Cap DC

CAP DC

GLOBAL BACKING AND LOCAL EXPERTISE

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

DIGITAL REPORT 2020

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GLOBAL BACKING AND LOCAL EXPERTISE

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CAP DC

Cap DC España, a subsidiary of CAP Ingelec, provides invaluable local knowledge and project management to international clients in Europe and Africa

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ccording to the data analysis specialist Arizton, the data centre/colocation market in EMEA was worth around US$14bn in

2019. It’s a burgeoning market, driven by factors like the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 04

and rapid adoption of internet-based services among businesses in the Middle East and Africa region.

The Cap DC Group, a subsidiary of the leading French Cap Ingelec brings together local engineering firms in Southern Europe and Africa to build data centres to meet this demand, and has been ranked among the top 15 global data centre engineering firms by Arizton. While its core business is data centre engineering, increasingly it is offering its clients in southern Europe and francophone Africa the option of EPC or turnkey construction contracts, says its Managing Director Antonio Ríos Suanzes.

Antonio came on board in 2017 to set up the company’s headquarters in Madrid. In that time his team has grown to eight, turnover to €5.5m, and revenue is targeted to reach €10m by 2022.

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Where real estate meets the cloud 1. Amsterdam, The Netherlands 7.5 ha | 40 MW (pot. 80 MW) 2. Frankfurt, Germany 3.5 ha | 65 MW 3. Paris, France 2.0 ha | 40 MW 4. Milan, Italy 2.0 ha | 40 MW 5. Madrid, Spain up to 10.8 ha | 49 MW

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“Madrid is seeing strong growth in tier

tech giants (GAFA) have no foothold yet

2 of the European data centre market

and very few pan-African colocators

thanks to the increase in subsea cables

are active.

reaching the Iberian peninsula,” he says.

“The market is still mostly driven by

“We foresee huge growth in Madrid and

telcos like Orange, or by the public sec-

Barcelona over the coming years.”

tor,” says Antonio. “For example, we

Cap DC has also begun its expan-

are working for the national data centre

sion into Milan, he adds, and Microsoft

agencies in Senegal and Guinea. The

announced recently that it will build data

size of the data centre market in Africa

centres in Greece, while Cap DC deliv-

is currently far smaller than in Europe,

ered two colocation projects in Turkey

but we consider that with rapid popula-

in 2020.

tion growth and the real innovation

With the southern Europe data centre

capability across the continent, it will

market set fair, he notes that Africa

equal the rate of development in Europe

is a completely different market. The

within five years.”

Madrid company has six offices in Africa

He is encouraged in this view by

from Morocco to Senegal to Ghana and

African leadership in mobile payment

Cameroon. In these markets, it’s all about

and its innovations in e-agriculture and

potential. Apart from South Africa the

e-health business.

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CAP DC

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Wherever it is to be built, time to market is the most important consideration

cater for the unknown final requirements of the final client.

for data centre operators and this

“In our view, the technical solution for

is where Cap DC derives a distinct

a data centre client is a combination of

advantage from its deep engineering

merging operator requirements (some-

know-how and the resources of

times pre-defined in the best-practice

Cap Ingelec.

policies of the company) with the skill

Flexibility and modularity are its priori-

to adapt these requirements to local

ties. Power usage effectiveness (PUE)

regulations as necessary, and to validate

driven by modern cooling systems such

construction feasibility in a short time-

as direct and indirect free-cooling and

frame,� he says.

choosing the right location are always

The contracting model developed

important, but design flexibility must

by Cap Ingelec and Cap DC has been

a major growth factor since 2015, Antonio feels.

“The difference in approach between a general contractor and an engineering specialist is clear. The turnkey contract model we offer our clients focuses on time-to-market. Between our group infrastructure and our local representatives, we can provide full governance of the projects, including licensing, securing power supplies and managing all legal issues: this enables us to commit to a budget and schedule with the client and stick to it.

“This model has helped many of our clients not only to design but to deliver their

“ The size of the data centre market in Africa is currently far smaller than in Europe, but we consider that ... it will equal the rate of development in Europe within five years” — Antonio Ríos Suanzes, Managing Director, CAP DC España

data centres on time. We are very gratified that more clients are trusting us with the full design and construction of their projects. It’s convinced us that this is the construction model that fits this market.”

