SUSTAINABILITY: THE HEART OF IMDC’S DATA CENTER OPERATIONS DE C E MB E R 2 0 2 0
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AT THE CUTTING EDGE OF CUSTOMISED TURNKEY DEVELOPMENT, FACILITY MANAGEMENT AND MISSION CRITICAL SERVICES
The Future of Data Center Sustainability INSIDE A LIGNED’S HIS T ORIC BILLION-DOLL A R F UNDING ROUND
DATA CENTRE BRANDS
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FOREWORD
W
elcome to the December issue of Data Centre Magazine, the industry’s leading community and resource for executives and leaders in the data centre and cloud industries. This month, we’re bringing you in-depth research and unique insights into the data centre industry, from the ascendance of hyperscale architecture to the minutiae of cabling and energy management strategies.
tions, speaking with experts from Dell UK and Flexential about the future of virtual desktops, remote work and data centres as a service.
This month’s lead story features Andrew Schaap, CEO of digital infrastructure leader Aligned, who discusses the possibilities stemming from the company’s historic, billion-dollar funding round linked to sustainability.
Cabling and energy management are essential elements of a functional data centre. For this month’s issue, we’ve sat down with Brad Smith, marketing director at NVIDIA, to discuss the evolving state of innovation in cabling architecture, and how operators can prepare to evade disruption. We also take a closer look at how data centres - some of the most power-hungry pieces of modern infrastructure - can and must adopt new, more sustainable approaches to energy management.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spur demand for digital services, it’s undeniable that we’ve entered the golden age of hyperscale. In this exploratory piece, we speak with Andrew Donoghue of Vertiv and Andreas Limpak from NetApp, about the shape of things to come.
Our top 10 this month breaks down the world’s biggest data centre brands, and we’ll be bringing you exclusive, in-depth reports on industry leaders like T5 Data Centres, Omantel, Equinix, Iron Mountain, ARM and Nautilus Data Technologies. We hope you enjoy the issue.
We’re also looking at the ways in which the ongoing health crisis is prompting enterprises to unlock the power of service-based digital solu-
If you have a story to tell, email me at h.menear@bizclikmedia.com to become a part of the conversation. Harry Menear da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
03
Between hope and possible there’s a bridge.
There from the beginning to where we stand today. And to where we will go from here. One company. One promise. If you can imagine it, we will build the bridge to get you there.
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PUBLISHED BY
PRODUCTION DIRECTORS
Georgia Allen Daniela Kianickovรก PRODUCTION MANAGER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Harry Menear EDITORAL DIRECTOR
Scott Birch CREATIVE TEAM
Oscar Hathaway Sophia Forte Sophie-Ann Pinnell Hector Penrose Sam Hubbard Mimi Gunn
Owen Martin Philline Vicente VIDEO PRODUCTION MANAGER
Kieran Waite DIGITAL VIDEO PRODUCERS
Sam Kemp Evelyn Huang DIGITAL MARKETING EXECUTIVE
PROJECT DIRECTORS
Jordan Hubbard Stuart Irving MANAGING DIRECTOR
Lewis Vaughan SALES AND MARKETING DIRECTOR
Jason Westgate CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER
Stacy Norman PRESIDENT & CEO
Glen White
Daisy Slater MEDIA SALES DIRECTOR
James White
da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
CONTENTS
Adaptive Data Centers
10
PUTTING SUSTAINABILITY AT THE HEART OF DATA MANAGEMENT
24 The Golden Age of Hyperscale
36 Cabling: The Nervous System of the Data Centre
48
FROM DESKTOPS TO DATA CENTRES: THE POWER OF XAAS
58
Data Centre Brands
70
104 Nautilus Data Technologies
88 T5 Data Centers
118 ARM
136
150
Omantel/Equinix
Cap DC
164 Iron Mountain
Adaptive Data Centers
10
DECEMBER 2020
Putting Sustainability at the Heart of Data Management WRITTEN BY
PADDY SMITH
PRODUCED BY
LEWIS VAUGHAN 11
da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
ALIGNED
12
DECEMBER 2020
Aligned has completed a historic billion-dollar round of financing specifically linked to sustainability. CEO Andrew Schaap is eyeing the possibilities it opens up
I
t’s a mark of Andrew Schaap’s modesty that he says of the Covid-19 pandemic, “We’re weathering it well.” While other
companies were diving for cover in the second quarter of 2020, Aligned – where Schaap is CEO – “saw a very big uptick in February, March, April, and May”. “The pandemic has proven to be somewhat of a use case study in capacity planning for our big customers,” he explains. “All of them run analysis on what they can get out of a server, what they can get out of a CPU, what they can get out of a storage device or networking device. But the ones that are really born on web technologies are being pushed to the limit of what they can do. And so, our customers have been able to see just how effective adaptive infrastructure and our Delta3 cooling technology are when it comes to seamlessly addressing those peaks in demand.” As well as higher headroom capacity, data patterns have changed. Schaap points to a gaming
da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
13
ALIGNED
“ This is a capital-intensive business. You need capital partners that understand the business” — Andrew Schaap, CEO, Aligned
financing led predominantly by ING. This is the first U.S. data center sus-
client using Aligned’s data centres
tainability-linked financing and also
which saw its traditional 6pm to 3am
one of the largest private debt raises
peak capacity shift as schools closed
in data center history.
and the workforce headed home. For Aligned’s customers, its modu14
billion-dollar sustainability-linked
Previously, after joining Aligned in 2017, Schaap struck a deal with
lar, dynamic and highly scalable data
Macquarie Infrastructure and Real
solutions came into their own. And
Assets (MIRA) (“not your traditional
its finance partners have allowed the
private equity”) to recapitalise the
Dallas-based company to innovate its
business. “This is a capital-intensive
supply chain to meet the accelerated
business. So, you have to have capital
delivery needs of customers, specifi-
partners that are highly capable of
cally in the hyperscale space.
understanding what the business
Another sunny day in Aligned’s fair-weathered pandemic came in September, when it closed a
DECEMBER 2020
looks like.” Traditionally, MIRA invests in infrastructure such as roads, bridges and
CEO Andrew Schaap Discusses Aligned’s Adaptive Data Centers CLICK TO WATCH
|
2:19
15 highways. Aligned was the operating
leverage that buying power to get
group’s first foray into infrastructure
the best outcome out of the suppli-
of the digital kind. The entity saw
ers. What we did, essentially, was
a clear understanding that in order
approach the supply chain differently
to compete with the buying power
by deploying capital and committing
afforded to publicly traded Fortune
to capacity.”
500 data brands, Aligned needs to be
“Not everybody can do this. The pub-
able to work the angles. Schaap and
licly traded providers have to explain
his team laser-focused the business,
every dollar they spend to Wall Street,
including flipping the traditional data
and get a return on it within a set period
center supply chain / vendor-managed
of time – or they get penalised.”
inventory (VMI) on its head. “We did it essentially to counteract
“But because of Macquarie, our other capital partners and our business
scale. Those [Fortune 500] guys have
model, we were able to essentially
buying power with scale and they
look at the supply chain and be bullish da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
Munters brings over six decades of innovation to its partnership with Aligned Energy Munters has been developing innovative, energy efficient climate control solutions for over 60 years, and Data Center cooling is a market segment that is very active right now. DC President Michael Gantert explains why as the industry leader in energy efficient climate control solutions, Munters expertise in data center cooling helps Aligned Energy meet growth demands Munters has a long history in delivering innovative, energy efficient climate control solutions. Started in Sweden over 60 years ago, Munters has deployed its technologies in a host of industries. Munters Data Centers (DC) business, managed by President Michael Gantert, is a key partner for Aligned Energy. Munters has worked closely with Aligned Energy to manufacture and advance the development of their unique cooling solution. Munters entered the data center cooling market 12 years ago and has developed a number of cooling solutions that have been widely adopted and are critical to the efficient operation of many data centers. When Aligned Energy got in touch to discuss a partnership, it wasn’t to purchase an existing solution, but rather to further develop their own cooling solution and manufacture a product that would reduce equipment lead time and cost, while also improving reliability. “For a data center company to come to us with a pre-designed cooling solution and ask us to manufacture it, while also making it better and easier to install, that was a bit unique from what we’ve experienced over the past 12 years.”
Michael Gantert, Munters
“Aligned Energy recognized in Munters our history of innovation, engineering expertise, and flexible manufacturing capabilities. They saw those aspects of Munters as key to support their growing business. Our relationship is a true partnership. We share a lot of information including technical engineering details and manufacturing techniques for their cooling solutions.” “There has certainly been a lot of collaboration between the two companies over the past few years. They have a great cooling technology. We have embraced that, and we really feel Munters has provided value to Aligned Energy by understanding the technology and continuing to develop and enhance it for them.” “We’ve worked very closely with Aligned Energy and we’ve been provided selective visibility into their pipeline, which allows us to plan and prepare to best meet their needs. We continuously assess equipment inventory and component stock levels as well as things we can do within our manufacturing footprint to shorten lead times to support Aligned Energy’s growth.” LEARN MORE TODAY
ALIGNED
18
on where the market is going, where we think the market’s going and have manufacturers hold on to the inventory inside their warehouse or factory before shipping it on a just-in-time basis. We’ve done very well with that over the years; and it has proven effective during the pandemic. We had a handful of transactions that we were able to win on speed of delivery and our ability to get a customer moved in faster than the competition.” “We didn’t start the VMI because of the pandemic, but It worked in our favor DECEMBER 2020
“ Our customers have been able to see just how effective adaptive infrastructure and our Delta3 cooling technology are when it comes to seamlessly addressing those peaks in demand” — Andrew Schaap, CEO, Aligned
in a big, big way because we already
allocate manufacturing to quieter peri-
had that gear forward committed.”
ods, keeping productivity stable, and
By ordering before equipment was
workers off furlough.
needed, Aligned was able to offer
“What we try to do is to stabi-
manufacturers flexibility over their
lize the throughput in the factory.
throughput. Rather than a lumpy
Everyone we’ve spoken to has had
work-to-order production schedule,
phenomenal feedback about what
with workers on triple overtime when
we’re doing because it solves a
demand surges, the company’s pre-
big problem for them – removing
ordering allowed manufacturers to
the lumpiness.”
E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :
Andrew Schaap Title: CEO
19
Location: United States
Industry: Information Technology & Services Andrew Schaap is CEO of Aligned, dedicated to accelerating business growth by delivering data center solutions with industry-leading technology and adaptive infrastructure. Since beginning his tenure, Schaap has exponentially grown revenues, completed several successful capital raisings, and cultivated an ecosystem of innovation that advances Aligned’s commitment to reducing the social, economic and environmental impact of the digital era. He is a data centre, IT, private equity and real estate executive with more than 20 years of complex transactional experience and multidisciplinary senior leadership. Prior to joining Aligned, he held numerous leadership positions over an 11-year period with Digital Realty Trust. da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
We are Franklin-Griffith, a USESI Company
Project management and vendor managed inventory experts dedicated to exceeding the goals of our customers. www.franklinelectric.net | www.usesi.com |
: Franklin-Griffith Co. | email Matt Venancio, VP of Sales: M.Venancio@frankelec.com
It’s just one example of Schaap’s approach to partnerships, which revolves around listening to partners,
their problem is our problem. So, we have to be mindful of their problem.” While Macquarie’s financing allows
understanding their challenges, and
Aligned to game the supply chain, its
earning their respect. “Sometimes
debt financing with ING has beefed
2013
Year founded
90
Number of employees DECEMBER 2020
up its efforts to continue pursuing a strategic vision in sustainability. “On the debt side, we’re very pleased with the first sustainability-linked financing done in the United States. And ING really drove that with us and has just been a great partner.” “We can be sustainable, have great uptime and reliability, and provide great service and support to our
“ Because of Macquarie, our other capital partners and our business model, we were able to essentially look at the supply chain and be bullish on where the market is going” — Andrew Schaap, CEO, Aligned
customers. We do all three and we do them in a thoughtful, meaningful way. So, we’re delighted with it and looking forward to showcasing our sustainability even more. We’re doing it because our customers care about it and it’s part of our DNA.” Schaap gesticulates towards a 40-inch monitor on the wall where he can survey the top line performance metrics in real time. Unsurprisingly, he’s big on data, and Aligned is keen to pass on its data to help clients. “If we sell a customer a megawatt, let’s give them
Aligned IAD-01 Build Timelapse CLICK TO WATCH
|
2:15
da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
21
ALIGNED
22
“ We had a handful of transactions that we were able to win on speed of delivery and our ability to get a customer moved in faster than the competition” — Andrew Schaap, CEO, Aligned
thing to do. No stranded capacity; that’s
the tools to figure out how to use as
ing to where the puck is going to
much of that megawatt as possible
be versus where it is now,” asking
because that’s the most sustainable
Schaap to gaze into his crystal ball is
DECEMBER 2020
the best thing for the environment.” For someone who is always “skat-
23
to open a window to a new genera-
of dollars – or Euros or Yen – that
tion of data technology.
are being put into it is incredibly high
“Everybody is thinking about energy
because that’s the new gold rush, to
storage right now. How do you get
figure out how to store energy. And
as creative as you possibly can on
on the data side, we use a lot, so we’re
energy storage? That’s the number
really paying attention to what’s next.”
one problem with green energy: it’s cyclical. The sun, wind, hydro, all those things are somewhat cyclical.
