Data Centre Magazine - February 2023

Emerging data centre markets

industry evolution

A frank approach to addressing the talent shortage

It may be a new year, but the skills gap is still just as far from being bridged. So, as we search for solutions, experts suggest that it’s time for outside-of-the-box thinking

The findings of a recent Equinix report revealed that 62% of global IT decision-makers view a shortage of personnel with IT skills as one of the main threats to their business.

In this month’s issue, I speak to Andy Davis – host of the ‘Inside Data Centre Podcast’ – about the need for greater transparency within our industry.

He outlined how, by building a more collaborative culture within the data centre industry, we will be able to draw more talent to it. In fact, he asserts, the level of secrecy that the industry has usually held is largely to blame for the current situation.

“The main reason I started the podcast was because I've always been quite vocal about the sector being very secretive,” Davis explains.

“That was one of the objectives: to try and demystify the sector a little bit, and to attract more people to the industry, because I'm a big believer that if people don't know it exists, they're never going to come to us. And we were our own worst enemy by being so secretive.”

It’s certainly an interesting approach to tackling the talent shortage, and one which I was excited to delve into deeper in this issue.

JOSEPHINE WALBANK

josephine.walbank@bizclikmedia.com

“62% VIEW THE IT SKILLS SHORTAGE AS ONE OF THEIR BUSINESSES’ BIGGEST THREATS”

70

Sustainability

Should data centres invest in on-site renewable energy?

78

Equinix

How digital leaders can achieve sustainable digital transformation in uncertain times

Black & Veatch Whitepaper

Digital twins offer real-time modelling for data centres

126

Technology

On the pod – an unexpected medium for data centre marketing

100 134

Top 10 Emerging data centre markets

BIG PICTURE

Meta’s Los Lunas Data Centre

One of Meta’s largest current data centre projects is its pioneering new sustainable site, located in the heart of the New Mexico desert. The project is set to represent a $1bn investment, and the culmination of over 1,000 workers’ efforts. And, at the entrance of the new data centre is this striking mural, created by the artist Justin Queal. The painting features the historic pueblo and the local landscape, with the sun powering New Mexico’s technologies. It acts as a dazzling homage to both New Mexico’s history, and its tech-enabled future.

The New Mexico desert

© Meta's Los Lunas Data Centre

THE BRIEF

BY THE NUMBERS

VOLKSWAGEN AG PLEDGES TO ACHIEVE CARBON NEUTRALITY BY 2027

Volkswagen AG has announced its pledge to make its entire data centre operations carbon neutral by 2027. To achieve this ambitious target, the Volkswagen AG group has expanded its computing capacities at Green Mountain.

CDC DATA CENTRES ANNOUNCE $2.5BN INVESTMENT INCREASE

CDC Data Centres has revealed that it will be increasing the investment in its state-of-the-art Eastern Creek Sydney data centre, to a total of $2.5bn. In 2023, the company plans to increase further, to 20 data centres spanning seven campuses, while also expanding into new geographical markets.

PHISON’S SSD TECHNOLOGY EARNS HISTORIC NASA CERTIFICATION

Phison has announced that its 8TB M.2 2280 SSD solution has completed the required TRL-6 flight qualification tests. The SSD has been selected by the space logistics company Skycorp for its lunar data centre mission, which is scheduled for the second half of 2023.

“I TEND TO SEE IT AS A DOMINO EFFECT. THE MAIN QUESTION IS, WHO'S GONNA PUSH THAT FIRST DOMINO? AND WE WANT TO DO THAT. WE WANT TO CREATE THAT ECOSYSTEM THAT CREATES THAT DOMINO EFFECT ”

Alejandro Cantu Sepulveda COO and Co-Founder, Layer 9 Data Centres 

“SETTING THE GREEN STANDARD WAS INTRODUCED AS THE COMPANY VISION, AND IT REALLY REPRESENTS THE BACKBONE OF THE VALUE PROPOSITION THAT GREEN MOUNTAIN HAS IN THE MARKET

Torkild Follaug Sustainability Manager, Green Mountain 

NEW WORLD RECORD SET FOR LARGEST SOLAR-POWERED DATA CENTRE

Moro Hub’s data centre has been awarded the status of the world’s largest solar-powered data centre by Guinness World Records.

The world’s largest solar-powered data centre is 16,031.925 m², and is located in Dubai.

This industry-leading data centre represents a core part of Moro Hub's environmental strategy and will make a huge contribution to its ambitious sustainability targets.

The future of cybersecurity

 86% OF CYBER DECISION-MAKERS SAY THEIR FOCUS ON CYBER HAS MADE A SIGNIFICANT, POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION TO THEIR BUSINESS

 70% SAY CYBER IS ON THEIR BOARD’S AGENDA ON A REGULAR BASIS, EITHER MONTHLY OR QUARTERLY

 91% OF ORGANISATIONS REPORTED AT LEAST ONE CYBER INCIDENT IN THE PAST YEAR, UP 3% FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR

 56% OF RESPONDENTS REPORT THAT THEY SUFFERED OPERATIONAL DISRUPTION TO A MODERATE OR LARGE EXTENT, AS A CONSEQUENCE OF CYBER INCIDENTS

G O O D T I M E S B A D T I M E S

FEB23

TIMELINE

2021-2022 was a period of monumental change for the African data centre industry, and the continent’s cloud landscape.

Largely fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic and the digital transformation drives of Africa’s companies, there has been an unprecedented surge in investments in data centres, with many of the sector’s global leaders stepping into the region for the very first time.

2017 2021 2022

Microsoft announces plans to open South African data centres

In 2017, Microsoft announced its first major venture into the African market. It revealed that it would be opening new cloud regions in Cape Town and Johannesburg (sites which then opened in 2019).

Vantage breaks record with new hyperscale site

Vantage Data Centres made its mark on the African data centre market in 2021, after starting construction on its new hyperscale campus in Midrand. This 80MW campus consisting of three facilities across 12 hectares, represents a $1.01bn investment. Once complete, it is set to be the largest on the continent.

Google’s Equiano cable is launched

Google’s state-of-the-art, 144 tbps, 12 fibre pair Equiano cable was landed by WIOCC in Lagos, Nigeria on the 8th of August. This will be a key facilitator in the growth of the market, improving connectivity across the region, driving faster internet speeds, reducing internet prices and improving user experience across the board.

Google announces plans for first African cloud facility

Later that year, Google also revealed its intent to establish a new Google Cloud region in South Africa, its first cloud facility on the continent. According to research by AlphaBeta Economics for Google Cloud, this South African cloud region will contribute more than a cumulative US$2.1bn to the country’s GDP, and will support the creation of more than 40,000 jobs by 2030.

Predictions for future market growth

According to Balancing Act’s Africa Interconnection Report, somewhere between $5-6bn will be invested in carrierneutral data centres in Africa during this period. The last few years have seen international data centre operators make major investments in Africa for the first time, and this trend is set to continue, at speed.

Karin Jones

As Microsoft launches its extensive South African expansion plans, Karin Jones is at the helm, ensuring the foundations are successfully laid for long-term, continental growth.

For the last 20 years, Karin Jones has primarily occupied management positions at Microsoft. During this time, she held a wide variety of roles, including rising from a Service Delivery Manager to Services Sales Lead and Modern Workplace Business Group Lead, before her current role as Director of Business Applications GTM.

As a key decision-maker for Microsoft South Africa’s expansion plans, Jones’ work is critical in driving cloud adoption and improved connectivity across this largely underserved region.

Microsoft’s investments into the South African data centre market

South Africa is a key hub for the wider continent’s growing data centre market and, for many of the world’s largest companies, it marks their first step into investing in Africa.

This trend has been further fuelled by the recent launch of major subsea network cables, most notably including Google’s Equiano and A2Africa.

As a result, an exceptional period of growth is projected – not just for the South African market, but the entire African data centre market.

Microsoft recently reaffirmed its stake in this sphere, making major investments in the South African digital market. As such, it announced the general availability of its Dynamics365 and Power Platform across the company’s enterprise-grade data centres in both Johannesburg and Cape Town. These locations now provide Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and Power Platform online services, supporting the digital transformation of South African businesses.

“Leaders in organisations across industries and sectors are focused on finding ways to improve the flow of innovation and knowledge across the business, responding to market changes and customer needs, as well as specific business and industry challenges, at speed”

South African data centres, the rise of cloud services, and broader economic growth

Through this expansion in cloud services, Microsoft made a clear statement about its ongoing commitment to investing in South Africa and fostering the growth of its businesses.

“Leaders in organisations across industries and sectors are focused on finding ways to improve the flow of innovation and knowledge across the business, responding to market changes and customer needs, as well as specific business and industry challenges, at speed. They need digital solutions that break existing silos between

data sources, people, processes, and insights,” said Jones, commenting on Microsoft’s investment.

“Organisations in South Africa are increasingly recognising the value of the cloud, driving continued growth and adoption.”

In fact, according to statistics published by the IDC State of Cybersecurity in South Africa report, 48% of organisations in the country are using cloud as a platform and driver of digital innovation. What’s more, an impressive 61% of South African organisations were spending more on cloud solutions in 2021 than they were in 2020.

Due to the evident prioritisation of digital transformation – which is already cemented in South African businesses – the public cloud service market in South Africa is set to achieve an exceptional 24.5% CAGR through to 2025.

For Jones, this prediction represents a wider trend of digital innovation, digital transformation and accelerated economic growth for businesses spanning all sectors.

“Microsoft’s ongoing investment in local infrastructure amid the expansion of cloud services in South Africa is helping to build the capability and improve operational efficiencies of all-sized organisations across sectors. This will accelerate digital innovation in the country by enabling businesses to become more agile, resilient, and competitive. This, in turn, will help unlock broader economic growth for South Africa,” says Jones.

“Microsoft’s ongoing investment in local infrastructure amid the expansion of cloud services in South Africa is helping to build capability and improve the operational efficiencies of all-sized organisations across sectors”

ZACHARY SMITH

ZACHARY SMITH

Zachary Smith runs the global edge infrastructure services of Equinix, including product management, engineering, and the performance of its network edge and metal services in the market.

He also moonlights as President of the Open19 Project, where he helps establish industry standards for sustainable data centre infrastructure.

Q. TELL US ABOUT YOUR EDUCATION AND CAREER PATH

» When I was 17, I was convinced I was going to be a musician! I dropped out of high school and made my way to NYC, where I went to study classical double bass at Juilliard.

It turns out, while I was there, I found out I loved computers (fixing them, learning about them, etc.), so I ended up landing at a small, cloud-hosting startup after I left school. It was the most fun I ever had, and I never looked back! I’ve been an entrepreneur and data centre infrastructure junkie ever since.

Q. WHAT LED YOU TO THIS INDUSTRY?

» A good friend of mine suggested that, if I couldn’t get a job as a Juilliard graduate,

I should start my own business. He suggested that I “get into something with recurring revenue” and that led me to hosting websites for other musicians, who would pay me $20/month to help them get their homepages online.

