Data centre services demand continues to grow

Growth in the data centre co-location and managed hosting services market will continue in the double digits through to 2011, driven by strong demand and low supply, according to Frost & Sullivan.

The analyst firm said growth in the ANZ region will continue at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.8 per cent through to 2011, with revenues exceeding $US587.6 million. In 2009, ANZ spending was about $US446.3 million.

In the wider Asia Pacific region, growth rates will be fractionally lower, with a CAGR of 14.6 per cent with revenues exceeding $US10.68 billion by 2011.

Commenting on the strong growth, Frost & Sullivan industry analyst, Chengyu Wu, said spending on data centre hosting services had remained largely insulated from the global financial crisis.

“As much as two-fifths of a company’s total energy consumption is spent on powering data centres, making the cost of maintaining captive data centres highly prohibitive. Real estate, of course, is the other significant cost,” she said in a statement.

Spending was also high because the demand for data centre hosting was out-pacing supply. More than 80 per cent of the major data centres in the Asia-Pacific region are running at close to 90 per cent capacity, she said.

Throughout the region, strong demand for data centre services was being felt from the Internet media, telecom and IT industries, which together accounted for up to 45 per cent demand, Wu added.

“Government-driven investments into next-generation broadband networks, IT infrastructure build-outs and e-ready nations have created a growing Internet-savvy population that demands rich content, collaboration and web applications,” she said. “This demand is the primary driver of the growth in data centre space in the region.”