Adaptive Data Centers
And so, you’ve got to find ways to store the energy. And so, the amount da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
HYPERSCALE
24
The Golden Age of Hyperscale WRITTEN BY
HARRY MENEAR
DECEMBER 2020
25
da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
HYPERSCALE
Industry 4.0 and the COVID-19 have driven demand for massive data centres to an all-time high. Welcome to the golden age of hyperscale.
T
he modern data centre is an engineering marvel, a confluence of fuel, cooling, data transmission and storage systems, all work-
ing in perfect harmony to power the digital age.
Global demand for data is swelling like a great wave, 26
as the growth of IoT, 5G and AI adoption spurs on the creation of more and more information on a daily basis. That information needs to be housed somewhere and, while they represent less than 10% of all data centres in operation by number, it’s hyperscale facilities that are attracting the most investment, home to the most powerful innovations, and forming the backbone of Industry 4.0. This month, we’re taking a closer look at the past, present and future of the hyperscale data centre market, as well as two of the biggest disruptors the industry faces: the edge and climate change. The hyperscale data centre market is a relatively new one. Before 2016, it was rare that data centre leases exceeded 10MW of capacity. By the end of 2017, there were more than 390 data centres DECEMBER 2020
27
da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
“ There were 100 new hyperscale data centers opened in the last eight quarters” — John Dinsdale, chief analyst, Synergy Research Group
around the world big enough to be classified as hyperscale, with the overwhelming majority being owned by AWS, Facebook, Google and other Tier One hyperscale players (more about them in a moment). However, the majority of these facil‑ ities were built, wholly owned and operated by a single Tier One firm, almost exclusively in support of their own operations. Since then, the massive rise in public cloud adoption, which companies like AWS support through their own hyperscale infrastructure, has propelled hyperscale investment to new heights. In 2018, market research by North American Data Centres identified 11 deals in excess of 10MW - including a record-breaking 72MW lease of data centre space in Ashburn, Virginia by Facebook. At the end of 2019, there were more than 500 hyperscale data centres in operation around the world, a number which swelled again in the first half of 2020 to more than 540. Of the new hyperscale data centres opened in the last 12 months, AWS and Google together accounted for more than half the total, with Micro da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
29
HYPERSCALE
What makes a data centre hyperscale? The term hyperscale isn’t a protected one, and the lines between hyperscale facilities and enterprise, colocation and telecom data centres can sometimes become blurred. However, there are a few widely agreed-upon characteristics that separate hyperscale facilities from their counterparts: 30
Hyperscale data centres are owned and operated by the companies they support, usually a Tier One operator like AWS, Apple or Facebook, as opposed to a Colocation data centre, which leases its capacity to third parties. Hyperscale facilities are big. Most experts tend to agree that any data centre with more than 500 cabinets, or at least 10,000 square feet of floor space, is a hyperscaler. Usually, a facility with 40MW or less capacity is considered to be an enterprise data centre. Hyperscale facilities have the ability to get much, much bigger. Think
DECEMBER 2020
about scale as a verb. Hyperscale data centres are built to be expanded to meet the ever-growing demands of the companies that build them. The ability to functiont at hyperscale. The potential challenges of handling such huge quantities of data mean that hyperscale facilities are designed to a different sttandard than smaller data centres.
“ We are moving from a situation where data centre capacity was built out in a rather haphazard, demand-driven way to one that is more deliberate and focused on efficiency and effectiveness”
the time. “COVID-19 has caused some logistical issues but these are robust numbers, demonstrating the under lying strength of the services that are driving these investments.” Hyperscale growth is expected
— Andrew Donoghue, director of global analyst relations, Vertiv
to be highly resistant to the COVID-19
soft and Oracle following slightly behind.
education and overall internet usage
“There were 100 new hyperscale data
have risen sharply since March. By the
centers opened in the last eight quarters,
end of this year, Cisco Systems
with 26 of those being in the first half
estimated (before the pandemic -
of this year,” said John Dinsdale, chief
which may only intensify the result) that
analyst at Synergy Research Group at
more than half of all the data traffic on
pandemic, as increases in digital transformation, remote work, online
Earth will pass through a hyperscale facility. That’s 53% of all internet traffic passing through fewer than 10% of the world’s data centres.
A HYPER-QUICK HISTORY LESSON One of the trends with the potential to most dramatically impact the data centre industry is the rise of edge network infrastructure. The edge data centre market exceeded $5.5bn in 2019. Between 2020 and 2026, the market is expected to display a CAGR or 23%, as the demand for low-latency edge computing is driven by an explosion da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
31
HYPERSCALE
of IoT and AI technologies. For many, both the shape of edge network evolution and its relationship to large-scale data centres at the centre of the network still hang in the balance. “It’s still not completely clear how edge computing and edge data centres will manifest in the future,” Andrew Donoghue, director of global analyst relations at data centre infrastructure company Vertiv, explained to Data Centre Magazine in a recent interview. Donoghue added that expanded edge 32
capacity will be an additive force to public and hybrid cloud build outs, rather than disrupt them. Both cloud and the edge, he proposed, are part of the same continuum of data centre capacity, rather than in competition with one another. “Focusing too much on either is actually a distraction,” he said. “What is really happening is we are moving from a situation where data centre capacity was built out in a rather haphazard, demanddriven way to one that is more deliberateand focused on efficiency and effectiveness.” Donoghue believes that this more considered approach, enabled by a world DECEMBER 2020
where hyperscale, enterprise and edge facilities all work in tand‑em, will see workloads located where it makes most sense from a cost, efficiency, latency and bandwidth perspective. He added: “Latency dependent workloads will tend to reside at the edge whilst workloads that are less latency dependent and perhaps more data intensive will reside at the core in large hyperscale sites. So it’s not so much an edge build out as reorganisation of workloads to the most effective and efficient location.” 33
SUSTAINABILITY AT (HYPER)SCALE? Climate change is an increasingly imme
“ Hyperscale operators have always led the way in terms of sustainability” — Andrew Donoghue, director of global analyst relations, Vertiv
diate and existential threat. Rising global temperatures, pollution, a biodiversity large-scale corporations and politicians to present more than market-based, incremental solutions to the problem represent the single greatest challenge humanity has ever faced. The data centre industry is a huge consumer of energy and therefore a massive contri butor to carbon emissions. The data centre industry has a bigger environm ental impact than the world’s airlines. Hyperscale facilities in particular, can consume enough electricity per hour da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
HYPERSCALE
“ The hyperscale market will likely not become a poster child for sustainable processes” — Andreas Limpak, director, solutions engineering, NetApp
to power more than 50,000 homes. Whether or not the sheer amount of power these facilities demand can be 34
reconciled with a need for drastic climate action is the greatest challenge the industry faces today. According to Donoghue, hyperscalers have the potential to be a part of
invest in mechanisms like power
the solution, rather than the problem.
purchase agreements for renewable
“Hyperscale operators have always led
energy.” Large scale sustainability
the way in terms of sustainability,” he
projects in the data centre industry
told us, noting that their more uniform
do tend to stem from the hyperscale
workloads mean that they tend to
end of the market, with companies
support a narrower range of applica-
like Google, Apple and Microsoft all
tions compared to an enterprise facility.
making bold pledges towards carbon
“Consequently, they can be designed
neutrality in their data centre opera-
to support those workloads in a very
tions this year already.
efficient and sustainable way,” he said.
Vertiv has recently partnered with
“They also benefit from large scale
Honeywell on a portfolio of solutions to
and well-funded owners who can
make it easier for data centre operators
DECEMBER 2020
35
to develop micro-grid technologies to
become a poster child for sustainable
support their power consumption needs.
processes, because of the sheer
Data centre operators will be able
amount of resources it requires to
to “use a greater variety of energy
operate successfully,” he told Data
sources to provide power and
Centre Magazine in a recent interview.
resiliency for their sites, including
“However, the chance to streamline,
hydrogen fuel cells and even on-site
do away with overprovisioning, test
renewables,” Donoghue explained.
and reduce resource-intensive
Andreas Limpak, director of solu-
churn, and deliver resources only
tions engineering at NetApp, however,
when and where needed at the right
doesn’t see the relationship between
level – are all factors democratised
hyperscalers and sustainability.
by the public cloud that help make
“The hyperscale market will likely not
IT more sustainable.” da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
CABLING
36
Cabling: The Nervous System of the Data Centre WRITTEN BY
HARRY MENEAR
DECEMBER 2020
37
da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
CABLING
Brad Smith, Director of Marketing at Nvidia, discusses data centre cabling and how to solve pain points with a forward-thinking structured cabling strategy
T
he modern data centre is a vast, deeply complex collection of interconnected parts, each working in harmony. Power and cooling
systems support huge halls of serried racks and cabinets, each one home to dozens of servers, all
working to efficiently gather, store and transmit a 38
near-incomprehensible amount of data every day. That data - the fuel that powers the modern world - is pumped across fast networks of fibre like blood through the body of a great beast. Responsible for the transmission of this vital information is a sprawling network of fibre optic and copper cables, the veins and nerves of a data centre. Cabling and cable management is an essential part of the puzzle that makes up a modern data centre. A poor cable management strategy can create inefficiencies, demand constant maintenance, and ultimately hamper the operator’s ability to deliver value to its customers. “Some data center operators try to optimise the cost of every element and build a ‘Frankenstein’ system consisting of components from multiple vendors,” says Brad
DECEMBER 2020
39
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“ Some data center operators try to optimise the cost of every element and build a ‘Frankenstein’ system” — Brad Smith, Director of Marketing, Nvidia
faces rising demand for super fast, stable connections.
Smith, director of marketing for net-
Data centre cabling is undergo-
working interconnects at Nvidia.
ing something of a revolution, as the
”This moves all the networking
industry prepares to make yet another
specifications to the lowest level of
generational leap, from 100 Gb per
interoperability across all the ven-
second fibre - which became the
dors.” The perils of a poorly optimised
industry standard speed in 2016 - to
system are growing even greater, as
400 Gb per second. The life cycle
the technology behind data centre
of cabling hardware is shortening as
cabling accelerates and the industry
well. “While most high-performance
NVIDIA Data Center Tour CLICK TO WATCH
|
2:18
da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
41
CABLING
computing (HPC) and hyperscale installations are designed around a three year upgrade cycle and are highly flexible, many enterprise data centers are still rooted in the 1G/10Gb per second BASE-T copper era with an eight year upgrade cycle,” he adds. We sat down with Smith to discuss the challenges and opportunities that the changing data centre cabling market presents, and how data centre operators can build an effective cabling strategy to suit both their facility’s 42
demands and their budget.
N V I D I A : C O N Q U E R I N G T H E D ATA C E N T R E B U S I N E S S
Nvidia rose to prominence as a GPU manufacturer in the gaming industry, but the company has come a long way since then. This summer, the company’s sales to the data centre industry exceeded its gaming revenue for the first time in its 30 year history. Data centre sales rose by 126% in the first half of 2020, following high-profile acquisitions of companies like
DECEMBER 2020
Arm and Mellanox, which Nvidia purchased in late 2019 for $6.9bn. Mellanox has since brought its industry-leading connectivity solutions to Nvidia’s ecosystem, which has had spectacular results. Mellanox’s portfolio of InfiniBand and Ethernet products has prompted a strong sales boost for Nvidia, further expanding its portfolio of data centre solutions.