One thing led to another, and I joined a Linux-focused cloud-hosting provider (Voxel) in 2001. And that was that.

Q. HOW ARE YOU DRIVING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN YOUR ORGANISATION?

» At Equinix, we’re the world’s digital infrastructure leader, with hundreds of data centres spanning 70 global markets. My job is to help make accessing the global reach, ecosystems and trusted operations of our platform faster, easier and more automated.

As such, I see my role (both internally at Equinix and for our customers) as providing the world’s best fundamental infrastructure automation. If we can do that, then more companies can use digital infrastructure for their competitive advantage – to save money, to create new and better outcomes. That’s what doing good in business and the world looks like to me!

“My background has traditionally been in startups

– smaller companies growing quickly, and reinventing themselves regularly”

Q. WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO IMPROVE YOUR OPERATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY?

» At Open19, we’re focused on bringing together all members of the industry – from OEMs to ODMs, plus chip manufacturers, software companies, hosting and cloud providers, data centre operators, and so on – to develop and adopt our specification, which improves the physical form factor of servers and data centre racks.

This specification introduces an industry standard optimised for data centre equipment that runs on 48 volts and uses liquid cooling to dramatically reduce waste, while extending the lifetime and efficiency of critical physical infrastructure

components like sheet metal, power cables, power supplies and more.

At Equinix, we’re active in the design and adoption of Open19 and are using this – along with our other sustainability investments in renewable power, data centre efficiency and waste reduction – to reach our net-zero goals and support

“I am excited by the challenge, but my hope is that, in 12 months, deploying liquid-cooled, highefficiency servers will be the norm and not the exception in our industry.”

ESG 360: Deploying & Interconnecting Infrastructure at Software Speed

our customers as they transition to sustainable digital infrastructure models.

Q. WHAT HAVE BEEN THE GREATEST CHALLENGES WITHIN YOUR ROLE?

» My background has traditionally been in startups – smaller companies growing quickly and reinventing themselves regularly.

I came to Equinix through the acquisition of my last company, Packet, and I have learned so much about how to work with and leverage the capabilities of a much larger business, like Equinix.

I’ve had to acquire and practise new skills in leadership, in cross-functional management, and in my own work/life balance to make an

impact. It’s still a work in progress, but I love learning new things and my role at Equinix has presented me with tons of opportunities to do so.

Q. WHAT DO THE NEXT 12 MONTHS HOLD FOR YOU AND EQUINIX?

» In 2023, I really hope to move the needle on our open standards for sustainable physical infrastructure.

I am excited by the challenge, but my hope is that, in 12 months, deploying liquidcooled, high-efficiency servers will be the norm and not the exception in our industry. If I can do my part to move that forward, I’ll be grateful.

THE CLOUD CHANGING CONNECTS

PRODUCED BY: LEWIS VAUGHAN

WRITTEN BY: JOSEPHINE WALBANK

CLOUD CHANGING THE WAY THAT LATIN CONNECTS AMERICA

n the five largest regions of Latin America – Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Columbia – the population is around 640 million people. To put this into perspective, there are around 330 million people in total living in the United States.

The amount of people using data in South America is growing at a compound rate of almost 25% per year. Furthermore, coupled with the fact that the average income in the region is growing, the proportion of regional industries that are pivoting to tech is rising along with it. In fact, in Mexico, nearly two thirds of its GDP is specific to hightechnology products.

In terms of personal users of data, then, the South American smartphone penetration rate is currently set at around 68% and growing rapidly.

“For example, 10 years ago, an average LATAM household family of four would download about seven gigabytes of data per month. But today, that same family is downloading 77 gigabytes of data. In fact, that number doubled to 77 from 38 in just the last three years,” explains Michael Ortiz, the CEO and Co-Founder of Layer 9.

Despite this, there are 223 million Latin residents who still lack access to the internet.

When you take these figures into account, it’s apparent that there is a major

opportunity present in the LATAM market – one that, from Layer 9’s perspective, has such exceptional potential that's gone largely unnoticed.

Until now, that is.

Layer 9 is breaking new ground, utilising the immense untapped potential of the LATAM market and fostering the development of the region’s tech talent

The untapped potential of the LATAM data market Layer 9 is a data centre provider that specialises in prefabricated, modular and hyperscale solutions. It operates in the LATAM market, bringing hyperscale connectivity to regions

MICHAEL

ORTIZ

TITLE: CEO & CO-FOUNDER

COMPANY: LAYER 9

INDUSTRY: DATA CENTRES

LOCATION: INDIANA, UNITED STATES

Michael Ortiz brings 24+ years of experience in investment banking, capital markets, commercial real-estate development and information technology.

Serving industry leaders such as DuPont Fabros Technology and Digital Realty in leadership capacities, within the fields of asset management, site selection and government incentives programmes, Ortiz has a proven track record of driving teams to success.

Ortiz has also served in senior leader portfolio management roles at Equity Office Properties, and held roles in JP Morgan and Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group.

Ortiz earned his MBA from Indiana University Kelley School of Business and completed his Executive Post Graduate work in Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Oxford – Said Business School.

that have previously been dramatically underserved by these technologies.

Joseph Ryan, Layer 9’s Chief Development Officer and Co-Founder, explains how the LATAM market presents a number of growth challenges, and how the differences between expanding in America versus expanding in the LATAM market have meant that previous companies have decided not to invest in this region.

“The way in which we build in the US and other areas is that you build the site, and they will come. You’ll be able to get all the utilities and the fibre there, in some capacity, and within a certain reasonable timeframe.

“But what we found in Mexico and Latin America is that there are a lot more challenges, because some of these cities aren't as developed infrastructure-wise, or have challenges in distributing power or connectivity,” Ryan explained.

“Hyperscale was practically nonexistent within Latin America just five years ago,” Alejandro Cantu Sepulveda, the Chief Operations Officer and Co-Founder of Layer 9, added, explaining the status of the market when Layer 9 first established itself in the region.

“Working the Latin America market, and being of Mexican descent, gave me a street-

2019 Year founded 17+ Number of employees 25% The amount of people using data in South America is growing at a compound rate of almost 25% per year

level perspective of what was happening within that market. And there were certainly data centre projects happening, but the scale of those projects was very, very small –varying from five to ten megawatt sites – and understanding why that was happening was a big challenge for Michael and I.”

“We saw the opportunity to solve that hyper-scaled infrastructure dilemma within Mexico, and to cater to cloud service providers who innately prefer to not always own the brick and mortar. But data centre companies in Mexico and Latin America who catered to retail clients didn't understand the hyperscale world. So, in their business plans, you saw growth of, again, three megawatts, four megawatt data centres,” Sepulveda explained.

So, in contrast to the other operators in this market, Layer 9 enables hyperscalers to continue their growth into Mexico and LATAM while maintaining the type of footprint and delivery that they've been accustomed to elsewhere in the world.

“Hyperscale was practically nonexistent within Latin America just five years ago”

ALEJANDRO CANTU SEPULVEDA CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER AND CO-FOUNDER, LAYER 9

Giving something back to the LATAM market

Then, alongside the growth opportunity that Layer 9 unlocks for its hyperscale clients, there is also the company’s work to foster the region’s immense tech sector talent.

For Sepulveda, in particular, the company’s decision to invest in Mexico and the LATAM enabled him to help transform the region's reputation in the global digital and data centre industries.

“I think it's time to give back to Mexico what Mexico has given to us,” Sepulveda states.

“Mexico has great potential in Latin America, and it hasn’t been exploited properly. Technical job creation, stable investment technology, upgrading school programmes to be able to attract new talent in our trades to do things better – that creates an ecosystem of people and talent that’s sustainable and will replicate by itself.

“I tend to see it as a domino effect. The main question is, who's going to push that first domino? And we will do that. We want to create that ecosystem that creates that domino effect,” Sepulveda explains.

EXECUTIVE BIO

JOSEPH RYAN

TITLE: CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER & CO-FOUNDER

COMPANY: LAYER 9

INDUSTRY: DATA CENTRES

LOCATION: ARIZONA, UNITED STATES

Is a 20-plus-year veteran within the digital information Sector, with specific focus on procurement and development of larger scale data center projects. His time spent at Jacobs, Syska Hennessy and Microsoft allowed Mr Ryan to gain experience to lead Layer 9 development efforts in Mexico. Mr Ryan looks to drive prefabricated experience toward driving modular construction in LATAM. His approach to driving efficiency by way of keeping delivery predictable, predictable and scalable will allow Layer 9 expand rapidly across the ever-growing LATAM marketplace.

“I tend to see it as a domino effect. The main question is, who's gonna push that first domino? And we want to do that. We want to create that ecosystem that creates that domino effect”

ALEJANDRO CANTU SEPULVEDA CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER AND CO-FOUNDER, LAYER 9

For Sepulveda, not only does this fuel an invaluable talent development opportunity in the region, but it also drives digital transformation across the LATAM, benefitting both individuals and organisations alike.

“Sometimes, people perceive Latin American countries as what they see on TV, and when they get to explore those markets, they're deeply surprised by the infrastructure, the availability of connectivity and the talent,” Sepulveda comments.

“It's an underserved market, and people should better understand it. Then, when they do, they'll see the great opportunity that we have in those markets.”

And Layer 9’s unique approach to investing in this market opportunity has enabled the company to expand rapidly, and create a sustainable, immensely competitive growth model. “Some people saw Layer 9 as a project, but Layer 9 is a platform,” Sepulveda states.

“Now, our model is kind of breaking the rules. So we're dropping flags where we can find the qualities to build a data centre, which is power and connectivity. The same as we did in Mexico. We opened up the ring, and we figured out that there was more opportunity.”

“Based on direct feedback from the CSPs, we have begun the site selection process on several new hyperscale campus sites, all within Latin

America. Our goal is simple - to become the ‘easy button’ for the cloud, and to expand our platform across three to five regional zones throughout LATAM,” adds Ortiz.

Building a collaborative multinational company culture

Alongside the prime market positioning and rapid digital investment in the region, Layer 9 names its company culture as another critical factor in its success. The diversity of team viewpoints, company-

EXECUTIVE BIO

ALEJANDRO CANTU SEPULVEDA

TITLE: CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER & CO-FOUNDER

COMPANY: LAYER 9

INDUSTRY: DATA CENTRES

LOCATION: ARIZONA, UNITED STATES

As COO and Co-founder Mr Cantu brings market experience that spans both U.S. and LATAM borders. His tenure across various disciplines touching procurement, sale engineering and energy contract negotiation has served invaluable to the Layer 9 organisations. Today, Mr Cantu’s focus is execution of corporate strategy toward the development of hyperscale data centre solutions beginning with Project Falcon; and later carry that success toward a scaled, predictable platform that will be viewed favorably upon by the cloud service providers entering LATAM.

wide mentoring, and the shared mission that drives everyone has allowed Layer 9 to build its characteristic team dynamic.

