located throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Digital Realty’s clients include domestic and international companies of all sizes, ranging from financial services, cloud and information technology services, to manufacturing, energy, gaming, life sciences and consumer products. www.digitalrealty.asia
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially, including statements related to our 2014 survey of data centre trends in Australia, expectations regarding future data centre expansion and spending, demand and demand drivers for data centres in Australia, and our strategy and plans. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, the following: the impact of current global economic, credit and market conditions; current local economic conditions in our geographic markets; decreases in information technology spending, including as a result of economic slowdowns or recession; adverse economic or real estate developments in our industry or the industry sectors that we sell to (including risks relating to decreasing real estate valuations and impairment charges); our dependence upon significant tenants; bankruptcy or insolvency of a major tenant or a significant number of smaller tenants; defaults on or non-renewal of leases by tenants; our failure to obtain necessary debt and equity financing; risks associated with using debt to fund our business activities, including re-financing and interest rate risks, our failure to repay debt when due, adverse changes in our credit ratings or our breach of covenants or other terms contained in our loan facilities and agreements; financial market fluctuations; changes in foreign currency exchange rates; our inability to manage our growth effectively; difficulty acquiring or operating properties in foreign jurisdictions; our failure to successfully integrate and operate acquired or developed properties or businesses; the suitability of our properties and data centre infrastructure, delays or disruptions in connectivity, failure of our physical infrastructure or services or availability of power; risks related to joint venture investments, including as a result of our lack of control of such investments; delays or unexpected costs in development of properties; decreased rental rates, increased operating costs or increased vacancy rates; increased competition or available supply of data centre space; our inability to successfully develop and lease new properties and development space; difficulties in identifying properties to acquire and completing acquisitions; our inability to acquire off-market properties; our inability to comply with the rules and regulations applicable to reporting companies; our failure to maintain our status as a REIT; possible adverse changes to tax laws; restrictions on our ability to engage in certain business activities; environmental uncertainties and risks related to natural disasters; losses in excess of our insurance coverage; changes in foreign laws and regulations, including those related to taxation and real estate ownership and operation; and changes in local, state and federal regulatory requirements, including changes in real estate and zoning laws and increases in real property tax rates. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see the reports and other filings by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as amended, for the year ended December 31, 2013 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2014. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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