43
COPPER VS FIBRE
five times less expensive, potentially
Traditionally, data centre cabling has
allowing companies to save millions
been accomplished using copper wire.
of dollars in installation costs when
However, in recent years, as data cen-
spinning up an enterprise scale facility.
tres have gotten bigger, more efficient
Another cost-saver is copper’s reli-
and are required to handle larger and
ability. Passive coaxial copper cabling
larger amounts of information, fibre
has a mean time between failures
optic cable is emerging as a viable
(MTBF) of roughly 50mn hours, mark-
alternative. As with most new tech-
edly higher than fibre optics. In terms
nologies, fibre has its limitations.
of speed, over shorter distances, cop-
Copper cabling, used to transmit information for more than 100 years, still maintains several advantages.
per performs every bit as well as fibre while consuming less power. However, the technology has a few
Firstly, they’re cheap. Compared to
drawbacks. “The basic issue with
fibre optics, copper can be two to
cables is that, the higher the frequency da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
CABLING
of the signal, the more that the electrons move to the outside of the cable, and then end up radiating into space,” explains Smith “At slow speeds you can go a long distance, which means that older, smaller data centres can use copper without any problems.” In larger enterprise, colocation and hyperscale facilities, however, copper cabling struggles to perform over the long distances between racks, especially as the IT load these cables are expected to handle increases year 44
over year. “A one gig copper cable could go maybe 500 metres. A 10Gb cable could go maybe 100 metres, but things start to fall apart when you get up to 25 Gb,” Smith explains. “The power usage, cost, you name it - it all just gets very ugly. So the industry moved to using direct attach copper (DAC) cables, which use a foil shield to extend the range and capacity of copper cabling. However, once you get up to 100Gb capacity, the range of these cables is only about a metre.” In an enterprise facility with thousands of square metres of floor space, the limitations become clear. “If you’re DECEMBER 2020
“ The basic issue with cables is that, the higher the frequency of the signal, the more that the electrons move to the outside of the cable, and then end up radiating into space” — Brad Smith, Director of Marketing, Nvidia a small, enterprise facility you can probably wire the whole thing up with copper. But if you’re Facebook and your data centre has two ZIP codes, then you’re going to have to use single mode fibre optics, which are the same type they use in the telecom industry,” Smith explains. Copper also has a wider bend radius than fibre, and the need for copper wiring to be insulated means that fibre optic cables tend to be a lot less bulky - a fact worth considering in modern, hyper-dense work spaces, HPC facilities or micro edge data centres. The benefits of Fibre optic cabling mostly da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
45
CABLING
“ You have to plan out your cabling strategy for the next five-to-eight years, not just the next two” — Brad Smith, Director of Marketing, Nvidia
46
lie in the range they can cover, as well
in the modern data centre, and opera-
as their less bulky profile. While fibre
tors should examine carefully where
optic cabling is still more expensive
each one fits within their overall
to install and maintain than copper
cabling strategy.
cables, widespread use by the telecom and hyperscale data centre industries
CABLING BEST PRACTICE
has driven the price down consider-
The secret to a successful cabling
ably in recent years.
strategy, according to Smith, is under-
In reality, both copper and fibre
standing the needs of your facility and
optic cabling solutions have a place
appropriate preparation. “You have
DECEMBER 2020
47
to plan out your cabling strategy for
the very quickly evolving networking
the next five-to-eight years, not just
systems landscape, and the use of
the next two,” he explains. “Current
new GPUs for artificial intelligence
cabling technologies that may be
applications, is a wise move.” He
less expensive today may require
concludes by emphasising that a
rip and replace upgrades tomorrow.
successful cabling strategy should
Re-cabling is very expensive, and you
centre around identifying the lowest-
are guaranteed to need the band-
cost technology that is capable of
width and reach of single-mode fiber
transmitting across the distance that
in the future. Making plans now for
needs to be covered. da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTS
DATA CENTRE ENERGY MANAGEMENT NEEDS A REVOLUTION WRITTEN BY
ENGINE
HARRY MENE AR
48
DECEMBER 2020
A closer look at how data centres – some of the most power-hungry pieces of modern infrastructure – can adopt new approaches to energy management The global data centre industry is booming. However, as investment in digital infrastructure grows, so does the industry’s impact on an increasingly fragile climate. Data centres are huge contributors to global carbon emissions and, if the industry is to do its part in preventing the destruction of our planet’s environment, drastic steps need to be taken. This month, we’re taking a closer look at how data centres – some of the most power-hungry pieces of modern infrastructure – can explore and adopt new approaches to energy management, with the goal of bringing energy consumption in line with increasingly stringent sustainability targets.
THE BIG DATA BOOM Over the past decade, more than US$100bn of investment has poured into the sector due to increased attention from private equity firms, infrastructure funds and governments, driven by a rising tide of data and digitalisation. Data centres are the engine that powers the modern enterprise and, as 5G adoption, the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) and COVID-19 continue to accelerate worldwide digital transformations, the need for data centre infrastructure is growing greater by the day. da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
49
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“ Data storage is already one of the planet’s most energy-intensive industries and its growth is only set to rise” — Brendan Marren, Centrica Enterprises in every industry are
data centres is actually falling, as more and more enterprises abandon their on-premises infrastructure and migrate towards the cloud. As the number of data centres decreases, and the average size of data centres expands, the need for these facilities to embrace innovative energy management strategies is only becoming more of a mission critical priority.
increasingly shifting from legacy infrastructure and on-premises data
THE WRONG DIRECTION
centre solutions to hyperscale-sup-
“Opportunities for industry growth are
ported public cloud, or increasingly
abundant,” comments Brendan Marren,
sizable enterprise colocation facilities.
head of distributed energy at Centrica
A recent report by Cushman & Wake-
Business Solutions, an industry leading
field noted that “the 10 MW data
data centre power solutions provider
centre that was impressively sized 10
based in the UK. Speaking to Data
years ago now pales in comparison to
Centre Magazine, Marren adds the
30 MW leases that are now signed with increasing regularity.” Around the world, data centres are getting bigger. The number of hyperscale facilities exceeded 540 in the first half of 2020, meaning the average amount of time it takes the industry to construct 100 hyperscale data centres is about two years – and it’s only getting faster. As the construction of super-sized facilities grows, the overall number of da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
51
CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTS
“ [Data centre operators must find a way] to satisfy their insatiable need for energy, while being mandated to drastically reduce emissions”
52
a recent report estimates that the UK’s data centre industry will exceed $8.4bn in size – exceeding the combined value of the entire African data centre industry by almost $2.5bn. At the same time, the UK government has committed to an environmental target of net
— Brendan Marren, Centrica
zero by 2050 and, while this is neither
caveat that the industry’s growth
strategy, nor likely to be fast enough
comes part and parcel with the issue
to avert a climate catastrophe, it’s a
of its appetite for electricity. “Contin-
deadline that the UK data centre
ued expansion also presents a major
industry will find hard to beat, accord-
complication: data storage is already
ing to Marren. “This combination of
one of the planet’s most energy-inten-
environmental pressure and growing
sive industries and its growth is only
concern over a consistent electricity
set to rise as the need for server space
supply puts data centres in an acute
increases.” According to Centrica’s
position – needing to satisfy their
own research, by the year 2040, data
insatiable need for energy, while being
centres will be responsible for a full
mandated to drastically reduce emis-
20% of the world’s energy usage,
sions,” he adds.
the harshest deadline imposed by a government as part of its climate
compared to a mere 3% in 2017. Marren notes that each year the
A VICIOUS CYCLE
UK’s data centre industry alone is
In addition to its big picture contribu-
estimated to consume between two
tions to climate change, the carbon
and three terawatt hours of electricity,
impact of the data centre industry
a figure he doesn’t see falling on its
also threatens to make its own road
own, as the country’s digital infrastruc-
towards sustainable practice even
ture continues to develop. By 2025,
harder, further compounding the
DECEMBER 2020
challenges it faces in the process. “Extreme weather as a result of climate change and instability can pose different challenges to data centre operators,” explains Billy Durie, global sector head of the data centre unit at temporary power and cooling solutions provider Aggreko. In an interview with Data Centre Magazine, Durie explains that extreme weather as the result of climate change is putting increased pressure on data centre operators. “Rising temperatures are putting strain on cooling infrastructure within data centres, particularly now free cooling is more common,” he notes. “As ambient temperatures rise to a point where fresh air from around the data centre is too warm to cool the facility, data centre operators have to bring in supplementary temporary cooling to avoid outage. If climate change continues to worsen, the facilities that may not have had concerns around the limitations of free cooling, now must consider planning for warmer summers.” He adds that, as other symptoms of climate change like wildfires, hurricanes, tornados and freak storms da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
53
CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTS
“ Rising temperatures are putting strain on cooling infrastructure within data centres” — Billy Durie, Aggreko
REDUCING DEPENDENCE ON THE GRID “For data centres, exponentially increasing energy needs means relying on the grid solely for their supply may soon become a challenge – a particular concern for an industry whose ability to deliver their service to customers directly hinges on having a consistent, reliable and sizable
54
become more common, data centres
supply of electricity,” Marren notes.
face an uphill battle to avoid disruption
On-site power generation is not a new
from fire, flooding or even something
concept in the data centre industry,
as innocuous as a humidity spike.
as power redundancy and backup
If data centre operators are to
systems are essential to avoiding
reduce their consumption of energy,
a disruption of services in the event
while sustaining the industry’s growth
of an emergency or natural disaster.
and continue operating in an increas-
Marren asserts, however, that on-site
ingly unstable world, there needs
generation may be approaching a
to be significant change in the way
point where it is able – and desperately
that these organisations approach
needs – to step out of the shadows.
energy management.
“More and more, we’re seeing technologies such as natural gas
A NEW APPROACH TO ENERGY MANAGEMENT
generators being used within a data
Luckily, there are solution providers
function they were never intended for,”
in the industry, like Aggreko and
Marren explains. “By instead produc-
Centrica Business Solutions, working
ing energy on-site, data centres can
to provide the tools that the data
not only take control of their own
centre industry needs to overcome
supply, but can also begin to tackle
the challenges ahead.
their other key challenge – their carbon
DECEMBER 2020
centre’s energy needs – a frontline
55
T H E U N TA P P E D P OT EN T I AL O F O N - SI T E SO L AR
Covering a data centre in solar panels has been fairly common practice for years now. However, with recent developments in both photovoltaic panels and battery engineering, the technology may be about to undergo a major leap in usefulness. “Energy generated through solar panels could be used directly on-site, while surplus energy that
isn’t needed right away can be stored in the battery. Stored energy could then be deployed at a later time, such as when the weather is cloudy and the panels aren’t able to generate enough electricity to power the facility effectively,” says Marron. “In addition, this excess energy can often also be fed back to the grid to create an additional revenue stream.”
da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTS
“ Our responsibility is now to supply equipment that is more sustainable and expertise that helps make powering a data centre as efficient as possible” — Billy Durie, Aggreko
56
footprint. And, while generating
ing renewables and on-site
energy on-site doesn’t automatically
generation techniques
make a data centre more environmen-
with storage technology
tally friendly, it gives it the opportunity
like a battery array can
to be so.”
help overcome this hurdle.
He adds that, by making battery backup and on-site generated power
BRIDGING THE GAP
more sustainable, data centre operators
Data centre energy
can simultaneously reduce their
management is growing
carbon footprint and become increas-
steadily more sustainable,
ingly resistant to disruption. “The
but transitioning the entire industry
prospect of relying heavily on renew-
towards more environmentally friendly
able energy has traditionally been a
energy management practices is still
cause of concern in the data centre
going to be a big step. Durie notes that
community, where consistent power
one of Aggreko’s main goals going into
supply is a critical requirement. The
2021 is helping data centre operators
main drawback of solar or wind power
bridge that gap, as power grids,
is that both are dependent on the
renewable energy adoption and
weather, which is often intermittent,”
mandated carbon reduction goals all
Marren explains, noting that combin-
continue to impact the industry. As
DECEMBER 2020
(HVO), and renewable sources of power generation through wind and solar technologies. In terms of future plans, we are researching other technologies such as hydrogen generators, as well as continuing our development of battery storage and rental UPS systems.” Marren also believes that there is a transition coming, a day when the demands of the data centre industry will outstrip the capacity of the grid. Whether that transition is an environmental catastrophe, or a much-needed step along the path to a sustainable global digital infrastructure, will be determined in the next few years. “As the industry continues to grow at pace, it’s clear that demand for more countries adopt renewable
energy will soon outstrip what the
energy as a principal source of power
grid can offer,” he warns. “Taking a
generation, Aggreko is providing its
more advanced approach to energy
services to help data centres bridge
through renewable on-site generation
the gap. “Our responsibility is now
will be vital to the industry’s future
to supply equipment that is more
success, not only by offering its
sustainable and expertise that helps
businesses greater control over their
make powering a data centre as
energy and cost savings, but also
efficient as possible,” Durie explains.