“What I love about our team is that we come from diverse backgrounds. Some of us were cut from the cloth in this business; some of us fell into it, like myself; some of us came from the bottom up of the business, on the equipment resale side; and some of us came from the top down, being the banker or asset manager financing that equipment. And then everything in between,” Ortiz explains. “This company is only two-and-a-half years old, and yet we have some of the most innovative think-tank sessions I've ever had in my entire career.”

This company culture, as Ryan describes it, takes an “all hands on deck”, fully collaborative mindset. “It's a testament to the team, what we've done and how we go about doing it. We have different styles, but what’s brought us together is the common goal and the way that we achieve it.”

And, for Layer 9, this sense of a shared goal has actually proven invaluable to their

“Some people saw Layer 9 as a project, but Layer 9 is a platform”

ALEJANDRO CANTU SEPULVEDA CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER AND CO-FOUNDER, LAYER 9

internal talent retention, a challenge that data centre companies across the world are facing.

“In years past, companies have lost their individual touch to inspire their employees to keep on growing and to look for new opportunities. People that are joining

our company believe in the project and believe in what we're doing right now,” Sepulveda enthuses.

Fostering collaboration amongst all talent across the company’s markets, mentorship and long-term partnerships help ensure that these growth foundations are strong and sustainable.

“In areas that are regional, we have a peering initiative, which is mentoring. We’re also bringing in groups, partners, employees and consultants that we know have the capabilities to collaborate with us on the first project, the second project, and so on, rather than being disconnected from our operations. And it’s unusual to have that type of involvement at the field level, but we think so much about that,” Ryan outlines, before expanding on this.

“It’s also about going into these areas that may have some experience, but not

“This company is only two-and-a-half years old, and we have some of the most innovative think-tank sessions I've ever had in my entire career”

MICHAEL ORTIZ CEO & CO-FOUNDER, LAYER 9 DATA CENTRES

Bringing a hyperscale mindset to the LATAM market

at that large-scale hyperscale level. They have commercial construction capabilities, but not really that specific technical nuance. So what we're doing is building that experience capable of fostering such growth regionally, but also culturally –inject the way we work into the region, but not force it.”

By nature, this is markedly different from the approach taken in the US and European markets; for Layer 9, this is critical, as it helps them to navigate the barriers to growth in the region, which their competitors haven’t successfully penetrated.

“To be able to give them the support that they need to grow – and in turn for us to grow – through understanding this culture is a hugely symbiotic relationship.

“We have different styles, but what’s brought us together: a common goal and the way that we achieve it”

JOSEPH RYAN CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER & CO-FOUNDER, LAYER 9

JOSEPH RYAN CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER & CO-FOUNDER, LAYER 9

“ We have a team that's tremendously cohesive, tremendously collaborative, but that immerses itself into the local market, the local culture, and understands those regions prior to purchasing land”

That's what our mentors’ job is to do, and that's really our goal: it's mentoring, it's partnering, it's collaboration, it's immersing ourselves in learning without being the bull in the China shop,” Ryan explains.

“I think what makes our team unique is that we've gone at it differently than the others. We have a team that's tremendously cohesive, tremendously collaborative, but that immerses itself into the local market, the local culture, and understands those regions prior to

purchasing land. This means that land purchase is fruitful for both us and our customers in the future.”

“It really drives our vision. We all have a common goal and a common vision of how we want to collaborate, as well as how we want to partner, both with ourselves and with our local partners, regions and government.”

The deployment of lithium-ion batteries in UPS applications

WRITTEN BY: JOSEPHINE WALBANK

cross the board, the pursuit of sustainable energy solutions is rapidly increasing pace. But, for an industry that represents between 1-2% of global electricity consumption, this search could not be more pressing.

Running in parallel to sustainability demands, the European energy crisis is forcing data centres – regardless of their attitudes towards sustainability – to place sustainable energy solutions among their top priorities.

"Customers are looking for highly energy efficient equipment. Energy efficiency used to be something 'nice' to have, and customers were only looking at it for energy savings, in terms of monetary purposes," explains Mustafa Demirkol, Vice President of Data Centre Systems at Schneider Electric.

"When the cost of energy is not that high, customers put this into a secondary, 'nice to have' criteria. But, we are going through a serious energy crisis in Europe now, and nobody knows when it is going to be over."

Due to the combination of these factors, two of the most prevalent industry trends are energy efficiency improvements and the deployment of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries.

"Batteries are a big part of the game. The market is moving more and more towards Li-ion batteries. Around five or ten years ago, it was questionable. But now, the market is pretty convinced," Demirkol states.

Schneider shares its insights into the sustainability impact – and the trends for future deployment – of Li-ion batteries in data centre UPS applications

Ready to get star ted with EcoStruxure Modular Data Centres?

MARC GARNER VP OF SECURE POWER DIVISION, SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC UK & IRELAND

Li-ion batteries have developed significantly since their first introduction in 1985. The case for their use as a substitute for valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA) batteries within data centre uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) has been well documented during this time. But now, VRLA batteries are largely considered to be an inferior solution, with this traditional choice being increasingly being replaced by Li-ion batteries.

"The battery which underpins any UPS is a major consideration for any data centre owner or operator," adds Marc Garner, VP, Secure Power Division for Schneider Electric UK & Ireland.

"Traditionally, the market has utilised VRLA batteries to ensure power continuity and continuous operation of the IT equipment and services they support. However, there are challenges with this technology in terms of their operating life, environmental requirements and monitoring."

A greener energy solution – what makes Li-ion batteries more sustainable?

By deploying Li-ion batteries, data centres are striving towards the lowest level of carbon dioxide production across not only their products and supply chains, but also the operation of the equipment. One of the key reasons for Li-ion batteries' high sustainability is their extended lifespan.

"Although the components of the system are more complex, Li-ion batteries have a far longer lifespan and therefore require servicing and replacement less often than lead-acid systems," explains Garner.

"For the data centre operator, a battery which does not meet the design requirement of the load presents a major risk to service continuity. The alternative is that operators will sometimes oversize the system, with all the environmental impacts present in manufacture, installation and operations. By contrast, the characteristics of Li-ion cells mean that none of this will apply to it over the same 10-year period, and the longer lifespan of a Li-ion battery is perhaps its major advantage in terms of sustainability and TCO."

A typical lead-acid battery will have a service life of between three to five years. In comparison, Li-ion models achieve ten or more. This improvement in performance helps the sustainability (and reduces the

underpins any UPS is a major consideration for any data centre owner or operator”

associated costs) of the site's manufacturing, transportation, installation and operations. In fact, over a typical UPS lifecycle, a VRLA cell would need to be replaced within the system at least twice in ten years.

"The weight of a Li-ion battery is onethird of a regular battery, but with the same backup time. So, when you reduce the weight by that much, you reduce the carbon dioxide emissions dramatically. Secondly, because the lifecycle of the batteries is much higher, this gives you significant operational advantages," Demirkol explains.

"You don't have to perform operational shutdowns every three or four years, and you don't need to recycle the batteries every three or four years. So the cost of a battery was really high, but with the advancement of Li-ion batteries, it went down significantly."

Alongside this, the energy consumption of a Li-ion battery is also considerably less.

"During its operational life, a Li-ion battery typically consumes less energy than a VRLA alternative because its internal chemistry makes for a slower self-discharge rate. As such, they do not need the same amount of recharging, and over its lifetime, a lead-acid battery will typically lose 0.2% of its rated capacity, roughly double that of a Li-ion battery which typically loses only 0.1%," Garner adds.

"As a mature battery technology, lead-acid cells are supported by a long-established recycling ecosystem designed to minimise waste and repurpose components. In fact, lead-acid batteries have a return for recycling rate of up to 99.3%," Garner illustrates.

“What we see is that the market is going to move towards secondhand solutions. After all, why would you even waste that totally fine battery? Why are we even recycling it?”

MUSTAFA DEMIRKOL VP OF DATA CENTRE SYSTEM, SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC

promising solution.

"Most of these batteries work perfectly well, just not in a data centre environment. But, say in residential energy storage units,

they are perfectly suited to working in that environment. After all, you don't need that level of high performance in a house, you just need a backup power," Demirkol explains.

New technologies are constantly being developed to improve the recyclability of these batteries. But in the meantime, the second life market is rapidly expanding

"What we see is that the market is going to move towards secondhand solutions. After all, why would you even waste that totally fine battery? Why are we even recycling it?," poses Demirkol.

"A commitment to best practices with regards to taking back defective and end-of-life batteries is helping reduce the environmental impact of Li-ion, whilst its recycling processes continue to be established and mature," adds Garner.

Interestingly, the electric vehicle market is paving the way for second-use applications. Alongside this, other examples of second-use Li-ion cells being utilised include microgrid applications, and hospitals to support emergency lighting.

Looking forward, recycling technologies are also set to improve dramatically. Established pyrometallurgical techniques are already being applied to Li-ion batteries at end of life to recover the cobalt and nickel elements. Alongside this, newer hydrometallurgical techniques are being developed, which could recover over 95% of all constituent materials.

Given the high sustainability performance of these batteries, and the ongoing innovations in their manufacturing and recycling that market demand is driving, Li-ion batteries will hold a key role in the green data centres of the future.

"Although there are inevitable environmental impacts emerging with the growth of this resilient and energyefficient technology when evaluated holistically, it's clear that Li-ion batteries offer a more sustainable solution for UPS systems," Garner asserts.

"When combined with the characteristics of more compact design, lighter weight, longer lifecycle and more reliable performance, they make a compelling case for use in an industry where both space and uptime are at a premium."

Future-proof sustainability through people-centric culture

through a culture

WRITTEN BY: JOSEPHINE WALBANK

PRODUCED BY: LEWIS VAUGHAN

The team behind sustainability pioneer Green Mountain share their insights into ESG, The Scandinavian Management Philosophy, and collaborative cultures

To operate efficient state-of-the-art colocation data centres, the number one priority for Green Mountain is to have skilled, motivated, and enthusiastic employees who are up for the task. This is the ethos of Tor Kristian, the CEO of Green Mountain. And it is this people-centric approach that has shaped the entirety of Green Mountain's company strategy.

“Whether it is the operations team, project managers, service delivery, sales, management or supporting functions – they all contribute to the same goal: 'Setting the green standard' in the data centre industry.”

According to Kristian, Green Mountain is shaped by four core values: a strong customer focus; reliability and honesty; knowledge; and enthusiasm.

“These values are deeply rooted in our company culture and reflect on anything we do. After all, it is all about the people.”

To delve deeper into Green Mountain’s people-led philosophy, and the importance of the human factor in the running of a data centre, we spoke to four Green Mountain employees, spanning the company’s entire value chain.

SECURING 100% UPTIME -

How do you and the rest of your operations team secure 100% uptime?