For Antonio Ríos Suanzes, the key to an effective turnkey solution in the data centre industry is to have the right collaborators, partners and suppliers in place. A good example is the fire protection system, which needs to be planned at an early phase of the project to ensure a system that is fit for www.c a p- d c. com

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CAP DC

“ We consider that this pandemic has boosted digitalisation more than any new product or marketing campaign” — Antonio Ríos Suanzes, Managing Director, CAP DC España purpose and protects the data centre through its entire lifecycle.

Taking into account every possible detail during the project planning stage 10

means less need to make changes later.

Making changes to the routing of the pipe network, for example, could disrupt

are delighted to bring to the client the

operations. Also, fire suppression in

quality and performance of our suppli-

data centres can be challenging due

ers.” Close communication across

to the high airflow and the increased

the entire value chain is his mantra:

power density of servers. The upgraded

“If one partner has a problem, the others

FM Standard 5560 incorporates new

have a problem too.”

fire test protocols for data halls and

Strategic partners are equally impor-

subfloors: long-term Cap DC supplier

tant. Private equity and hedge funds

Marioff provides a high-pressure water

are increasingly interested in data cen-

mist solution, a very reliable fire protec-

tres as an alternative to their logistics

tion system focused on total cost of

investments. The global property group

ownership (TCO) and with OEM sup-

Goodman is setting the standard on this

port 24/7, says Antonio.

shift of emphasis and is a key partner for

“We manage construction but we are not a supplier company, so we

Cap DC. “Goodman has the financial resources

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E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :

Antonio Rios Suanzes Title: Managing Director

Company: CAP DC España

Industry: Construction

Location: Madrid

Antonio Rios Suanzes is Partner and Managing Director at CAP DC España, responsible for the company development in Spain from its creation in 2017. He holds two master’s degrees in Engineering and Corporate Finance. During his three years at CAP DC España, he has overseen the growth of the company from one to eight employees and seen the turnover increase by € 5.5 million.

Over this period of time, Antonio has also grown as a leader and acquired essential managerial skills at the young age of 33. Antonio has broad experience in international projects and reports directly to the group CEO based in France. www.c a p- d c. com

Reliability without compromise Fires in modern data centers are harsh; not only in their direct damage, but also indirect damage to business continuity.

Prepare against fire with Marioff HI-FOGÂŽ: a high pressure water mist fire protection system that uses a small amount of water at the seat of the fire; thus minimizing damage and downtime.

Your safety is our expertise.

“ Goodman has the financial resources and strong local teams in key locations” — Antonio Ríos Suanzes, Managing Director, CAP DC España

13 and strong local teams in key locations

has had to face the challenges posed

such as Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam,

by Covid-19, though the situation has

Milan and Madrid,” says Antonio. “Its

boosted the data centre market.

group strategy is to purchase a plot,

“We consider that this pandemic has

secure the power infrastructure (a

boosted digitalisation more than any

specialised process in a complex and

new product or marketing campaign,”

regulation-fraught environment), and

says Antonio. “We expect growth in

then invite interested parties. Once

digital services that will require more

the data centre operator is on board,

investment in data centres and faster

Goodman will support construction

development of tier 2 cities like Madrid,

and rent it to the operator. This model

Monaco or Bordeaux. Internally, in Cap

speeds up delivery by outsourcing plot

DC we were prepared for a ‘smart work’

selection and power due diligence. In

period and we are very proud of how the

Madrid, we are talking 6-12 months

team has reacted to this situation. The

saved on ready-for-service date.”

technical team has been working from

Throughout 2020, every industry

home and the construction team have www.c a p- d c. com

CAP DC

“ The turnkey contract model we offer our clients focuses on time-to-market” — Antonio Ríos Suanzes, Managing Director, CAP DC España

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adapted their schedule to keep the business running and minimize the impact.”

The dramatic uptick in demand will not decline when Covid is finally vanquished, he believes, as business consolidates the efficiencies it has been forced to adopt.

In a city like Madrid, securing power supply for new data centre capacity at strategic locations can be a limiting factor, he notes: “We have identified power supply and infrastructure between substation and data centre as a red flag that was delaying or even withdrawing projects. To tackle this, since 2018 we have offered a consulting service to deal with the electricity provider, securing power alongside a specific turnkey contract to develop this infrastructure. We are very happy with how this has impacted our business and we have been growing turnover every year.”

This success is getting recognised: Cap DC recently received an award as the leading company in Data Center Construction in Spain in 2020 from La Razón newspaper, one of Spain’s most influential.

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