by providing the opportunity to begin
“We have introduced alternative fuels,
integrating renewables for a more
such as hydrotreated vegetable oils
environmentally sustainable future.” da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
57
S O F T WA R E
58
FROM DESKTOPS TO DATA CENTRES: THE POWER OF XAAS WRITTEN BY
HARRY MENEAR
DECEMBER 2020
59
da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
S O F T WA R E
Fueled by the COVID-19 crisis, enterprises are unlocking the power of service-based digital solutions
O
ver the past decade, the tech industry has been locked in a debate over the future of
the data centre. From on-premises legacy
infrastructure to public, private and hybrid cloud,
this chapter is drawing to a close. “The debate over whether applications are going to move fully to the public cloud or stay on60
premises is nearing its end,” comments Tim Loake, vice president of Dell UK’s Infrastructure Solutions Group. Speaking to Data Centre Magazine, Loake explains that, by 2021, industry experts like Gartner expect that 75% of mid-size and large organisations will be using either multi-cloud or hybrid cloud IT strategies, adding that the prediction “was made pre-COVID-19, so we could even supercede Gartner’s estimate, given the acceleration we’ve seen in recent months.” The global pandemic has had, is continuing to have, and most likely will continue to have a profound effect on the ways that we live and work for the foreseeable future. All scales of enterprise have been engaged in a profound experiment with remote work since March. This increased and involuntary digitalisation of the global workforce, DECEMBER 2020
61
da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
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“ Being connected has never been more important to our customers than now, especially since the majority of their employees are working from home” — Tim Loake, VP, Infrastructure Solutions Group, Dell Technologies UK
the majority of their employees are working from home.” In order to enable digital operations during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, enterprises are embracing the flexibility, resilience and scalability of service based digital solutions.
coupled with lockdowns, travel bans,
This month, we sat down with Loake
social distancing measures and
and Fuhrman to discuss how offering
online learning, have driven demand
everything from desktops to data
for digital services and infrastructure
centres as a service is driving the
at an astonishing rate.
success of the world’s most digi-
“We also saw a large spike in network
tally-enabled companies.
and connectivity needs during COVIDchief operating officer of Cloud and
DESKTOP-AS-A-SERVICE: ENABLING REMOTE WORK AT SCALE
Managed Services, speaking to Data
Launched in July, Flextential’s new
Centre Magazine. “Being connected
Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) solution
has never been more important to our
has been designed to help remote
customers than now, especially since
workforces remain competitive during
19,” says Mike Fuhrman, Flexential’s
da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
63
S O F T WA R E
“ A virtual desktop looks and feels just like a physical workstation”
64
remotely delivers enterprise-class connectivity, performance and, perhaps most importantly, security. A recent report on the pandemic’s effect on cybersecurity strategies by Deloitte notes that remote work
— Michael Fuhrman, COO, Cloud and Managed Services, Flexential
transitions have introduced thousands
and after the pandemic. “As a result
corporate networks and systems on
of the pandemic, the remote labor
devices that may have vulnerabilities
force has increased from 10% to
or are already being compromised.
an estimated 70%,” said Fuhrman
Likewise, workers are relying heavily
in a recent press release. “That means
on web conferencing and collabora-
IT departments have had to quickly
tion tools to do their jobs, which can
re-architect their IT infrastructure
be compromised by threat actors.”
to enable a distributed workforce,
This year, IBM identified the global
provisioning hardware and SaaS
average cost of a data breach as
applications while ensuring security,
being higher than $3.8mn, with
accessibility and procurement of tools
breaches in the US costing an aver-
and equipment.”
age of $8.64mn. Clearly, enterprises
of unsecured devices to enterprise networks. Deloitte’s experts note that many employees are “accessing
In order to support the demands
cannot afford not to make security
of a distributed remote workforce,
a priority at a time when remote work
Flexential DaaS allows businesses
is rendering networks more vulnerable
to host a number of virtual desktops
than ever before.
in the cloud, a process which the
Flexential DaaS can largely solve
company claims offers advantages
those issues. By effectively central-
over a traditional in-house desktop
ising the hosting of an enterprises
portfolio. The turnkey solution
desktops, the solution can ensure
DECEMBER 2020
65
da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
S O F T WA R E
“ VMware Cloud on Dell EMC combines the simplicity and agility of the public cloud with the security and control of an on-premises infrastructure” — Tim Loake, VP, Infrastructure Solutions Group, Dell Technologies UK
66
increased security and threat pre-
better than a physical workstation
vention. “Our DaaS solution provides
because powerful resources, such as
secure access to company data
storage and back-end databases, are
without storing anything on local devices
readily available. Because virtual desk-
and access control using authentica-
tops require less physical equipment
tion,” explains Fuhrman. He continues,
and maintenance, they can be more
elaborating on the ways that a digital
cost-effective than physical desktops,
service solution can be hugely benefi-
and an IT department can easily
cial to a remote workforce. “A virtual
manage a large number of far-flung vir-
physical workstation,” he adds.
tual desktops from a central location.”
“The user experience is often even DECEMBER 2020
Software updates, he continues, can all
a need to create a consistent cloud experience across on-premises, offpremises and edge environments,” says Loake. He adds that, for many enterprises, the last few years have seen the level of diversity in the application landscape increase dramatically, which has increased the complexity of creating a consistent cloud experience. Multi-cloud deployments are further compounding the problem, even as they deliver strategic benefits to their users. “Solving this complexity is one of the biggest IT challenges that we see organisations facing in 2020,” he says. In order to increase stability, resilience and ability to scale, while reducing costs and disruptions, sevbe pushed out from a central control
eral players in the industry, including
panel, rather than installed one-by-
Dell, are offering data-centre-as-a-
one, and virtual machines have better
service (DCaaS) solutions as a way
potential to scale without creating
for companies to cut through the
pain points compared to portals and
complexity of the modern hybrid
shared drives.
cloud landscape. Using VMware Cloud on Dell EMC
DATA CENTRES AS A SERVICE: SECURELY UNLOCKING THE POWER OF MULTI-CLOUD
“combines the simplicity and agility
“While multi-cloud is already most
and control of an on-premises infra-
organisations’ reality, there’s also
structure,” Loake explains. “The
of the public cloud with the security
da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
67
S O F T WA R E
“ The debate over whether applications are going to move fully to the public cloud or stay onpremises is nearing its end” — Tim Loake, VP, Infrastructure Solutions Group, Dell Technologies UK 68
DECEMBER 2020
We Didn’t Stop at Cloud CLICK TO WATCH
|
0:30
69 product is then delivered as a service
disruption and distributed workforces,
to both data centre and edge locations
enterprises that embrace solutions as
using VMWare’s industry-standard com-
a service are set to have the edge in
pute, storage and networking software,
terms of resilience and scalability.
which integrates with our enterprise-
“At Dell, the cloud is not a destination,
class hardware.”
but an operating model,” says Loake.
A key benefit of DCaaS solutions,
“We recognise that data and applica-
Loake continues, is that the service
tions should be able to seamlessly
delivers secure and scalable data centre
move to and from private, public and
infrastructure hosting services on
edge deployments, at any time.” Both
a monthly billing cycle, eliminating costly
Dell and Flexential are delivering that
capital expenditure for physical infra-
much-needed mobility to enterprises
structure solutions.
looking to digitalise in response to
In a future defined by increased
a rapidly changing world.
economic and political uncertainty, da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
T O P 10
70
DECEMBER 2020
Data Centre Brands Data Centre Magazine ranks the world’s top 10 data centre brands WRITTEN BY
The data centre industry will dominate the global economy over the coming decade. Demand for remote hosting, managed cloud services and the ever-expanding network edge will all continue to grow. By 2025, global data centre market revenues are expected
HARRY MENEAR to exceed US$193bn annually. Data centre operators who successfully gain dominance in the market can expect to drive massive revenues, which will further support infrastructure expansions in developing markets, and the advancement of their cloud and software capabilities.
da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
71
T O P 10
25
DATA CENTRES
HQ
LONDON, UK
CEO
NICLAS SANFRIDSSON
72
10 Colt
As a leading hyperscale data centre and colocation provider, Colt Data Centre Services operates 17 data centres in Europe, from Spain to the Nordics, and eight more locations in APAC, from Mumbai to Tokyo. With more than 15 years in the industry, Colt is one of the more trusted data centre operators in the European and APAC markets. Currently, Colt is focusing on expanding its APAC operations, fueled by large cash injections from its parent company, Brookfield Asset Management.
DECEMBER 2020
40
DATA CENTRES
HQ
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA
CEO CHRIS DOWNIE
09
73
Flexential Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Flexential is a colocation, managed services and cloud-hosting data centre operator with a network of 40 data centres in 20 markets. In the US, Flexential operates five data centres offering disaster recovery as a service. In October the company broke ground on its largest data centre expansion to date: a 358,000 square foot, 36MW facility near Portland, Oregon, built in response to the recent shift towards remote work due to COVID-19
da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
Pack the essentials for your business trip: Laptop Charger Business insights Payment solutions
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15
DATA CENTRES
HQ
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
CEO
WILLIAM MEANEY
08
Iron Mountain
The backbone of the US colocation industry, Iron Mountain’s network of 15 locations is primarily focused on the inland United States, but also has three facilities in Western Europe and one in Singapore. Founded in 1951, Iron Mountain puts great emphasis on its superior security features, which are used by more than 90% of the Fortune 1000, and several US government agencies. For particularly security and safety-conscious clients, Iron Mountain offers colocation facilities more than 200 feet underground, which has the added benefit of increased cooling efficiency. Iron Mountain’s colocation services are targeted at enterprises looking for a hybrid approach to cloud computing.
da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
75
T O P 10
07
Switch
Renowned for building some of the largest and most advanced data centres in the world, Switch has been one of the leading players in the US market since its foundation in 2000. The company divides the US into four latency zones, each covered by one of its Prime colocation facilities: The Citadel, The Core, The Pyramid and The Keep. Switch’s Citadel campus, located in Tahoe Reno, Nevada, will have a total capacity of 815MW upon completion, making it the world’s most powerful colocation campus. Switch is also responsible for inventing its own classification for data centre excellence: Tier 5 76
Platinum, which requires its data centres to be tested on more than 30 additional criteria than the industry-leading Tier 4 Gold certification from the Uptime institute.
4
DATA CENTRES CAMPUSES
HQ
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
CEO ROB ROY
DECEMBER 2020
06
683
DATA CENTRES
HQ
HONG KONG
CEO
XIAOFENG DENG
China Telecom
Founded in 2002, China Telecom is one of the largest data centre providers in the world, with more than 287,000 employees. The company’s operations are almost exclusively focused on mainland China. China Telecom has more than 456 data centres in operation (almost as many as Digital Realty and Equinix combined) in China alone, and 187 additional data centres across 71 metro hubs internationally. The company offers colocation, hosting, equipment management and backup and disaster recovery services. China Telecom also operates the largest data centre in APAC, the Inner Mongolia Information Park, which has a footprint of more than 10mn square feet.
da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
77
The Department of Defense trusts the cloud with the most tools, technology, and accessibility at the tactical edge.
www.BuildOn.aws
62
DATA CENTRES
HQ
CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA
CEO
NELSON FONSECA
05
79
Cyxtera
With a global platform of 62 data centres spread across 29 markets, Cyxtera focuses in the hybrid cloud market, but also provides public cloud colocation. The company was founded in 2017 from the combination of CenturyLink and Savvis’ data centre portfolios, and is currently focused on the US market, although it does operate facilities in London, Amsterdam, Germany, China, Singapore and Australia. Cyxtera also focuses on bringing leading edge tech to its customers in an affordable manner. In August, the company announced the launch of an AI hardware as a service solution, in partnership with NVIDIA.
da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
T O P 10
04
108+ DATA CENTRES
HQ
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
CEO ANDY JASSY
Amazon Web Services The global pioneer of public cloud data centre services since 2006, AWS remains the global leader in offering cloud-based infrastructure to enterprise clients. The company was identified as the
80
clear market leader in Gartner’s 2020 Magic Quadrant for Cloud Infrastructure as a Service, with Microsoft and Google fighting for a distant second place. The company operates more than 108 data centres worldwide, although like other top tier hyperscalers like Facebook and Google, AWS tends to advertise their locations or capacities too loudly. Not since a WikiLeaks article in 2018 has the public known the full extent of AWS’ infrastructure operations. Over the last year and a half, AWS has focused its expansion efforts on the Northern Virginia market, the largest and most heavily-saturated data centre hot spot on Earth.