“The 100% uptime is a prerequisite in today's market, and at Green Mountain, we have secured it continuously since the start.”

“Our performance strongly relates to the people and how things are being managed as well as the technical features of our data centres.”

Operation Technician, Abhishek Jagga

EXECUTIVE BIO

TOR KRISTIAN

TITLE: CEO

LOCATION: GREEN MOUNTAIN

Although his first responsibility within the company was as CTO, Tor Kristian assumed the role of Green Mountain’s CEO in 2017. Kristian was the second employee of Green Mountain, and has been responsible for developing the technical infrastructure.

He has more than 25 years of experience within data centres and IT operations, and has been involved in several major IT and technical projects. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, specialising in automation. Kristian is actively involved in shaping the Norwegian data centre industry, both as the CEO of Green Mountain and as a board member of the data centre industry association.

“From a technical point of view, our facilities are designed to be robust and redundant, including duplicated cooling and electrical setups, simple and robust cooling solutions, multiple grid power supply, and automatic standby generators. In simple terms, if one system fails or we need to perform maintenance, another system takes over to deliver the service.”

“In addition, we have comprehensive processes to follow and strong work ethics. These include regular inspections and testing, 24/7 support and constant security to keep our services and machinery up-todate and fully functional. We follow the ITIL process and framework, and are certified according to global standards, such as ISO 9001,14001 and 27001.”

“It all comes down to honouring our commitments to the client, both as a team and an individual employee.”

How do you collaborate with the rest of the operations team to achieve these results?

“As an organisation, Green Mountain is people-centric. We coordinate with each other in the best possible manner.”

“When something new happens, or we start work on something, everyone gets a chance to speak about it and share their views.”

“So because of the flat leadership structure, everyone in the company is able to bring their ideas together. We do regular brainstoriming sessions internally and with our partners to deliver best-inclass services.”

“Green Mountain operates as one entity, where the company values of ‘Reliability & Honesty, Knowledge, and Enthusiasm’ are always appreciated and acknowledged.”

“I think this quote by Theodore Roosevelt represents our culture well: 'No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care'."

What does it mean, for you personally, to work for Green Mountain?

“When I joined the company, about threeand-a-half years ago, we had a quarter of the sites that we have now.”

“The company was at its child stage, and we were raising it from the ground up.”

“I love being a part of Green Mountain because I joined it when it was just a kid,

“To operate efficient state-of-the-art colocation data centres, the number one priority for Green Mountain is to have skilled, motivated, and enthusiastic employees who are up for the task”

TOR KRISTIAN CEO, GREEN MOUNTAIN

The Green Mountain data center, located on the island of Rennesoy, near Stavanger, Norway, boasts a Power Utilization Efficiency (PUE) rating of 1.2 and has established itself as one of the world’s most efficient data centers. Founded in 2013, and situated in a former NATO munitions bunker, Green Mountain is unique and innovative for several reasons.

Firstly, the data center is powered by cheap, reliable, low carbon hydropower. Secondly, the data center is cooled by seawater from the nearby fjord, and gravity is a key factor in the distribution of that cold water to the data center. By partnering with Schneider Electric, Green Mountain has built a highly resilient and sustainable Tier III certified data center. Its IT room boasts an impressive Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of less than 1.2, something which Green Mountain measures and reports on in real-time to its customers.

To achieve this, Green Mountain has implemented several solutions from Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure™ for Data Centers architecture, including its InRow™ cooling systems, lnfraStruxure™ hot aisle containment systems, Symmetra MW

UPSs, Canalis LV busway, Prisma LV Distribution, SM6 + transformers, MV/ Citect Scada, and Uniflair™ coolers.

Green Mountain also uses Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure™ IT data center infrastructure management (DCIM) monitoring software to controls a series of mission-critical components, and around 12,000 measuring points, helping it to increase efficiency and resilience across the facility. Further, Schneider Electric also helped design Green Mountain’s cooling system, which uses gravity to bring the cold water from the fjord to its cooling station without using any power or relying on refrigerant gases.

Green Mountain data center customers stand to benefit from this low cost, high efficiency implementation, enabling them to reduce their carbon footprint significantly.

Powered by 100% renewable hydro power and partnering with Schneider Electric, Green Mountain is able to support the critical uptime requirements of its customers, while operating as one of the greenest data centers in the world, with close to zero CO2 emissions.

Future-proof sustainability through a people-centric culture

and now it's maturing towards a sort of ‘teenage’ stage.”

“And it's good to grow with the company, because you learn a lot and, being from an IT background, I see that the demand is rising. We are providing what our customers are looking for and, at the same time, we are also offering genuinely green services.”

“Personally, I am a family-oriented guy, like so many others. And what Green Mountain offers me resembles a family: growing old together, a meaningful vision for the future, great relationships and most importantly, freedom of expression and the work I want to do.”

How do you make sure you have the right person for the job?

“We have developed what we believe is a strong recruitment process. We focus on competence, of course, but what’s equally important is the personality, preferences and motivations of the employee. So, we like to spend time getting to know the candidates, to find out both if this person would like to work for Green Mountain and if this is the correct path for this person.”

“One way to do this is to not only perform interviews but meet the candidates in different settings and different situations.

“I feel lucky to be a part of the adventure, the growth and everything that is happening in our company. When I started here I was included, given trust and made to feel welcome”

IRENE VIKINGSTAD HR MANAGER, GREEN MOUNTAIN

THE SCANDINAVIAN MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY IN PRACTICEHR Manager, Irene Vikingstad

Not all people are comfortable in an interview setting. Sometimes it is better to do an informal guided tour, let them try some work tasks or do a test. We also have a comprehensive training programme in the Green Academy, to ensure the best support for the right candidate.”

“Another important aspect is to look at the team that the candidate will be a part of. How will the person fit in and complement the strengths and personalities of existing members? We have room for both introverts and extroverts, and it is all about finding the right mix to build a strong team. All of our managers are very involved and engaged in this process, and sometimes we also discuss this with team members, too, before the final decision is made.”

How do you retain high inclusion and diversity standards in your recruitment and retention?

“We have good tools and methods in place to make sure that all candidates are evaluated in the same manner. We never exclude people based on gender, social or ethnic background, age etc. I also believe that a focus on personality gives us more diversity in the organisation.”

“For instance, we have employees of all ages in our company. Some were recruited straight from school without graduate experience, others were recruited when they were in their sixties.”

“When it comes to gender balance, the data centre industry is quite male-dominated. However, we raised the share of female

Cooperation is key when building data centers in challenging times

At Green Mountain’s OSL1-Enebakk site, a new 13.5 MW colocation data center was recently completed. CTS Nordics (CTS) was the Design & Build contractor for the project and worked closely with Green Mountain to realize this project despite demanding circumstances.

A special challenge with this project was to create an extremely flexible design. A design that could accommodate enterprises needing standard colocation, all the way to hyperscalers’ needs.

As this was a cooperation between Green Mountain and CTS it was important that the team members trusted each other. Very early in the process, a team gathering was organized so they could get to know each other and create the essential trust between the team members. This way, no one hid away problems or tried to blame each other. Instead, we discovered challenges early and were able to address them straight away.

Long production and delivery times is a global challenge in these uncertain times and it also affected the progress. One solution was to split deliveries, instead of waiting for the components to arrive together. This way, we could perform parts of installations and secure as much progress as possible while waiting for remaining deliveries. In addition, the team tried to mitigate delivery problems by close follow-up of suppliers.

“By involving CTS from the very beginning and establishing a good relationship we got a head start in the project. During design development, the team needed to look at both the master planning and the building to coordinate a viable and efficient solution. It would not have been possible to complete this project had it not been for the cooperation, trust and shared competence between the two parties. At the end, it is all about the people.” says Nils Christensen, CTS.

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employees from 14% to 18% in 2022. Now, the biggest challenge we face is to increase the number of female technicians. One of the reasons why this is so difficult is because not enough girls choose the technical subjects in school. That is why we start early and try to cooperate with educational institutions, to promote this career path and connect students with our female role models within the industry. In time, I think we will get there. This summer, half our summer interns were female, so that is definitely a good start.”

“In general, we believe that a broad diversity and a variety of personalities create better results.”

What are the core values of the Scandinavian management philosophy?

“This philosophy is known to be focused on equality between employees and managers, and a down-to-earth mentality. Management involves their employees in decision-making, and there's a flat management structure. It’s a democratic, non-bureaucratic and collaborative way of managing.”

“This means that all employees are very enabled and very empowered. They can be creative, innovative and are able to make their own decisions for the best of the company. Then, with this level of trust established, a manager would expect an

employee to take responsibility.”

“A key part of this is ‘psychological safety’, which means employees know that, if they do speak up, if they do engage and make decisions, there is room for mistakes. After all, we learn from mistakes.”

“We actually see the Scandinavian management style as a competitive advantage. It makes the whole organisation more productive, innovative and profitable.”

THE COMPANY VALUES ARE IN OUR DNAService Manager, Rikke Dishington

What is your personal philosophy for client relations?

“For me, it's important that our customers are satisfied. If a customer isn't satisfied, then I don't see the point of doing what we do.”

“So keeping the client satisfied is my number one priority. I would hate going into meetings and talking to clients if my job was to only put out fires!”

“My approach is, there’s this saying that ‘in order to treat everyone the same, you have to treat everyone differently”

RIKKE DISHINGTON SERVICE MANAGER, GREEN MOUNTAIN

“And how to do so? One vital element is that every client has a dedicated contact person in the Service Management team. A person they can contact about anything and who knows their business and needs. No matter the size of the client, we build trust through this one-to-one relationship with them.”

“However, there’s this saying that ‘in order to treat everyone the same, you have to treat everyone differently'. And that's what I've been using as my go-to quote when managing clients. Because clients are different. They are different companies from different industries with different backgrounds and different

needs. So, in order to keep them satisfied, we have to be flexible. We have to be able to adapt and to get to know them and really listen to what they have to say.”

How do the company values at large reflect the way you work with clients?

“Our vision and our values are our DNA. As a company, it should run through our veins and should feel as natural as breathing. So as a client, you can expect to see that demonstrated in whoever you talk to at Green Mountain.”

“Our mindset is customer-focused, and we always see things from a customer's

“When something new happens, or we start work on something, everyone gets a chance to speak about it and share their views”

ABHISHEK JAGGA OPERATION TECHNICIAN, GREEN MOUNTAIN

perspective. When talking to us, you should always feel that we have got your back, and that we are on your team.”

“To do so, you need to have a foundation of trust, and to create trust, you have to be reliable and honest.”

“Transparency is really the key. For instance, we have created a reporting system - called Green Peak - where we share live and historical data with our clients. This way they always know what is going on in their data room environment. In addition, we also produce monthly reports on access management, incidents, changes and so on.”