DECEMBER 2020
160+
DATA CENTRES
HQ
LONDON, UK
CEO
BOB PRYOR
03
81
NTT Communications At a time when telcos are offloading data centre assets like they’re going out of style, Japanese telecom giant NTT has been going from strength to strength with its own data centre spin-off. The company owns and operates more than 160 data centres across 20 countries, including in the US, where NTT acquired a 100% stake in leading American operator RagingWire back in 2018. NTT offers colocation, data centre infrastructure management, managed hybrid infrastructure and consulting services to a network of global clients, through the largest single portfolio of Tier 3 data centres in the market.
da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
E M E A | A P A C | | APAC N O R T H | A EMEA MERICA AMERICAS FIND OUT MORE
FIND OUT MORE
T O P 10
205
HQ
DATA CENTRES
REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA
84
Sustainability at Equinix CLICK TO WATCH
DECEMBER 2020
|
1:49
CEO CHARLES J. MEYERS
Equinix With more than 205 data centres in 25 countries on five continents, the Equinix brand has become synonymous with colocation and cloud based data centre services over the past two decades. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, Equinix has the market’s largest ecosystem, comprising more than 10,000 companies. The company’s interconnection-oriented architecture can help users reduce latency with edge networks, and manage the cyber risk of a more distributed cloud-based network. In October, Equinix completed a $780mn acquisition of 13 Canadian data centres from Bell, bringing its total footprint in the country to 15 facilities.
da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
85
T O P 10
Amsterdam Data Tower Tour CLICK TO WATCH
|
3:35
86
280
DATA CENTRES
HQ
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
CEO BILL STEIN
DECEMBER 2020
01
Digital Realty
87
Headquartered in San Francisco, Digital Realty is the world’s leading data centre
brand. The company operates a network of 280 data centres in 47 metro areas across 22 countries through its Platform Digital offering, which launched last year. In March, Digital Realty completed an $8.4bn acquisition of European data centre operator Interxion, making it the region’s largest colocation company with a combined European capacity of more than 440MW. Digital Realty’s business is focused on providing facilities leasing services to hyperscale clients, but the company has also begun to move into the interconnection and colocation space to directly compete with Equinix.
da t a c e nt re ma ga z in e. com
88
THE COMPLETE DATA CENTER SOLUTIONS COMPANY DECEMBER 2020
89
WRITTEN BY
DAN BRIGHTMORE PRODUCED BY
GLEN WHITE
da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
T5
Meet a company at the cutting edge of customized turnkey development, facility management and mission critical services; keeping your business ‘on’ forever
N
ow in its 13th year, T5 evolved out of the services sector representing data center users. Back in 2008 T5 started
out as a development company before growing a full lifecycle of services geared towards hyperscale and enterprise customers. These extend 90
across the lifecycle of the core data center ranging from customised turnkey development and facility management to data hall operations, mission critical construction services and sustainable approaches to power genera-tion. T5 is serving the needs of the hyperscale and enterprise data center user across North America and at strategic international locations. “Our roots in the development of cutting-edge data centers for leading corporations gave us a platform to evolve,” remembers President & CEO Pete Marin. “Those same customers looked to us to operate those DCs. There have been numerous changes inside these structures that required construction activity which drove us to create T5CS (T5 Construction Services). Everything we do revolves around that discerning data center customer in DECEMBER 2020
91
da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
T5
92
“ We advise our customers on lowering the cost of their operations going forward by evaluating power and cooling systems and helping them design and procure the best system that’s going to use the least amount of energy throughout a data hall’s lifecycle” — Pete Marin, President & CEO, T5
two different sectors of the business cycle - hyperscale and enterprise. We’ll continue to grow with those strategic customers and the markets they want to be in, and we will continue to add the services they need as we evolve our assets to support them.”
A DATA CENTER LIFECYCLE PARTNER Marin highlights that T5 is the only company across the sector offering a full lifecycle combination of assets and services in strategic markets. From delivering a fully functioning data center building at a competitive cost to producing the lowest possible cost of occupancy and then going on to operate it for the customer, T5 can utilize a build to suit approach delivering tailor made specs - for everything from power to cooling - inside the data hall. Evolving assets through the data center lifecycle is a big part of the philosophy that drives T5 explains Marin: “We advise our customers on lowering the cost of their operations going forward by evaluating power and cooling systems and helping them design and procure the best system that’s going to use the least amount of
DECEMBER 2020
energy throughout a data hall’s lifecy-
these developments are all inter-
cle. With that comes a big focus on the
twined. “We’re making sure we have
reduction of carbon footprint. We’re
the right cooling methodologies to
very supportive of that and have devel-
meet future needs. Simple things like
oped the capabilities to construct
having water at the rack for our cool-
solar installations and we’ll continue to
ing systems which allows a deeper life
expand that expertise as the technol-
cycle for that asset. And of course,
ogy evolves for the hyperscalers.”
we’re agnostic to networks, but we’re
Marin notes that, as electrical densities across data centers increase,
very supportive of having a robust network in all of our buildings.”
E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :
Pete Marin
93
Title: President & CEO
Company: T5 Data Centers
Industry: IT
Location: Atlanta, Georgia, United States
As President and Chief Executive Officer of T5 Data Centers, Pete is responsible for setting the overall strategy of the firm, maintaining client relationships, capital management, and creating and executing the firm’s vision for growth. Pete has more than 20 years of experience in the data center sector ranging from development, securing debt and equity capital, to tenant representation including site selection and incentives. Pete’s understanding of end-user needs has enabled T5 Data Centers to reduce project cycle-time and cost, which leads to successful relationships, and repeat business. Pete received a B.S. in Finance from the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech.
da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
T5
T5 FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
• 400+ FM FTEs
T5’s commitment to greener ways to power data centers has seen it extend
• 500 MW IT load currently managed in over 55 data centers
its construction services to include
• 100% data center focused
into the delivery of solar projects a
• Battle-tested leadership experience
few years ago, and we’ve had a lot of
• Award-winning operations platform
94
A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
• Multiple recipient of uptime institute’s continuous availability award and M&O certification • Commitment to military veterans and diversity
DECEMBER 2020
solar and renewable energy. “We got
repeat business,” reveals Marin. “The technology continues to improve and evolve, and it really comes down to the battery technology which I think will bring us to a point where we will see a huge reduction in traditional power sources. It’s going to be interesting to see how this develops because you’ve got some competing forces…
T5 Atlanta Hyperscale Data Center CLICK TO WATCH
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0:46
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“ We have the ability to give visibility to as many touch points as a customer wants all the way down to the circuit level, so they have that vital input into how their building is operated” — Pete Marin, President & CEO, T5
You want to reduce carbon footprint and carbon emissions because this industry has a lot of generators that are fired with diesel fuel. We need to address that. The evolution of solar represents a great opportunity to do that so we will continue to develop a skill set to deliver these solar projects. Already, a lot of the big hyperscale customers will typically build a solar deployment to offset what they’re taking from the grid. Eventually, I think you could see solar deployments that are directly set into the grid, so we’re moving in the right direction.” da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
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97
“ We’ll see continued investment as 5G implementation ramps and the move to the Edge continues” — Pete Marin, President & CEO, T5
“Being able to go from bricks and mortar all the way through to the white space and be able to operate inside the data hall is unique in our business. We ensure we have the right EPMS and BMS systems to run the facility with a proper model that works all the controls throughout the data hall,” assures Marin. “We have the ability to give visibility to as many
THE T5 DIFFERENCE
touch points as a customer wants all
It’s one thing to build a great build-
the way down to the circuit level so
ing and deliver it, but another beast
they have that vital input into how their
entirely to operate it believes Marin.
building is operated.” da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
T5
CRISIS MANAGEMENT TEAM
98
“COVID-19 is a challenge for all of us but we got up to speed as quickly as we could,” says T5’s President & CEO Pete Marin. “Right out of the gate, we were ahead of it with extra safety protocols instituted across our sites. We were one of the early adopters of testing and, with the use of smartphone cameras that read a barcode, our staff must complete a questionnaire each day before they are cleared to enter a site. Communication is key - that simple approach, along with best practice when it comes to PPE and social distancing, has limited the spread of COVID-19 at our sites. I’m very proud of how we’re tackling this but we’re not out of the woods yet. Our view is that we’re going to be managing and living with COVID-19 for the next year or two, so we need to make sure we take care of our people first. People first and then we’ll grow the business
DECEMBER 2020
and keep moving forward.” Mission critical facilities rely on highly specific processes to ensure seamless IT deployment and migration, low redundancy and secure connectivity - much of which is handled by on-site IT or remote hands staff. An industry leader in critical facility management, T5 formed a cross-functional Crisis Management Team to further support its customers with expanded emergency action and business continuity plans to make sure “the lights never go out” as they navigate a global pandemic. By keeping many of its staff on the ground and avoiding the implications of an IT-less facility T5 has been able to continue performing preventative maintenance and server updates to mitigate the risk of downtime and outages while guaranteeing uptime and continuous availability.
The open book approach Marin
at how to improve the data center and
describes gives T5 the flexibility to
to solve the problems of hyperscale
build to suit offering a best in class
and enterprise users.”
service. “We work with the brightest
Marin maintains that recruiting the
and the best partners out there, from
right people, often with mission critical
design and construction through to
backgrounds in the military, and training
services inside the data hall. If there
them to the highest level is paramount.
are services our customers want and
“It’s a big part of making sure the lights
we’re not delivering those today, we
never go out,” he says. Training is the
will go out and find the best to do that
front-line philosophy, to keep our people
and develop that capability internally,
at the cutting edge and allow the group
or acquire it. We’re constantly looking
and its work culture to grow.” 99
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T5
THE EDGE Evaluating the industry today, Marin believes that on the asset front it’s still important to have space that’s ready to occupy and in key strategic markets. “Over the past couple of years, it’s been just a few buyers of data center space picking up the majority of it. That’s the hyperscale phenomena. That’s going to continue. However, we predicted last year that enterprise business would come back and we’re seeing that with a combi100
nation of both cloud operations and data centers all supporting the hybrid platform. There’s going to be a combination strategy there. We’re seeing the enterprise return with more build to suit, as well as just leasing traditional data center sites.” A key development for the future of connectivity is the impending 5G roll out. Marin is excited to see what this will mean for The Edge. “Thanks to 5G
data centers that can be deployed
we’re going to see more Edge deploy-
quickly in multiple locations bringing
ments,” he says. “There have been
compute and storage as close to the
a number of new companies estab-
users eyeballs as possible. We’ll see
lished that are looking at data centers
continued investment here as 5G
from a different perspective, not as
implementation ramps and the move
big, scalable operations but micro
to the Edge continues.”
DECEMBER 2020
2008
Year founded
400+ Number of employees
SCALING UP
to continue to scale the breadth of our
Last year, in partnership with QuadReal,
operations,” confirms Marin. “We have
T5 launched a $2.5bn fund to develop,
significant equity to build our asset
acquire and operate data centers
deployment while remaining nimble as
which has proved to be very success-
a private company.”
ful, allowing the company to scale on
T5 recently acquired an asset in
multiple levels. “We’re well positioned
Chicago, which it is currently building da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
101
T5
“ Continuing to grow our third-party services will be at the heart of our strategy to remain the industry’s premier data center lifecycle partner” — Pete Marin, President & CEO, T5
102
out on a turnkey basis. Located in the
Oregon, just outside of Portland with a
Elk Grove Village Technology Park,
maximum capacity of 17.6 MW,” adds
T5@Chicago will provide 103,000
Marin. “We’ve also acquired an exist-
square feet of white space and up
ing turnkey data center in Northern
to 27.6 critical megawatts of power
California in Silicon Valley where we’ll
capacity, purposefully designed to
be able to deliver in excess of 17 MW.
serve enterprise and hyperscale cloud
Elsewhere, we’ve acquired a large
computing customers. “We’re con-
tract of land (80 acres) in Atlanta,
structing a new building in Hillsboro,
where we’ve started what we call the
DECEMBER 2020
103
‘horizontal construction’ of a facility
their facilities, so continuing to grow
with a total design capacity of 217 MW.”
our third-party services will be at the
“This is just a taste of what we’re up
heart of our strategy to remain the
to at T5 with many exciting develop-
industry’s premier data center lifecy-
ments in the pipeline. So far, we’ve
cle partner.”
deployed 30% out of our fund and we’ve got a lot more work to do,” pledges Marin. “Some of the world’s best brands have entrusted us with da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
104
Transforming in the Data Center Industry WRITTEN BY
SEAN GALEA-PACE PRODUCED BY
LEWIS VAUGHAN
DECEMBER 2020
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da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
NAUTILUS
James Connaughton, Nautilus CEO, discusses how his firm is revolutionising the data center industry
N
autilus Data Technologies is a global pioneer in water-cooled data centers and is leading a global transformation to ultra-
efficient, high-performance and environmentally sustainable operations in the data center sector. James Connaughton is the CEO at Nautilus. Having joined the organisation in March 2016, he 106
has overseen the implementation of the world’s first water-cooled and water-borne data center with Nautilus. “There are two essential features,” explains Connaughton. “The first and most important feature is cooling with naturally cold water, which is how all other major infrastructure sectors address the large amounts of heat generated by their systems. These include, for example, thermal power plants, ships, industrial processing facilities, and paper mills. Only data centers, generate heat at a similar industrial scale, still use massive and unsustainable air-cooling systems. The second feature is mobility--the ability to prefabricate the data center in large modules, and either assemble them onto a barge and deliver it fully ready to go, or transport the modules to
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NAUTILUS
108
a prepared site for rapid assembly.
providing access to digital infrastruc-
Placing essential infrastructure on
ture to those who currently lack it.�
barges—such as energy barges and
Connaughton believes data centers
water treatment barges--is a well-
are the newest and most important
established model for enabling rapid
component of critical infrastructure
and flexible access to such infrastruc-
that sustains and enriches the lives
ture in fast growing and emerging
of people around the world. “Data
markets. The opportunity and need is
centers now stand alongside power
equally strong today when it comes to
generation, drinking-water plants,
DECEMBER 2020
waste-water plants, roads and other
the development of the company’s
critical infrastructure that allows
first full-scale commercial facility,
society to function and create good
which provides six megawatts of
outcomes for people,” he explains.
water-cooled data center capacity on
“Access to the water molecule and
a barge. He strives for an innovative
the electron has long been vitally
approach across all his operations.
important. Worldwide access to the
“We’ve been on the arc of creative
photon for data delivery is the next
invention and cleverly practical engi-
essential piece.” Over the past two
neering to make that a reality,” says
years, Connaughton has overseen
Connaughton. “The first part of our
E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :
James Connaughton
109
Title: CEO
Company: Nautilus
Industry: Data Centre
Location: San Francisco Bay
James Connaughton is the CEO at Nautilus. Having joined the organisation in March 2016, he has overseen the implementation of the world’s first water-cooled and water-borne data center with Nautilus. He began his career as a Partner at Sidley Austin focusing on energy, natural resources and environment, energy and environmental management and compliance assurance systems. He then moved on to serve as Chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality as Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush. Roles followed at clean energy companies Constellation Energy and Exelon, and big data analytics company C3.ai, before moving into his current role at Nautilus.
da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
NAUTILUS
“ We’ve been on the arc of innovation and invention and engineering to make a high performing and environmentally sustainable data centre a reality” 110
— James Connaughton, CEO, Nautilus
DECEMBER 2020
company’s life has focused on building a functional prototype, and then using that experience to make the thousands of decisions of what not to do against the several hundred decisions of what to do in bringing a full scale facility into being. We’re really excited to be commissioning that data center in California in just a few weeks time.” Nautilus is planning to develop facilities in North America, Europe and Asia, and has been contacted by potential partners to pursue projects in the Middle East, Africa,
Nautilus Data Technologies | Water-cooled Data Centre CLICK TO WATCH
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111 and South America. “Once our data
Connaughton explains that a key
center in Northern California is up
part of his organisation’s development
and running, we look forward to
has been to develop the supply chain
onboarding a great set of anchor cus-
partnerships with companies such
tomers,” says Connaughton. “We will
as Usystems, Schneider, Vertiv, and
show the world the ultra-efficiency,
George Fischer, among others. “Our
high-performance, and the strong
objective is to work with partners that
sustainability of our approach. After
can help us make this technology
that, we are ready to rapidly move into
available globally,” he says. “These
other locations to “productize” the
partnerships are important because,
technology and we look forward to
as customers, communities, and
partnering through joint ventures and
digital infrastructure providers become
technology licensing so that we can
excited about taking advantage of
get this important technology out into
our technology, we don’t want to lose
the world as quickly as possible.”
ground in being able to deliver it. In order da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
Systems
www.usystems.com
Future proofing data centers with advanced, sustainable and energy saving coldlogik cooling technology Low to high density cooling ‘in one solution’.
All Aboard!! USystems are proud to be an integral part of the Nautilus journey incorporating ColdLogik adaptive intelligence into the ‘TRUE ’ green data center solution. A shared vision leading with innovation, high-performance and sustainability. TM
“ In order to support an innovation company like ours, partners must field tiger teams that know how to interact with startups and other smaller technology innovators like us” — James Connaughton, CEO, Nautilus
to support an innovation company like ours, partners must field tiger teams that know how to interact with startups and other smaller technology innovators like us. And these teams need to have the creativity and agility to adapt as the innovation advances. We’ve come a long way in just three years, and there is a lot more to come. Our partners need to keep pace with us.” With the future in mind, Connaughton believes that the data center industry is moving rapidly to where the users are in order to
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NAUTILUS
“ Data centers are the newest and most essential piece of critical infrastructure for the world” — James Connaughton, CEO, Nautilus
114
DECEMBER 2020
115
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NAUTILUS
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DECEMBER 2020
117
provide the more powerful computing
highways, railroads, airports, ports,
and faster connections necessary
and even overnight package delivery.
for smart-city, smart-transportation,
To these we will now add warehouses
smart grid, tele-medicine and other
of computers, countless miles of
highly valuable digital applications
fiber optics, and an endless array of
and services. “This means high-per-
wireless devices linking everyone to
formance data centers in the centre
everything digital. We need to make
of every population center,” he says.
sure that the environmental footprint
“We’ve seen this dynamic before with
of the data centers at the heart of all
the buildout of other forms of public
of this well serves both society and the
and private infrastructure—such as
planet. It’s very exciting.”
electricity and gas delivery, public water systems, telecommunications, da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
118
Digital Transformation in Semiconductor Procurement WRITTEN BY
WILLIAM SMITH PRODUCED BY
GLEN WHITE
DECEMBER2020
119
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ARM
Arm’s Alisa Bornstein, Group Procurement Senior Director, on the transformation in procurement worthy of Arm’s high-tech reputation
A
rm is a British multinational semiconductor and software design company headquartered in Cambridge, UK. Arm
technology touches more than 70% of the world’s population, and its processor designs have ena120
bled advanced computing in more than 180 billion chips to date, powering products from the sensor to the smartphone and the supercomputer. One of the key functions enabling its success is the supply chain. Alisa Bornstein is Group Procurement Senior Director at the company, with over 25 years’ experience in procurement at companies including Ericsson, BT, Telia, Millicom, IHS and now Arm. “I have experience of procurement start-ups, green-field and significant transformations, as well as leading teams in multicultural, complex and fast moving environments and mature and emerging markets. At the places I’ve been I’ve professionalised and digitalised procurement and brought in innovative, agile, lean and efficient service and solutions to the business.”
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ARM
“ Strategic partnerships with suppliers are critical to supporting an organisation’s objectives” — Alisa Bornstein, Group Procurement Senior Director, Arm
and effective function supporting the business’ objectives and future plans.“ That transformation program was undertaken with the aim of digitalis-
On her decision to join Arm, Bornstein
122
ing core procurement processes to
says: “Arm stood out for its unique
enable efficiencies, boost controls,
people, culture of collaboration and
minimise risks, and improve the experi-
brilliant minds. Almost two years in,
ence for end-users. “Procurement
and after 18 months of the transforma-
digitalisation has exploded across
tion program, I am proud to say that
the entire business environment, and
procurement at Arm today is recog-
its entire value proposition to the
nised as a value-creating, responsible
overall organisation has changed tremendously,” says Bornstein. “Digitalisation influences all areas of procurement, from category management, strategic sourcing, supplier and risk management, to transactional purchase-to-pay operations.”
DECEMBER 2020
Arm | Architects of Possible CLICK TO WATCH
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1:33
123 Naturally, the project has resulted
configuration changes and deploy
in a ground-up overhaul. “We started
all the solutions. We set separate
our digital journey by improving the
workstreams for supplier and content
basics, standardising and redesign-
enablement, and change management.
ing the whole source-to-pay (S2P)
The plan was rigorously monitored
process and deployment of Ariba,”
by external and internal teams.
says Bornstein. “This required a
Advice and support from the imple-
significant change in our ways of
mentation partner in the design phase,
working and the company culture.”
during configuration, testing and
The project hasn’t been without
during go live was absolutely a crucial
complexities. “We were preparing
success factor.”
the rollout for 18 months before we
Having been live with Ariba for the
engaged an external implementation
past year, Bornstein is satisfied that
partner. With them, a schedule was
the digital strategy has delivered and
developed to review the design, make
continues to create significant value da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
THE WORLD IS CHANGING. ARE YOU? Faster. More agile. More innovative. More sustainable. Lower cost. Improved EBITDA. If procurement is not accelerating your business outcomes, it’s probably time for a rethink. The world’s leading businesses trust Proxima.
ACCELERATE YOUR BUSINESS OUTCOMES
Proxima: delivering true value in procurement Clare Harris, Senior Vice President Operations, describes how Proxima has established itself as a world leader in procurement consultancy services
Over the last 25 years, Proxima has established itself as a world-leading expert on procurement consultancy services, helping a broad spectrum of customers to unlock their supply chain’s full potential, from the largest Fortune 500 entities to bespoke startups. “Ultimately, we work with our clients’ procurement and commercial teams to help drive value from their cost base,” says Clare Harris, Senior Vice President. As a company, Proxima helps customers optimise what they spend with suppliers and build exceptional procurement functions. “When you think that, on average, about 70% of organisational spend is with suppliers, then you can immediately understand the potential that exists for savings and innovation,” Harris states. However, it isn’t necessarily a purely ‘cost-saving’ exercise; the company specialises in maximising the value of every penny spent. “It’s about understanding what value means to our clients, whether that’s cost, speed, return, risk efficiency, or quality.” Contributing to the company’s enduring success has been a flexible strategy focused on being adaptable to the changing supply chain environment. That evolution, Harris says, has been characterised by increased networking, collaboration and emphasis on procurement itself. The benefits of this industry development have been keenly felt by Proxima’s clients. One in particular, Arm, shares a close working dynamic with it: “Proxima has
Clare @ Proxima
been able to bring both commercial expertise and category knowledge, while also injecting capability at a time when Arm’s existing procurement team were quite stretched,” Harris explains. Establishing a “twoway feedback” loop, the collaborators have been able to react swiftly to challenges and coordinate decisively, “We work together at pace and deliver value quickly.” Using different time zones to its advantage, Proxima’s UK team can hand over to the US team and vice versa, creating a continuous cycle of problemsolving capability. This kind of partnership will prove vital in the postCOVID-19 world, where traditional operational patterns no longer hold true and an innovative mindset is crucial. As other companies strive to build an operating model for procurement that matches today’s challenges, Harris believes that Proxima’s breadth of expertise will become even more valuable. “I think a lot of companies are now asking, ‘How can we transform ourselves to make decisions quicker?’, and that theme will continue into 2021.” Proxima’s aim, then, will be to guide that development and continue its ongoing mission of delivering real value to its customers.
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“ Our procurement team recognises the challenge that COVID-19 poses to our organisation and is working hard to continuously assess and mitigate these risks” — Alisa Bornstein, Group Procurement Senior Director, Arm
is looking into the future trends of the procurement digitalisation . “We’re in the time of technology disruption,” she
for the company, for instance by offer-
says. “Why not combine best-of-breed
ing a one-stop shop, with everything
systems and integrate them to work
you need in one place, and standard
together to deliver a great experience
source-to-contract process that
to internal customers and suppliers?”
ensures that purchase-to-pay works seamlessly. Nevertheless, Bornstein
To this end, she emphasises that procurement is about much more
Arm AI Processors Making Smartphones Smarter CLICK TO WATCH
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1:04
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127
ARM
128
than buying. “There are many other
The ongoing transformation of Arm’s
areas where procurement adds value
procurement is built on the strategy to
and where technology enables data-
deploy leading procurement practices
driven intelligence and efficiencies.
and processes, supported by tech-
Innovation in Procurement is crucial
nology solutions, to deliver financial
for professional and forward thinking
benefits and added value, compre-
procurement functions.�
hensive corporate social responsibility
DECEMBER 2020
E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :
Alisa Bornstein Title: Group Procurement Senior Director Industry: Semiconductors
Location: United Kingdom
Alisa Bornstein leads Arm’s global Group Procurement organisation responsible for reshaping procurement while driving positive financial outcomes for the company. Her functional accountabilities include category management, strategic sourcing, supplier management, contracts and transactional purchase operations supported by enabling technologies. Her senior experience covers a broad spectrum of the function including procurement business partnering, strategy, processes, policies, data analytics, planning and execution of strategic and transactional operations, communication and training. Prior to Arm, Alisa held senior leadership roles at large enterprises including Ericsson, BT, Telia and Millicom where she focused on transformation and digitalisation of the procurement, and serving as the procurement subject matter expert for the business. Alisa is passionate about people and talent development, building collaborative business partnerships and teams. She is a progressive and highly respected procurement leader, and is a frequent speaker at Procurement and Supply Chain industry global conferences and forums. Alisa holds a Master’s degree in Finance from St Petersburg State University of Economics, Russia. She is Russian by origin, a Swedish citizen for over two decades and resides in the UK since 2014. Alisa is true international leader with experience operating around the world, facilitated by her multicultural and inclusive leadership style, with a warm, direct and consensus approach, and fluency in three languages. da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
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ARM
“ Group Procurement will continue to be a value-creating, responsible and effective procurement function, supporting Arm’s business and mission to architect a smarter world” — Alisa Bornstein, Group Procurement Senior Director, Arm
130
DECEMBER 2020
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“ Digitalisation influences all areas of procurement” — Alisa Bornstein, Group Procurement Senior Director, Arm
products,” says Bornstein. “That’s achieved through building collaborative, mutually beneficial relationships, a proactive development of leading practice strategies to maximise the value of these relationships, driving innovation programmes, reducing supplier-related risk, leveraging
(CSR), supplier risk management and
purchasing power and shared values
stakeholder engagement & collabora-
around sustainability and diversity.”