“There is no sweeping under the carpet

Green Mountain uses

100% renewable power across its entire portfolio of sites, making it amongst the world’s most sustainable data centre providers.

- we are open and honest. And hopefully, they will find us knowledgeable and enthusiastic as well.”

SETTING THE GREEN STANDARDSustainability Manager, Torkild Follaug

Green Mountain is setting the green standard. Why is that industry leadership position so important to the company?

“To answer that, I think we have to go back to 2009, when the company was founded.

“Green Mountain was really founded on the idea of creating the world's most

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sustainable data centre. And I think we achieved this very early on. Still, we realise that this is something that we need to continue to focus on every day, especially when the company is growing.”

“That's why setting the green standard was introduced as the company vision, and it really represents the backbone of the value proposition that Green Mountain has in the market.”

From the perspective of your employees, how are they working to maintain this sustainability leadership?

“Sustainability is really well-anchored in the management of the company, and also in the board of the company. And I think that's the perfect setup for creating a culture-based sustainability practice.

All our individual employees know our sustainability goals, which makes it easier for them to contribute and make a positive impact in their everyday work.”

“My role is to lead, coordinate and support the sustainability efforts of all the people that work in Green Mountain, so that we can use each other’s skill sets, and keep sustainability high on the agenda at all times.”

Where do you see your sustainability strategy heading in the next five years?

“We are committed to upholding our ambitions in the sustainability space.

I think any companies that do not take sustainability seriously will be out of business, in the near future.”

“Setting the green standard means that we are willing to be at the forefront, to make

investments and put resources in to develop Green Mountain, of course, but also the industry as a whole.”

“There are a lot of challenges ahead, and these are issues that we are addressing in our sustainability strategy. We are working on several different solutions to mitigate our impact, on both the climate and nature.”

“It remains very important that, for everything we do, we do it in collaboration with our own employees and our value chain.”

THE GREEN MOUNTAIN COMPANY CULTURE

For Green Mountain, fostering a peoplecentric company culture is all about developing relationships, building and maintaining trust, and creating a supportive environment in which all employees are able to flourish.

“I feel lucky to be a part of the adventure, the growth and everything that is happening in our company. When I started here, I was included, given trust and made to feel welcome,” says Vikingstad.

“I love the work environment and the culture in Green Mountain. It makes me proud to be part of such an inclusive company.”

“At Green Mountain, we share, we trust, we talk to each other. Our team is always open to communication. We are always comfortable to discuss anything that we don't understand, like new technologies, or what to do if something goes wrong,” Jagga adds.

“So that's what I believe the company’s core foundation is - to believe in, trust in and deliver on what you say.”

And, as the company itself maintains a rapid pace of growth, its employees are able to take part in the opportunities that come with it.

“The company culture in Green Mountain is very much about trust, openness, and

a positive approach to people. This gives all the employees in Green Mountain a lot of opportunities to develop as a person, and also to develop ideas and skill sets as the company grows and moves forward,” Follaug adds.

“For me, I started working at Green Mountain when I was very young. I was 19, turning 20, and I've been here for four years now. So I feel like we've been on this journey together, where we've gone from a small, newly established company, to where we are now, having established a reputation in the industry, and being in a position where we are taking the lead and setting the standard,” says Dishington.

“Along the way, I have also grown both professionally and personally. I am very grateful for all the colleagues who have supported me and shared their knowledge and experience. I have been given a lot of opportunities in the company, and can’t wait to continue the journey.”

“It remains very important that, for everything we do, we do it in collaboration with our employees and our partners in the value chain”

TORKILD FOLLAUG SUSTAINABILITY MANAGER, GREEN MOUNTAIN

SHOULD DATARENEWABLE ENERGY? SHOULD INVEST RENEWABLE

DATA CENTRES IN ON-SITE

CENTRESENERGY?

RENEWABLE ENERGY?

WRITTEN BY: JOSEPHINE WALBANK

to green energy really be so straightforward?

Data Centre Magazine explores the latest innovations in on-site renewable energy generation

he data centre industry has long been tarnished by its reputation as an irresponsible, energy-draining industry.

But, despite the common misconceptions of the general public, the data centre industry has long been committed to ensuring the highest possible degree of sustainability and energy efficiency, across all aspects of its operations.

Providers across the world are developing pioneering ways to better use resources,

particularly energy. In particular, on-site renewable strategies – that generate, store and even give back green power – are becoming increasingly innovative. But, how much scope do these solutions really have?

The renewable energy solutions available to data centres

For data centres looking to reduce their carbon emissions, investment into sources of on-site renewable energy generation seems to be a pretty obvious one.

“Not only can this help companies meet their net zero and sustainability targets, but it also provides a long-term solution to rising energy prices and energy security. Ultimately, it allows energyintensive businesses to benefit from their own supply of energy, meaning they become less reliant on the National Grid,” explains Alex Hunter, the CEO of Sherwood Power.

There are currently several renewable energy generation options available to

data centres, designed to suit the full scope of site sizes and locations.

“The most widely used renewable energy option is PV solar, which offers relatively fast installation and provides quick payback. It can be fitted on new facilities, or added later as a retrofit solution,” adds Danel Turk, ABB’s Solution Portfolio Manager for Data Centres.

Another popular alternative is wind energy, although this requires more land and special conditions for successful usage.

“Combined with investments in PPA projects, this is increasing the availability of renewables, reducing the use of fossil fuels and the need to ‘import’ energy sources aiding countries’ paths to energy independence. As the demand for energy increases with the transition to electric vehicles, grid enhancement is essential.”

A future-proof investment - the main challenges for data centres

For any site looking to commence renewable energy generation on-site, there are a number of key considerations.

“Firstly, there are logistical issues that need addressing when investing in on-site renewables, such as any planning requirements, whether the cables and infrastructure on-site are large enough to carry the new load, and where energy generation and storage can be safely located together,” Hunter advises.

“Then, there are the financial considerations: is this a capital purchase, or does it require a fully financed solution? What is the current electricity contract and when does it expire? What is the current capacity (kW) limit and what is needed in the future to allow for business growth?”

And, of course, there is the matter of choosing what type of energy to invest in. This decision is usually driven by a company’s motivation for change and what solution would be the best fit for the specific site’s location, size and requirements.

“As the demand for energy increases with the transition to electric vehicles, grid enhancement is essential”

DAVID WATKINS SOLUTIONS DIRECTOR, VIRTUS DATA CENTRES

“The challenge with renewable energy sources is that supplies are typically far more variable than energy from fossil fuels. Solar power is affected by fluctuations in sunlight levels and the time of day, wind is reliant on weather conditions, and so on,” Hunter illustrates.

“This means data centres that want to switch to on-site renewable energy need to consider how they will back up their power generation (so, for example, they still have power on a cloudy day). By co-locating energy storage alongside energy production, centres can ensure a consistent supply of energy when and where it is needed.”

This is a critical consideration, as it is vital that data centres can guarantee that using renewable energy doesn’t compromise the performance or reliability of the site.

“The ideal approach would be to add some buffer or storage devices. This allows data centres to take control of their system and use tools to be more efficient in utilising their resources. This may come with additional investments but there are benefits to be gained, including a quicker return on these initial expenses,” Turk outlines.

According to Hunter, a more robust approach would involve deploying a hybrid solution, where power is generated from a number of different renewablesources and then stored in one on-site location.

“A hybrid approach helps offset the limitations of any specific renewable. There are two major benefits of opting for hybrid renewables: companies ensure a consistent supply of energy, and can meet their required electricity load – which is particularly important for energy-intensive sites like data centres,” Hunter adds.

This poses an interesting solution to the inherent unreliability of most renewable energy sources.

Whichever route you choose to investigate further, the benefits of on-site renewables can be huge. Not only for the reputation, credibility and customer retention of your company, but for the image of the data centre industry at large.

“Working through these considerations can take time (and it can be helpful to seek impartial professional advice to work through all of these questions). But by doing so, data centres can benefit from lower energy costs – and improved sustainability – long-term,” Hunter asserts.

“The ability of data centre providers to make use of renewable energy sources has been game-changing in the industry’s pursuit of a sustainable future,” adds Watkins.

“These investments in PPAs deliver increased volumes of renewable energy to the grid, create ‘green’ jobs and deliver cost certainty for operators and competitive pricing for customers that is not subject to energy market volatility.”

“The ability of data centre providers to make use of renewable energy sources has been game-changing in the industry’s pursuit of a sustainable future”

DAVID WATKINS SOLUTIONS DIRECTOR, VIRTUS DATA CENTRES

EQUINIX ® : HOW DIGITAL LEADERS CAN ACHIEVE SUSTAINABLE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN UNCERTAIN TIMES

LEADERS SUSTAINABLE TRANSFORMATION

AD FEATURE

WRITTEN BY: TOM

SWALLOW

PRODUCED BY: LEWIS

HAMMOND

Why is sustainable digital transformation and infrastructure modernisation important?

The world is on the verge of a recession with staggering levels of inflation, increasing energy prices, a climate crisis, and unprecedented disruption.

Digital Transformation underpinned by a modern, agile, flexible, secure, and resilient foundational architecture, is imperative for survival, but it is not enough.

Now, there is a legal, as well as a moral, obligation to reduce EU emissions by at least 55% by 2030. The Equinix 2022 Global Tech Trends Survey showed that over 70% of IT leaders said that reducing environmental impact is a critical driver of their technology strategy and 65% of digital leaders expressed that they will only work with partners that meet their carbon reduction targets.

Organisations are meeting this obligation head on with ambitious corporate sustainability goals in place alongside their digital transformation and infrastructure modernisation programmes. With only one IT refresh cycle left until 2030, the decisions made in 2023 will have a huge impact on the ability to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.

Yet, the backdrop faced by the digital leaders has never been more complex.

Supply chain issues, chip shortages, technical debt, legacy infrastructure, changing stakeholder requirements, and rigid infrastructure all create financial, operational and energy inefficiencies which threaten to overwhelm digital transformation and the infrastructure modernisation required to achieve it.

Equinix enables organisations to modernise their networks, move appropriate business applications and workloads to the cloud, minimise cloud egress costs, virtualise their digital footprint and house remaining legacy infrastructure within Platform Equinix®.

Organisations have the flexibility to run the workloads wherever it makes the most sense; on premises, at the edge or in multiple cloud locations around the world, whilst also ensuring security and data sovereignty requirements are met.

This composable infrastructure allows organisations the flexibility to address the operational and power inefficiencies whilst reducing cost which allows them to accelerate their digital transformation and achieve sustainability goals.

Figure 1. Organisation Challenges

Sustainability at Equinix

Platform Equinix – Where Sustainable Digital Transformation happens

To understand how to facilitate a sustainable transformation, we turn to the experts at Equinix to uncover the steps along the journey.

Grace Andrews, Principal Product Evangelist at Equinix, delves into the organisation’s mission and how it approaches digital transformation.

“Equinix is the world’s digital infrastructure company. Platform Equinix provides the foundational infrastructure—data centres, interconnection, and digital infrastructure services—that power the digital economy.

“We’ve transformed Equinix from a colocation provider to a digital infrastructure platform, which supports the digital transformation of our customers.

“During the pandemic, we saw unprecedented demand for digital services. Platform Equinix, with vibrant digital ecosystems and foundational infrastructure

enabled via software, meets the needs of customers who now operate in a highly virtualized world.

“The coronavirus pandemic fundamentally, and in some cases permanently, changed the way we work, the way we educate our children, the way we interact with family, the way we shop and entertain ourselves… Enabling this digital transformation is what we do.

“ We have a duty and the capability to help organisations achieve digital transformation in a way that supports our collective and individual climate goals.”

GRACE ANDREWS

PRINCIPAL PRODUCT EVANGELIST, EQUINIX METAL

How can organisations integrate their digital and sustainability strategy into a coherent roadmap?

Platform & Product Marketing Director, Direnc Dogruoz tells us: “Organisations must start with optimising the core of their network; relying on shared, on-demand services and platforms powered by renewable energy. From that network hub, they can start virtualizing infrastructure and interconnecting to public and private clouds adjacent to mission-critical data in a way that is designed to be inherently more sustainable, secure, cost-effective and agile.

“Organisations can deploy with Equinix physically—in our core network hubs—to consume energy more efficiently. Our hubs in the EMEA region are covered by 100% renewable energy, supported by our stateof-the-art efficiency measures, such as software-optimised systems and industryleading power usage effectiveness (PUE), water management, waste heat recovery, liquid cooling and alternative fuel sources. By moving infrastructure into an Equinix facility, customers transfer the scope 1 emissions related to owning and operating their own facilities. For more information

on all of this please visit our sustainability website www.sustainability.equinix.com Mark Anderson,VP, Global Technical Sales at Equinix explains, “This shared network architecture helps to address the most significant conundrum in sustainable digital transformation: increasing the use of IT resources for compute and storage drives up power consumption and other digital emissions. Breaking the connection between increased use of IT resources and energy consumption is crucial.”

Figure 2. Sustainable Digital Transformation with Platform Equinix

“ A well-designed digital transformation programme allows our customers to achieve not only their business goals but reduce the carbon footprint of their entire IT and networking blueprint.”

DIRENC DOGRUOZ PLATFORM & PRODUCT MARKETING DIRECTOR, EQUINIX

EXECUTIVE BIOS

DIRENC DOGRUOZ

TITLE: DIRECTOR, PLATFORM & PRODUCT MARKETING - CLOUD INTERCONNECTION

LOCATION: UNITED KINGDOM

Direnc leads the team responsible for all interconnection and edge service product lines in EMEA. He focuses on building product strategy and go-to-market initiatives to drive customer adoption of Equinix cloud connectivity and virtualized edge network services. Digital leaders around the world rely on Equinix’s trusted platform for everything related to digital, internet and clouds. Equinix helps the world's digital leaders exchange large volumes of data and includes companies such as Google, Amazon, Instagram, SnapChat, Crypto currencies, Uber, Deliveroo, etc.

MARK ANDERSON

TITLE: VP, GLOBAL TECHNICAL SALES-EMEA, EQUINIX

LOCATION: UNITED KINGDOM

Mark leads Global Technical Sales in EMEA and leads Equinix's Solutions Architecture, Digital Technical Specialists and Solution Engineering disciplines. Mark focuses on helping Equinix customers develop, adopt and enable their Digital Strategy by consulting on workload, data, interconnection and location opportunities on the Equinix platform to exploit Internet of Things, Cloud and Data Analytics capabilities. Prior to joining Equinix nearly nine years ago, he worked in the transformational IT outsourcing space around the world, as a consulting Enterprise Architect.

GRACE ANDREWS

TITLE: PRINCIPAL PRODUCT EVANGELIST AT EQUINIX METAL LOCATION: UNITED STATES

Grace is a seasoned storyteller with a passion for people and technology. Her career is deeply rooted in infrastructure, data and non-traditional models for training and enablement. As an enthusiastic technologist, she is always looking for ways to bridge creative technical solutions with deep understanding.

PATRICIA STAMOS

TITLE: SR. MANAGER, GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY ENGAGEMENT

LOCATION: UNITED STATES

In her role at Equinix, Patricia manages global sustainability engagement and the annual reporting process for the Sustainability Program Office (SPO) with a primary focus to strategically elevate ESG value across the business to drive market leadership, stakeholder value, partner opportunities and business growth.

Under her leadership, Equinix has garnered recognition from global organisations and financial indices such as NASDAQ, CDP, US EPA and Just Capital. Patricia was also responsible for developing Equinix’s initial Corporate Sustainability Report, the first of its kind for the data centre industry. In addition to her role at Equinix, Patricia is an Advisor for the CSU Chico Women in Leadership Advisory Council.

“The idea behind the Platform Equinix shared usage, shared ownership model is to build more efficient infrastructures. Organisations running their own data centres, cannot get the size, scale, and skills they need to get the efficiencies that Equinix can.”

Direnc adds: “Deploying with Equinix is the first step in an organisation’s sustainable digital transformation journey and results in a considerable reduction in carbon emissions compared to a traditional on-prem enterprise infrastructure.

Sr. Manager, Global Sustainability Engagement, Patricia Stamos, adds: “By moving IT infrastructure to Platform Equinix, organisations also move their scope 1 and 2 emissions to scope 3 emissions—which means handing over the responsibility of greening their supply chain, keeping up with supplyside regulations, and the cost of investing in new sustainability-focused technologies and maintenance to Equinix.

“Organisations who deploy on Platform Equinix receive custom Green Power Reports (GPRs), based on third-party verified metrics, to attest to the carbon emissions associated with their data center operation deployments at Equinix for transparency.”

“

There's a roadmap to digital transformation that allows us to break the idea that increased workload equals higher energy consumption, as we look at more efficient architecture models.”

MARK ANDERSON VP, GLOBAL TECHNICAL SALES-EMEA, EQUINIX®

GRACE ANDREWS

PRINCIPAL PRODUCT EVANGELIST, EQUINIX METAL

Direnc picks up: “Once an organisation deploys in Equinix’s core network hubs, they can virtually interconnect with more than 10,000 network service providers, clouds, partners, security services, customers, and suppliers over shared resources on demand via software-based portals and platforms in real time, in more than 60 global markets.”

“Organisations can then switch from their previous methods of connecting cloud services, via their network service provider through either private multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) or the public internet, to using Equinix Fabric®—our dedicated, virtual interconnection tool.”

This virtual interconnection on demand can improve efficiencies for organisations further compared to a traditional on-prem enterprise infrastructure relying on legacy IT and networking.

The final level of sustainable digital transformation maturity is when organisations take advantage of the full suite of digital services available on Platform Equinix to deploy their entire infrastructure as-a-service. This means that organisations eliminate infrastructure ownership, capex spend, and emissions related to IT whilst increasing agility through provisioning infrastructure on demand.

With multiple global brands, offices and production facilities spread across five continents, the Hero Group needed to evolve from a traditional IT model to a more agile, reliable and cost-effective digital-first operation. The company partnered with Equinix based on its strong focus on sustainability, and expertise in delivering a secure, reliable and interconnected digital infrastructure platform.

"Hero has set specific sustainability targets to become a net neutral business. Our automated digital-first model allows us to be more agile and to create and deliver healthier foods. With Platform Equinix we have a solid foundation for standardising our IT globally with greater predictability and sustainability."

Bas Dijikhuizen, Head of Competence Center Infrastructure, Hero Group.

How Digital Services Enable Sustainable Digital Transformation

Digital services on Platform Equinix allow organisations to virtualise physical infrastructure according to their business needs, enabling a more sustainable overall outcome.

By deploying digitally on an ‘as-a-service’, on-demand platform, organisations can use what they need, when they need it; they can turn their services on and off as they see fit.

“Digital transformation and sustainability go hand-in-hand, enabling each other.”

“For example, Equinix Fabric can be used for software networking, data exchange and service exchange—all digitally rather than having to implement physical connections,” says Mark.

“Then we have Network Edge - virtual networking devices that dictate how we exchange that data securely at the edge. Equinix Metal®, is a private bare-metal-as-aservice solution, which is how organisations can deploy, store, and keep their data as a service in a private, cloud-like environment.

“The challenge for organisations right now is that they have data on public cloud, private cloud, and on their own servers and storage devices. Platform Equinix puts all this in a hybrid integrated environment, with the public clouds, for organisations to create a secure, optimised, virtualized sustainable infrastructure solution to underpin their digital transformation...”

Schneider Electric started its sustainable digital transformation with Platform Equinix. Schneider Electric has started using new models of “Platform-as-a-Service” and “BareMetal-as-a-Service”, which are covered with renewable energy from Equinix, enabling the

next evolution of its IT infrastructure.

These services are helping Schneider simultaneously improve performance and industrial automation, by improving operations and energy management. Additionally, at a time of unprecedented supply chain disruptions and constraints, virtual infrastructure built on Equinix’s digital services helped Schneider Electric to mitigate the delays on energy efficiency implementations.

"It always starts with a purpose: what is a company trying to achieve in terms of their

HERO GROUP

With multiple global brands, offices and production facilities spread across five continents, the Hero Group needed to evolve from a traditional IT model to a more agile, reliable and costeffective digital-first operation. The company partnered with Equinix based on its strong focus on sustainability, and expertise in delivering a secure, reliable and interconnected digital infrastructure platform.

Figure 3. Sustainable Transformation on Platform Equinix

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC DIGITAL LEADERS

digital transformation? For us, it was very simple. It was about making IT infrastructure modern because of the legacy footprint that we have. That organically translated into reduction of the footprint, thus reducing the carbon footprint." Xach Nimboorkar, Senior Vice President of Global IT Infrastructure and Operations at Schneider Electric.

Grace puts emphasis on mindful digital transformation and why digital services from Equinix are required alongside the public cloud.

“Cloud is only one piece of the puzzle. We have to remember that the cloud has a physical home and underlying physical resources,” says Grace.

“So, this idea of sustainable digital transformation is also an idea of efficiency within the way we design systems. With the tools and components that make up digital services from Equinix, we are maximising the physical infrastructure that already exists in a

way that allows us to build systems differently— to build systems that are sustainable, OPEX-driven, and flexible.”

Let’s look at workloads as an example: “Organisations have workloads and often they would have the same workload sitting in four or five different geographic locations in case of a ransomware attack, power outage or other disaster.

Another example might be an e-commerce website which needs to be able to handle many loads because of an upcoming holiday sale.

Traditionally, these organisations had to buy more physical infrastructure to architect the infrastructure for the worst-case scenario in the case of disaster recovery or maximum utilisation in the case of the e-commerce provider even though that infrastructure would be redundant 99% of the time. This redundancy is hugely inefficient, expensive and CO2 emissions heavy.