tion. It has required a shift in, among
As with essentially all of the world’s
other things, the way of working
companies, the COVID-19 outbreak
with key suppliers and partners, with
has impacted operations, particularly
Bornstein identifying seven key quali-
when it comes to the supply chain.
ties she looks for, namely being:
“Reports on how the COVID-19 outbreak is affecting supply chains and
• An expert in service type and market • Accountable • A Strategic Advisor • An Innovator • Easy to communicate with • A Cultural fit • Ethics and Compliance-minded
disrupting manufacturing and service operations around the world are increasing daily,” says Bornstein. “The
“Strategic partnerships with suppliers are critical to supporting an organisation’s objectives in maximising the value it obtains from its external partners, providers of outsourced solutions and third-party services and da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
133
ARM
134
prediction is that the impact of COVID-
also bears in mind the impact on its
19 on global supply chains is to remain
suppliers, hence the action Arm has
for many months. Our procurement
taken. “We’ve sent communications
team recognises the challenge that
to key suppliers encouraging them
COVID-19 poses to our organisation
to share with us their business conti-
and is working hard to continuously
nuity measures. Arm’s top 20 suppliers
assess and mitigate these risks.”
were contacted, and follow-up is
Bornstein emphasises that it is not
ongoing to understand their plans
only focused on the well-being of its
and any impact this will have on Arm.
own organisation and employees but
We are also working with, for
DECEMBER 2020
135
example, IT equipment suppliers to
to be a value-creating, responsible
monitor and maintain our stock levels
and effective Procurement function,
on a regular basis.”
supporting Arm’s business and mis-
It’s no surprise then that Bornstein
sion to architect a smarter world.”
is confident that Arm’s procurement function will continue to live up to the company’s reputation as a hightech leader. “The world is changing. Industries are changing. But our focus in Group Procurement will continue da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
136
Delivering World-Class Connectivity WRITTEN BY
HARRY MENEAR
DECEMBER 2020
PRODUCED BY
STUART IRVING
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EQUINIX & OMANTEL
Judith Gardiner and Sohail Qadir discuss their companies’ joint venture to bring an unprecedented level of connectivity to the Middle East
P
erched at the easterly edge of the Arabian Peninsula, where the Gulf meets the Indian Ocean, the Sultanate of Oman sits at the
crossroads of Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Positioned as it is, Oman is uniquely suited to serve as an interconnection hub for the entire 138
Middle East region, as well as the wider world beyond. “The positioning of Oman is excellent,” says Judith Gardiner, Vice President of Growth and Emerging Markets at Equinix. Sohail Qadir, Vice President of the Wholesale Business Unit at Oman’s largest and leading telecom operator, Omantel, agrees. “This region is becoming highly connected,” he affirms. “Our location between Europe and Asia means that all the subsea cables that connect Asia to Europe, or Asia to Africa and so on, pass through the Middle East. We are becoming a hub for interconnection.” In 2018, Omantel and Equinix embarked on a historic joint venture. Over the past couple of years, the data centre giant and Omani telecom leader have worked together to build a world-class, carrier-neutral data centre hub and international business exchange DECEMBER 2020
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EQUINIX & OMANTEL
“ There is no other place with this level of connectivity in the region. Even in the bigger data centres in Europe, it would be very rare to see something like this” — Sohail Qadir, VP, Wholesale Business Unit, Omantel
(IBX) in the city of Barka - just outside the Omani capital of Muscat. The facility, MC1, came online in early October of this year, with more than 23,600 square feet of colocation space and 725 cabinets for colocation hosting. Most importantly, the partnership has allowed Equinix to unite its global data centre network and extensive infrastructure expertise with Omantel’s strategically placed network of subsea cables to create the most highly connected telecom facility in the region. We sat down with Gardiner and
140
Qadir to learn more about this unique partnership and what it means for the future of Oman as the connectivity nexus of the Middle East and beyond.
A DIGITAL REVOLUTION As one of the world’s premier digital infrastructure companies, Equinix operates more than 220 colocation data centres in 26 countries globally. The Middle East, Gardiner explains, holds a great deal of promise for the company. “The Middle East has proven to be one of the most exciting areas of cloud growth and cloud has quickly become a key factor in the region’s digital transformation,” she says. “There’s been DECEMBER 2020
Introduction to Judith Gardner Vice President of Gems at Equinix CLICK TO WATCH
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0:40
141 rapid growth of the digital economy
and storage that is required for eve-
and it’s really driven increased demand
rything to function harmoniously,” she
for global connectivity and hybrid multi
explains.
cloud solutions. The increased use
Qadir notes that the Omani govern-
of cloud services and mobile devices
ment’s active role in the data centre
are causing an exponential growth in
and cloud industry has accelerated
the volume of data being stored and
dramatically over the past year, due in
processed.” Gardiner adds that the
part to the COVID-19 pandemic, but
expansion of the Middle East’s digital
also as a result of the region’s changing
economy has also spurred the adop-
relationship to the oil and gas industry.
tion of new applications and services
“The Middle East is heavily dependent
using advanced analytics and machine
on oil revenues, with some economies
learning, which are demanding greater
in the region being as much as 90%
performance. “They’re really leading to
dependent on oil revenues, and you
a reshaping of the network compute
will not find a country - especially in the da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
EQUINIX & OMANTEL
“ The Middle East has proven to be one of the most exciting areas of cloud growth” — Judith Gardiner, VP, Growth and Emerging Markets, Equinix
142
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - that
A few years ago, cloud was something of
is less than 75% oil dependent,” he says.
a no-no in this region. Just a few months
Following the global drop in oil prices
ago, the Omani government announced
last year, there has been a serious push
plans to deliver Oracle cloud in Oman to
towards cloud and digital services, as
consolidate all its IT requirements. Cloud
governments work to ramp up cloud ser-
has become a very important goal for the
vices in preparation for a regional pivot
government.”
towards a more digital economy. “It’s “In response, governments and agencies
MC1 - THE NEW TELECOM HEART OF THE REGION
have been aggregating and consolidat-
The Middle East and the rest of the world
ing their requirements on services like
are moving towards increased cloud
Oracle, AWS, Azure, etc. and these
adoption and greater dependence on
projects are starting to come online.
digital services at an unprecedented rate.
a big crisis in the region,” Qadir explains.
DECEMBER 2020
143 E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :
Judith Gardiner Title: VP, Growth and Emerging Markets Company: Equinix
Industry: Internet
Judith Gardiner joined Equinix in 2013 as Director of Sales Strategy and Operations for EMEA, going on to serve as Chief of Staff for EMEA leading multiple high impact projects in the region, including acquisitions and integration programs, before becoming Vice President of EMEA’s Growth and Emerging Markets in 2019. Judith joined Equinix from Polycom, where she held management positions in Finance and Sales Operations in Europe over the span of 10 years. Previously, Judith worked at Peoplesoft (now Oracle) in the Netherlands, after spending five years at Deloitte in Ireland. Judith qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
EQUINIX & OMANTEL
THE COVID-19 FACTOR
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The current crisis has, Gardiner explains, dramatically accelerated the pace of digital transformations around the world. “Before COVID-19, a digital transformation project could be expected to take two years, and now that same transformation has to happen in two months. The conversations we’re having with other countries in the Middle East have been accelerating,” she says. A recent report from Deloitte identified the trend, noting that a global shift towards remote work, and the pandemic rendering on-premises data centres inaccessible has rapidly accelerated cloud migrations around the world. “We’ve seen two years’ worth of digital
DECEMBER 2020
transformation in two months,” Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella told Deloitte, confirming Gardiner’s assertion. Executing a historic joint venture like the one between Equinix and Omantel is a challenging feat at the best of times. However, Gardiner reflects, the companies’ respective teams rose to the challenge commendably. “Previously, we would have never thought we could achieve something like this without travel,” she says. “While it’s been disappointing not to be able to do a lot of the work in person, it’s also been really rewarding to see the teams join together and integrate successfully, even in the midst of a pandemic.”
“ With Omantel in Muscat we’re going to be able to offer 160 milliseconds of latency between Frankfurt and Singapore” — Sohail Qadir, VP, Wholesale Business Unit, Omantel
in Oman. The Sultanate also has another operator, which has another two cables landing in the country. All of these subsea cables now have access into MC1, making for 16 subsea networks in one data centre,” says Qadir, adding that “There is no other place with that level of connectivity in this region. Even in the bigger data centres in Europe, it would be very rare to see something like this.”
The latest findings from the Global
The initial success of MC1 has already
Interconnection Index predicts that
garnered significant interest in the
enterprise consumption of interconnec-
project. Qadir notes that the venture
tion bandwidth will grow at a CAGR of
is currently working on five additional
45% across the EMEA region by 2023.
projects to bring even more connectiv-
Equinix and Omantel’s joint venture is
ity to MC1. “There’s a point-to-point
poised to elevate connectivity in the
link between Perth in Australia and
region to a revolutionary degree.
Oman, which will land in MC1 and go
First opened in early October this
live towards the end of 2021. It is called
year, MC1 is a state-of-the-art IBX,
the Oman Australia Cable (OAC) and
strategically positioned to make use
will be one of the longest direct subsea
of Omantel’s extensive subsea cable
cables in the world. We are also working
network. Omantel currently has invest-
with Google and Telecom Italia Sparkle
ments in more than 20 subsea cable
on a cable system called Blue-Raman,
systems, which connect to five landing
which will also land in MC1, just to name
stations in Oman and one in France,
a few,” says Qadir. “Moreover we are
making Omantel the first GCC telecom
planning to extend the GCCIA cable to
operator to have a subsea landing sta-
MC1, which is an alternative terrestrial
tion in Europe.
path connecting the GCC countries”, he
“Omantel has 14 subsea cables landing
added. Qadir explains that the goal is to da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
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EQUINIX & OMANTEL
146 E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :
Sohail Qadir Title: VP, Wholesale Business Unit Company: Omantel
Industry: Telecommunications
Sohail Qadir is vice president of wholesale business. He is responsible for developing and growing Omantel’s emerging International businesses, like expanding submarine cables, voice transit and national interconnects including MVNO. In addition, as senior management member he is responsible for overseeing the company’s growing business and footprint outside Oman. He has more than 20 years of experience in a broad range of IT & telecom segments with a specific focus on international business. Before joining his current position in August 2010, he served as chief operating officer in Worldcall Telecom Limited. Mr. Qadir holds B.E. in Computer Systems and Masters in Business Administration. DECEMBER 2020
Introduction to Sohail Qadir Vice President of Wholesale at Omantel CLICK TO WATCH
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1:27
147 create an environment where Omantel
adding that Equinix’s role is then to man-
does not need to build its own subsea
age those intersection points between
cables into MC1, as the facility attracts
cables globally. “With Omantel in Muscat
outside investment from cable and
we’re going to be able to offer 160 mil-
infrastructure companies due to its role
liseconds of latency between Frankfurt
as a regional interconnection point. “Five
and Singapore, and that sort of connec-
years down the line, MC1 will be among
tivity is only going to accelerate adoption
the most highly-connected data centres
and transformation even further.”
globally,” he enthuses. This level of connectivity is going to
GLOBAL CONNECTION
be a driving force behind uniting the
The pace of innovation and adoption
digital economies in EMEA with APAC
around digital services is only going to
and beyond. “The subsea cables that
accelerate. The Equinix and Omantel
Omantel is investing in are really going
joint venture is set to keep pace with
to drive connectivity,” says Gardiner,
demand. “We launched MC1 just last da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
EQUINIX & OMANTEL
An insight into the partnership between Equinix & Omentel CLICK TO WATCH
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DECEMBER 2020
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0:49
“ Before COVID-19, a digital transformation project could be expected to take two years, and now that same transformation has to happen in two months” — Judith Gardiner, VP, Growth and Emerging Markets, Equinix
month and we are already in discussions over possible expansions,” says Qadir. In closing, Gardiner emphasises the fact that continued investment in the Middle East’s digital infrastructure is essential for the region’s success, and that its opportunities, both locally and as a global interconnection point, are significant. “We’re very focused on Muscat right now. The interconnection platform is incredibly important. What we’re seeing drive our customers isn’t space and power, it’s the interconnection platform we provide, the reliability and service excellence, and fundamentally the access to all the digital ecosystems and partners we can offer,” she says, adding in conclusion that “It’s vital that companies invest in developing the digital infrastructure of the Middle East, or the pace of innovation will quickly outstrip its capabilities, and the region’s promising growth as a digital hub will stop. But we’re not expecting to see that; if anything, we’re expecting to see it grow and develop even faster than we’ve already seen.”