“This is where Equinix brings a unique value to organisations on their sustainable digital transformation journey. We help them identify what they need, when they need it,

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC

Schneider Electric started its sustainable digital transformation with Platform Equinix. Schneider Electric has started using new models of “Platform-as-aService” and “Bare-Metal-as-a-Service”, which are covered with renewable energy from Equinix, enabling the next evolution of its IT infrastructure These services are helping Schneider simultaneously improve performance and industrial automation, by improving operations and energy management. Additionally, at a time of unprecedented supply chain disruptions and constraints, virtual infrastructure built on Equinix’s digital services helped Schneider Electric to mitigate the delays on energy efficiency implementations.

and make it available to them on demand, as-a-service, eliminating the costs and emissions related to owning and operating primary and redundant hardware.

“We're bringing organisations the components they already use, whether it's networking providers, such as Cisco, Juniper and Nutanix, storage providers like Dell, HPE or Pure Storage, or security providers like Fortinet and F5. We're bringing all of those components together; optimised inside of this virtual world. Sustainable digital transformation starts with modernising and virtualizing physical infrastructure, and Platform Equinix is the foundation from which to begin.”

“ The big thing here is that the consumption model is where digital services from Equinix really disrupt.”

GRACE ANDREWS PRINCIPAL PRODUCT EVANGELIST, EQUINIX METAL

READ THE GOING GREEN WITH SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC REPORT

Could AI offer a solution?

WRITTEN BY: JOSEPHINE WALBANK

According to research by digital infrastructure company Equinix, 62% of global IT decision-makers view a shortage of personnel with IT skills as one of the main threats to their business.

In fact, 44% of respondents expressed their concerns surrounding candidates with the wrong skill sets applying for jobs and the on going battle for retention of current talent.

The sector is expanding rapidly, but there is a clear indication that, unless things change, the current pace of growth is unsustainable.

And, as with countless other spheres in the industry, technology is set to prove critical to navigating this pressing problem. Specifically, new AI technologies are among the most widely-cited solutions to the current talent crisis. Pioneering talent specialists across the world are utilising AI to help clients achieve a more efficient, supportive and intuitive approach to both onboarding and talent retention.

It’s an interesting concept, but not one without risk. And, as it stands, it’s certainly not a foolproof solution. So, is AI technology realistically applicable in enhancing and augmenting talent within data centres?

Addressing one of the biggest threats to data centres - the talent crisis

Although AI is most commonly associated with threats to people’s jobs, the technology

Alongside being one of the biggest challenges for data centres, the talent shortage is one of the most difficult to address.

S A R A D A N

is actually increasingly being used to bring – and, critically, retain – more talent in the field.

“Talent is one of the biggest struggles for data centres, whether that involves attracting new team members or retaining existing colleagues. People are the centre of any organisation and there’s often a concern that AI will be used to replace people to drive change – this, however, isn’t the case,” explains Mick Lane, the Global Technology Solutions Manager at CBRE.

In fact, for many in the industry, the digital transformation of talent initiatives is a development long overdue. And the combination of the pandemic and the current talent shortage has put this delay under the global spotlight.

“The global COVID crisis has brought into sharp focus not only how necessary technological evolution really is (especially to the bottom line), but also just how many organisations have been resting on their laurels for too long when it comes to turning intent into action in this important area,” asserts Alan Bourne, CEO and Founder of Sova.

But now, the scope for deploying AI in recruitment is advancing rapidly. Following its exceptional success in countless other spheres, the industry is eagerly anticipating its impact here.

“As AI continues to break through limitations and change the way we work, our minds naturally wonder how we can

MICK LANE GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS MANAGER, CBRE

“

It’s important to ensure technology is used to support people to achieve more, rather than replace them”

use AI to solve other issues within the data centre industry,” Lane poses.

“With the right systems in place, businesses stand to make huge cost savings by automating laborious tasks such as CV reviews and interview administration, as well as assessment tasks – and even some stages of the interview process itself,” Bourne adds.

Then, once new talent is successfully onboarded, AI can be used to help companies better support the individual throughout their entire time working there.

“The long-term benefits of this approach are multiple. Aside from the clear monetary benefits, AI also opens up the possibility for businesses to gain vital data and analytics to indicate long-term performance markers amongst its employees, tracking employee journeys from application to exit interview,” Bourne explains.

“In terms of supporting talent, AI can be very effective as a tool supporting augmented reality training scenarios, providing efficient real-time operational analytics, and for attracting talent by demonstrating that a business is leveraging new and emerging technologies to provide employees with more interesting and future proof roles,” Lane furthers.

The problems that first need to be overcome – using AI to foster greater DE&I

According to a recent Glassdoor survey, 76% of job seekers and employees say that a diverse workforce is an important factor when evaluating potential new companies and job offers.

Today, a DEI strategy is a critical component of any successful company. So, before AI can be used as the foundation of your onboarding process, it needs to be aligned to clear DEI targets. Historically, this is something that many companies have found challenging.

“Even companies with great intentions can struggle to measure the performance of their DEI initiatives. In part, this is due to a lack of clearly measurable and understandable data,” explains Somen Mondal, General Manager of Talent Intelligence at Ceridian.

Although talent intelligence software is already aiding the hiring process, how can it be used to build diverse and representative teams?

For Mondal, the big question mark looming over AI’s deployment in talent initiatives is that of transparency. With more transparent algorithms, and ongoing evaluations of these, AI can become an ethical and long-term solution.

“Traditionally, diversity and inclusion have been measured in terms of self-disclosed demographic data, and that’s it. However, there are more meaningful ways data can be used to evaluate initiatives.”

“The next frontline is how organisations can be fairer and more equitable in their talent decision-making. That’s why transparency –knowing why and how algorithms and people do what they do – is the new frontier beyond efficiency in DEI because it enables greater insight into the fundamentals and helps uncover potential inequities in processes and algorithmic bias that might be hiding below the surface,” Mondal predicts.

AI enhancing the entire employee journey – training, risk management and upskilling So, in the ongoing drive to support talent, what do we predict for the future role of AI?

Taking the example of CBRE, the company provides an exceptionally specialised approach to data centre training and upskilling. It is also the world’s first organisation to provide Competency & Confidence Assessment Modelling (CCAM) for the digital infrastructure industry.

“CCAM training allows us to meet the demand for intelligent facilities by continuously assessing our people’s competence and confidence in relevant technologies and technical disciplines and to close any gaps identified within the engineering workforce via comprehensive training programmes,” Lane explains.

“Using AI to train our teams within data centres allows us to embrace new, advancing technologies and ensure our talent is prepared for the next generation of tech and remains ‘right skilled’. In adopting

“AI also opens up the possibility for businesses to gain vital data and analytics to indicate longterm performance markers amongst its employees, tracking employee journeys from application to exit interview”

ALAN BOURNE CEO AND FOUNDER, SOVA

this approach, CBRE is helping ensure that our staff remain continuously employable in a fast-changing market.”

By leveraging AI-based insight platforms, CBRE also significantly reduces the risks that its teams are exposed to.

AI equips teams with relevant real-time information and forecasted trends, so that they can act on any potential anomalies long before they become an issue. For example, AI can detect a leading indicator of failure in a cooling pump. It alerts teams, who can then correct the situation long before it

poses any actual threat to those on site.

“This physical-to-digital-to-physical loop uses AI in real-time to recognise patterns, simulate potential future scenarios and learn to predict future events,” Lane explains.

“This essential information equips our people to proactively avert downtime, become more responsive to unexpected shifts in demand, work more flexibly in the face of previously unpredictable environmental shifts and prepares them to deal with possible challenges, internally and externally for the facility.”

PRODUCED BY: LEWIS VAUGHAN

AD FEATURE WRITTEN BY: GEORGE HOPKIN

Black & Veatch provides insights on digital twin technology and its impact on data centre development, including design, construction, and sustainability

Digital twin technology has gone from a futuristic ideal to a present-day reality for data centre developers and operators. This highly specialised virtual modelling can impact the entire data centre lifecycle, beginning with site due diligence and moving into design and construction, as well as measuring sustainability objectives and creating tools for operational excellence.

Black & Veatch is using its internal resources to develop real-time modelling for global clients. Digital twin technology eliminates geographical barriers in initial site due diligence and design phases. The entire team can virtually walk the “completed” project without leaving their desks. This provides great convenience, but the real value is evolving.

Digital twins are not simply simulation tools because they also provide a previously inaccessible depth and breadth of exploration of data. It allows clients to review a project in a virtual world before implementing it and allows developers to sell the project to stakeholders earlier.

The digital twin can also support operations of the data centre, where monitoring and other tasks are done remotely and the ops officer can review issues from any location to make decisions that have a significant impact on the enterprise.

This report features industry insights from key personnel at Black & Veatch who are invested in its activities and translate the company’s achievements into professional services for its core industries.

Example of an image caption

DUE DILIGENCE INSIGHTS BEFORE A SHOVEL GOES INTO THE GROUND

Digital twin modelling allows clients to design a site even before the land or building is purchased, says Black & Veatch’s Shilpa Maganti and Greg Zalewski Black & Veatch perform site due diligence for data centres and mission-critical facilities, collaborating with clients to assess greenfield and brownfield sites using the company’s expertise in the power, water, telecom/fibre, environmental and data centre industries.

The company has the capability, scalability, and global resources to help clients select sites that will meet future capacity and sustainability requirements. This expedites challenging schedules and gives clients a competitive advantage by leveraging Black & Veatch’s vast global internal resource pool, preferred sub-

consultants and long-term relationships with utility providers in major markets worldwide.

“We might have a client who has a piece of land and asks us, ‘Can we build a data centre here?’” explains Shilpa Maganti, Black

“Clients know how large a data centre they're looking to build, so our team works with them to build a virtual master plan”

SHILPA A. MAGANTI, P.E. PROJECT MANAGER, BLACK & VEATCH

& Veatch’s

Data

Centres Project Manager. “At that point, we would look at the site, look at the topography, even the soil conditions. We have to be able to answer the question of whether we can even build at that location.“

“We also need to calculate the civil and structural side issues related to a project – do we need to blast the site? How is the grading going to work?”

Black & Veatch also considers power and utilities during a site due diligence project, including an overview of potential cooling systems and water supplies.

“Then we move on to other investigations, including the environmental side and master planning. We investigate any environmental impacts. Most of the clients we work with know how large a data centre they're looking to build on that piece of land, so our team works with them to build a master plan.”

SHILPA A. MAGANTI, P.E.

TITLE: PROJECT MANAGER

INDUSTRY: ENGINEERING

LOCATION: UNITED STATES

Shilpa Maganti is a Project Manager for Black & Veatch with more than 13 years of experience with a wide variety of auxiliary power system designs and arc flash hazard analyses associated with data centres, power plants and mission-critical industrial facilities.