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GLOBAL BACKING AND LOCAL EXPERTISE WRITTEN BY
JOHN O’HANLON PRODUCED BY
LEWIS VAUGHAN
DECEMBER 2020
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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
A
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) 152
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.
DECEMBER 2020
153
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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
156
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
DECEMBER 2020
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 da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
157
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 158
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 DECEMBER 2020
Cap DC. “Goodman has the financial resources
159
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. da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
CAP DC
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“ Goodman has the financial resources and strong local teams in key locations” — Antonio Ríos Suanzes, Managing Director, CAP DC España
161 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 da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
CAP DC
“ The turnkey contract model we offer our clients focuses on time-to-market” — Antonio Ríos Suanzes, Managing Director, CAP DC España
162
DECEMBER 2020
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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SUSTAINABILITY: THE HEART OF IMDC’S DATA CENTER OPERATIONS DECEMBER 2020
165
WRITTEN BY
GEORGIA WILSON PRODUCED BY
LEWIS VAUGHAN
da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
IRON MOUNTAIN DATA CENTERS
Iron Mountain Data Centers’ (IMDC) Alex Sharp & Eric Boonstra discuss IMDC’s services, ambitions, and why sustainability is the heart of its operations
S
Starting their respective careers in the data center industry in 2005 and 1990, Eric Boonstra, VP and GM in Western
Europe and Alex Sharp, Global Head of Data Center Design and Construction collectively have 45 years of experience in the industry. The two 166
have worked for the likes of Siemens, ABN AMRO, SpendLab, EvoSwitch, Wates, Mace and CBRE. Joining Iron Mountain Data Centers (IMDC) in 2019, Sharp identifies the company as “a leading provider of data center and colocation services. We have a global portfolio which includes hyperscale ready facilities, strategic-edge facilities and underground data centers, which are fully powered by 100% renewable energy.” Being sustainable is a fundamental element of IMDC’s strategy: “we try to make sure that everything that we do is as renewable and as sustainable as possible,” comments Sharp. “We believe that we are one of the most sustainable colocation providers in the world, which is really important to us and at the same time makes us stand out from the competition,” adds Boonstra, who joined IMDC in 2018. DECEMBER 2020
2013 Year founded
$4.26bn+ Corporate company revenue, US dollars
350 Number of employees
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IRON MOUNTAIN DATA CENTERS
Alex Sharp @Iron Mountain CLICK TO WATCH
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1:04
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“ WE HAVE A GLOBAL PORTFOLIO WHICH INCLUDES HYPERSCALE READY FACILITIES, STRATEGIC-EDGE FACILITIES AND UNDERGROUND DATA CENTERS, WHICH ARE FULLY POWERED BY 100% RENEWABLE ENERGY” — Alex Sharp, Vice President, Global Head of Design and Construction, Iron Mountain Data Centers DECEMBER 2020
While most organisations have an interest in minimising their impact on the environment, Sharp reflects that, in his career, no company has been more considerate of its impact on the environment than IMDC. “Sustainability at Iron Mountain Data Centers is not optional,” he says. “It’s not an aspiration, it’s an absolute requirement. Our CEO Bill Meaney is absolutely passionate about renewable energy, and energy optimisation processes. He aggressively drives us to try and find new solutions, look at different fuel technologies for instance and push the
envelope in terms of doing things that
we do, and our customers are aware
other organisations haven’t done yet,
of that. We look at designing the most
if we think it’s the right thing to do in
efficient data centers that minimise
order to be sustainable.”
the consumption of electrical energy,”
IMDC’s approach when it comes
says Boonstra.
to sustainability is to lead rather than
One example that highlights these
follow; the company is keen on trying
sustainability ambitions is the fact
new solutions that will increase its
that IMDC helps its customers to
sustainability efforts. “Sustainability
look at the hardware they put into an
is at the forefront of everything that
Iron Mountain data center to drive
E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :
Alex Sharp
169
Title: Vice President, Global Head of Design and Construction Company: Iron Mountain Data Centers Industry: Data Center & Colocation services Alex Sharp joined Iron Mountain Data Centers in 2019 as Global Head of Design & Construction. Prior to joining Iron Mountain Alex was Global Head of Projects and Construction for CBRE DataCenter Solutions as he joined CBRE from Mace Limited where for 8 years he was Senior Managing Director of their data center construction business. Alex is an Electrical & Electronic Engineer and one of Europe’s leading data center builders with the ambition to further develop and grow Iron Mountains Data Centers business by building sustainable data center facilities. Alex is a regular speaker at prominent industry conferences such as Datacenterdynamics and DataCloud Global in various places around the world. da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
IRON MOUNTAIN DATA CENTERS
efficiency and sustainability for their
170
Going forward, Sharp sees IMDC
racks in any of their data centers glob-
adding cooling technologies, carbon
ally. “We look at technologies where
scrubbing, and trying to get conces-
customers can replace six of their
sions with its customers where it can
legacy racks in a data center with one
run its data centers at slightly higher
that is far more efficient, where the
temperatures, to its focus areas when
energy is being tailored and used at
it comes to sustainability. “Our aim
the appropriate point where it needs to
is to reduce our carbon emissions to
be. It makes it far easier for us to man-
get to a position where we are car-
age the air within the data center. So
bon neutral, initially, before we push
for us, it’s far more than just looking at
for carbon negative where we take
the design of a data center; it’s work-
harmful greenhouse gases out of the
ing with our customers to ensure that
atmosphere. We also want to look into
we’re deploying those energies in an
the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and
efficient way.”
analytics when it comes to the design
Eric Boonstra @Iron Mountain CLICK TO WATCH
DECEMBER 2020
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0:59
I R O N M O U N TA I N D ATA C E N T E R S ( I M D C ) G R E E N P O W E R PA S S O F F E R I N G
“We’re very proud of the Green Power Pass,” says Boonstra. “Iron Mountain Data Centres is the first operator in the industry that has launched this kind of portfolio-wide renewable power solution.” Prior to its Green Power Pass offering, Sharp details that customers with colocation data centers couldn’t use renewable energy that was being consumed there as part of their own sustainability reporting. “We didn’t think that was very fair. So we worked together with industry leading organisations such as Future of Internet Power (FoIP) and the
Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA) in the US to come to a solution where customers can now claim colocation power consumption from the minute they sign a contract with us. We can do this because we provide a very clear audit trail in terms of where the energy comes from and how it’s deployed within the data centers, as well as an audit letter of attestation at the end of every year to our customers to explain what power they’ve used and where it was sourced from so they can apply it to their own corporate social responsibility reporting.”
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“ WE HAVE MADE A LOT OF INVESTMENTS, AND BECOME TWICE AS BIG IN THE LAST TWO YEARS IN EMEA” — Eric Boonstra, Vice President and General Manager Western Europe, Iron Mountain Data Centers
of a data center to compare what it is and what it should be operating at, and ultimately coming up with solutions to make not only new but legacy data centers more efficient and resilient.” In addition to its sustainability efforts, IMDC also has a strong focus on ensuring that its data centers
E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :
Eric Boonstra Title: Vice President and General Manager Western Europe Company: Iron Mountain Data Centers Industry: Data Center & Colocation services Eric joined Iron Mountain Data Centers in 2018 after the acquisition of EvoSwitch and currently serves as the Vice President and General Manager Western Europe. Prior to his role, Eric was the CEO of Evoswitch for 10 years and was instrumental in the company’s M&A activities. With the high ambitions IMDC has set for developing and growing it’s data centre portfolio across the European region, Eric’s main drivers to achieve these ambitions are through customer satisfaction, sustainability initiatives, operational excellence, international growth and industry leadership. His focus on attracting international customers for Iron Mountain has been helped by his multi-sector experience, which includes senior management roles in Siemens, Staples and ABN AMRO Bank. Eric also holds several board positions including the Dutch Data Center Association, and the Amsterdam Economic Board. da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
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IRON MOUNTAIN DATA CENTERS
serve as connectivity ecosystems that enable customers to transact their services. “We not only look towards greening the grid with our renewable initiatives such as Green Power Pass but we strive for our customers to transact their services from within the Iron Mountain ecosystem in the most efficient way possible. With our ever growing ecosystem of Carriers,
“ OUR AIM IS TO REDUCE OUR CARBON EMISSIONS TO GET TO A POSITION WHERE WE ARE CARBON NEUTRAL” — Alex Sharp, Vice President, Global Head of Design and Construction, Iron Mountain Data Centers
Internet Exchanges and Cloud Service
174
Providers we enable our customers to
secure, efficient and resilient, while
connect and enhance their business
also providing opportunity and choice
by providing the route of their choice
for our customers,” explains Boonstra.
to any CSP on a global scale. So really
With this in mind, Boonstra reflects
it’s about providing top quality services
that over the last two years, IMDC
within our data centers, that are highly
- which originates from the US - has
DECEMBER 2020
I R O N M O U N TA I N D ATA C E N T R E S ’ PA R T N E R S H I P W I T H D ATA L E C
Datalec is a design, build and installation company that our customers were continually asking us to use for fit outs. I think typically when you’re asked to use a particular company for any reason, and it’s not someone that you’ve selected, you fear the worst. But that certainly wasn’t the case with Datalec. A lot of our hyperscale customers were asking us if we would use Datalec, which is a very niche business providing worldclass customer fit out and team user solutions.
They show an exception level of attention to detail, where they really do work to understand the brief. Consequently they have come to partner with us as the data center owner and operator and the relationship has grown from there. Now we use them in their own right as an installation company and we’re getting a fantastic service from them. Alex Sharp, Global Head of Design and Construction, Iron Mountain data centers (IMDC)
grown very fast on a global scale next to the EMEA region. “This was exactly our plan,” comments Boonstra. “We have made a lot of investments, and become twice as big in the last two years in EMEA.” Currently Iron Mountain has data centers in Amsterdam - its headquarters for the EMEA region - Frankfurt and London, with plans to further expand in not only the leading countries in the region but the emerging ones, too. da t a c e nt re ma ga z i n e. com
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IRON MOUNTAIN DATA CENTERS
While these are notable successes for IMDC in the EMEA region, Boonstra adds that “we are currently one of the top 10 global data center providers, and we have strong ambitions to get into a top 5 position.” As a result the company’s ambitions to expand its global operations continue. “We currently have 15 locations globally with eleven data centers in the US, one in Singapore and three in Europe that we are heavily investing into. But we want to continue to expand our port176
folio and enhance our position to be a global leading data center provider in the future. So that’s why our target markets are retail, enterprise and
construction projects all around the
hyperscale businesses. In the past
world, and while we are still doing okay,
you had providers for each industry,
we have seen a few delays as a result
but I believe that leading providers of
of COVID. We have seen both good
the future will be able to provide their
and bad outcomes due to COVID-19.
services to all of these markets,” com-
One of the things we have all seen is
ments Boonstra.
that there is a lot more traffic going
When it comes to the effects of
through the internet due to people
COVID-19, Sharp adds that “if you
working from home, which is chan-
look at revenues and pipelines there
neled through our data centers. So
is luckily no impact, we are growing
we’ve seen a much bigger increase in
fast despite COVID. But where we
demand for immediate space that our
have seen some impact is in the con-
customers need - particularly cloud
struction projects. Currently we have
service providers. So the demand has
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IRON MOUNTAIN DATA CENTERS
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“ IF YOU LOOK AT REVENUES AND PIPELINES THERE IS LUCKILY NO IMPACT; WE ARE GROWING FAST DESPITE COVID” — Eric Boonstra, Vice President and General Manager Western Europe, Iron Mountain Data Centers DECEMBER 2020
grown significantly through COVID, but with that has come its own challenges, and of course movement of personnel and movement of equipment has been an issue through COVID.” Looking to the future Sharp states that IMDC’s ambitions for 2021 - like 2020 - will be much the same. “To continue to be a partner of choice for our customers, to deliver high quality services, and to expand our offerings in all regions. We actively anticipate expanding into new regions and contributing to those communities that we go into. We will also, as ever, ensure that we continue to minimise the impact we have on the environment and drive social inclusion in the regions we operate in.” Adding to Sharp’s comments in the future, Boonstra says: “We want to be a top leading data center provider in the world, so we will keep on investing, conducting M&As and carry out construction projects around the world, despite COVID-19 changing the ways that we work.”
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