Shilpa’s experience includes design and specification of auxiliary electrical distribution equipment for new and retrofit data centre projects. She is experienced in performing power system studies, including load flow, short-circuit and arc flash hazard analysis engineering activities using SKM (Power Tools for Windows) or Electrical Transient and Analysis Program (ETAP) - PowerStation by OTI. She has developed procurement and design-build/ Engineering, Procurement and Construction.

EXECUTIVE BIO

GREG ZALEWSKI

TITLE: PRECONSTRUCTION MANAGER

INDUSTRY: ENGINEERING

LOCATION: UNITED STATES

Greg Zalewski is a Preconstruction Manager at Black & Veatch and has more than 14 years of experience providing project estimating services for data centers and mission critical facilities, including modular systems. He is responsible for the development of project cost models for opportunities ranging from Design Requirements

Reports to At-Risk cost estimates for engineer-procure-construct (EPC) opportunities. He considers cost factors such as site investigations, the local labor market, availability of materials, quantities from design drawings, and quotations from suppliers. He also develops cost opinions for reports and feasibility studies and maintains procedures for quality control of cost opinions.

Digital twin tech gives real-time understanding of critical issues

Some developer clients may already have their own facilities, which requires Black & Veatch to carry out a facility assessment.

“Evaluating an existing facility requires more extensive detail. Do we need to make any structural improvements? Are there any permitting or zoning requirements that change the land use, or the use of this building? What are those implications?”

Greg Zalewski, Preconstruction Manager at Black & Veatch, says digital twin technology gives the client a real-time understanding of a broad range of critical issues.

“And it means you're not waiting for architects and engineers to come back and redraft; you can make a lot of those changes on the fly using that digital model of a digital twin,” says Zalewski. “It doesn't have to be a fully developed model – you can do some very rough block models and get an idea of how it will all work. From there you can visualise what that project will look like and what your facility will be, before you ever put a shovel in the ground.”

GREG ZALEWSKI PRECONSTRUCTION MANAGER, BLACK & VEATCH

“You can visualise what that project will look like before you ever put a shovel in the ground”

Greg Zalewski

CASE STUDY

REGIONAL FOCUS: DATA CENTRES IN INDIA FACE UNIQUE CHALLENGES

India aims to secure much of the regional investment being made in Asia, which is expected to account for half of the global data centre market by 2025. The country reclassified data centres as “infrastructure” in April 2022, and this change in legislation is expected to attract investment from developers having access to capital at lower credit rates as a result. With huge potential for demand growth, international data centre providers are

ramping up to secure market share. In recent years, many have acquired local players or entered into joint-venture arrangements. Developers looking to fast-track construction face challenges including access to local teams at wage rates that retain reliable and high-quality outcomes, while also designing facilities that are sustainable within the Indian market, particularly with the country facing increased climate change impact.

SUSTAINABILITY IS CRUCIAL FOR THE FUTURE OF DATA CENTRES

Global business and society demand data centres – and sustainable designs are the future, says Black & Veatch’s Angie Nygren, Amol Samant and Drew Derrick Black & Veatch is committed to continuous improvement for clients and communities, so sustainability is ingrained into the company’s strategy. Mitigating and adapting to climate change, decarbonising supply chains, and creating a more diverse and inclusive workforce are just some of the challenges the company is committed to addressing head-on.

Together with its clients, partners and employees, Black & Veatch’s work designing and building tomorrow's infrastructure plays a powerful role in improving sustainable outcomes.

“Our clients are feeling accountable for sustainability and making sure they have sustainable options in their designs,” says Black & Veatch Architect Angie Nygren. “The need for data centres is not going away, so how can they not feel accountable?”

Black & Veatch Project Manager Amol Samant has also seen a significant increase in the number of conversations around sustainability in his work with clients. Some of the most important factors to consider

EXECUTIVE BIO

ANGIE NYGREN, NCARB, AIA, LEED AP BD+C

TITLE: ARCHITECT & EXECUTION MANAGER

Angie Nygren is a licensed architect and Execution Manager for Black & Veatch with more than 13 years of experience in design of complex building types. Her expertise extends to several market sectors, including athletic training facilities, football stadiums, mixed-use developments, and data centres.

Angie is responsible for the crossdiscipline coordination of the complex building systems within mission-critical facilities. She leads the design team through design and documentation and is responsible for coordinating across disciplines to uphold the client’s standards, design intent, and project schedule.

ANGIE

NYGREN

ARCHITECT & EXECUTION MANAGER, BLACK & VEATCH

“Our clients are feeling accountable for sustainability and making sure they have sustainable options in their designs”

Digital twins offer real-time modelling for data centres

“The city centre is where the infrastructure for things like power are available, but there is a scarcity of water”

AMOL SAMANT PROJECT MANAGER, BLACK & VEATCH

are water, heating and cooling, and noise pollution, all of which can present challenges for sustainability-minded clients regarding where a data centre can be placed.

“The city centre is where the infrastructures for utilities, like power, are available,” says Samant. ”At the same time, there is a scarcity of water, and we cannot use the huge amount of water required for data centre cooling at the same location.”

A technical “balancing act” to save energy, power and water This can mean Black & Veatch has to work with the client to perform “a balancing act” to save energy, power and water while still ensuring data centre facilities are optimised.

“We've had a client come to us recently and tell us they want to use air-cooled chillers, which are not necessarily the most efficient cooling option available,” says Black & Veatch Mechanical Engineer Drew Derrick. “But they've made the

AMOL SAMANT

TITLE: SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER

INDUSTRY: ENGINEERING

LOCATION: VIKROLI, MUMBAI, INDIA

Amol Samant is a senior Project Manager with more than 25 years of diverse experience with multiple complex projects like IT parks, shopping malls, health care facilities and data centers. His project activities have included condition assessments, feasibility studies, design and construction administration. Amol has served as Project Director for mission critical data center projects which include complex electro mechanical installations, centralized chilled water systems, hot aisle systems, thermal energy storage.

decision that they want to use cold chillers so they can save water.

“We have that discussion with the client, bringing their requirements and preferences to the forefront. Then we can design a system around their values for sustainability – and that can be an interesting topic of the conversation if the client hasn’t thought of it before.”

Derrick predicts that, in the next decade, the data centre construction industry will see more liquid cooling options – both direct-to-chip or immersiontype technology – but this will require

DREW DERRICK, PE, CXA, DCEP, ATD

TITLE: MECHANICAL ENGINEERING MANAGER

INDUSTRY: ENGINEERING

LOCATION: UNITED STATES

Drew Derrick is a Mechanical Engineering Manager with more than 20 years of experience with heating ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) and plumbing systems for mission-critical facilities, including data centres. His project activities include condition assessments, feasibility studies, design, construction administration, value engineering and commissioning.

EXECUTIVE BIO

Drew has engineered and served as certified commissioning agent for mission-critical mechanical systems subject to client reliability criteria, redundancy, and single-point vulnerabilities. He has experience developing mechanical systems for sensitive compartmented information facilities (SCIF) subject to DCID 6/9, and is an Accredited Tier Design (ATD) by Uptime Institute.

“After you've built it, it’s much more expensive for the client to make changes”

DREW DERRICK MECHANICAL ENGINEERING MANAGER, BLACK & VEATCH

Drew Derrick

clients to make upfront investments in the technology to reap the rewards of its better functionality over time.

Digital twin technology also allows clients to quickly determine how sustainable their new data centre would be using different materials for construction. “From a rough design of the

structural system using different materials, we can pull those quantities and materials from the model and give them a carbon factor,” says Nygren. “Then clients can know whether a concrete structure, a steel structure, or a timber frame might affect the carbon footprint of these different structural systems.”

CASE STUDY

The data centre market is set to grow across the Asia Pacific region over the next five years, with many sources projecting a double-digit growth. This demand growth – for data locally and regionally – could see significant capacity development beyond traditional regional centres, such as Singapore and Hong Kong.

Investment flows could shift to locations such as India, Indonesia and the Philippines with low existing capacity alongside promising demographics and projected economic growth.

Countries like Singapore have only recently lifted moratoriums on data centre development, with government

officials citing the intensity of water use and electricity as a key factor behind the previous moratorium. Such circumstances highlight the looming issue facing new development, as our hunger for data competes for energy and water resources.

Well-planned and calibrated growth is required at a national level, while on a project-level, best-in-class technologies and practices for energy and water efficiency must be considered early to ensure long-term viability of projects. This must be considered alongside making sure adequate and reliable utility interconnection infrastructure is in place or developed in parallel.

REGIONAL FOCUS: NEW GROWTH FOR DATA CENTRES IN ASIA PACIFIC

DIGITAL TWINS MEAN CLIENTS CAN DESIGN TWICE, BUT BUILD ONCE

Data centre virtual models mean contractors can work together with perfect precision, says Black & Veatch’s Angie Nygren, Drew Derrick and Greg Zalewski Black & Veatch’s integrated design, engineering, and construction approach increases project performance while ensuring cost and schedule certainty for critical infrastructure. As clients’ single point of contract responsibility, Black & Veatch works in a collaborative team to maximise return on investment and deliver projects of the highest value possible. The company’s design-build teams identify and implement creative solutions through a contractor-led, construction-driven model.

“With the 3D fly-throughs we can offer, the client knows what they're getting, knows

that operationally it's going to function for them,” says Black & Veatch Architect Angie Nygren. “So, in a sense, we're really designing twice.”

CFD modelling is used to build interior and exterior twins, which allows Black & Veatch to work with clients to fine-tune master plans. “We had a project where the client was using direct evaporative units on the exterior of the building, sucking in large volumes of air,” says Black & Veatch Mechanical Engineering Manager Drew Derrick. “Diesel generators for the project were sitting relatively close. We found that when the generators were on, the exhaust fumes came back into the building.

“We ran the model and had to extend the stacks, moving the generators a little farther away, so we could make those modifications before it became a problem in the field,” says Derrick. “After you've built it, it’s much more expensive for the client to make that kind of change.”

Digital twins do away with “firstcome, first-served” approach

A fully coordinated model provides a clear understanding of where systems should be placed, says Greg Zalewski, Preconstruction Manager at Black & Veatch, which didn’t always happen in a time before digital twin technology. “When people weren't coordinating their work, they may not know how they're going to arrange their systems, whether it's electrical conduits or mechanical piping, or sprinklers.”

Digital twin technology does away with this “first-come, first-served” approach, replacing the need for subsequent

contractors having to make allowances around the first to start work.

Clients in different regions may also have very different requirements – for example, Black & Veatch has carried out studies to explore options to recycle data centre cooling water for irrigation or other purposes.

“This is designing twice and building once, because you can coordinate all those systems in the virtual world before you actually get into the field, and then your contractors can build from the model. They know exactly down to the inch where they need to be and how close they should be from one system to the next, and this saves a lot of time in the field.”

What We Do - Black & Veatch

OPERATIONAL INTELLIGENCE BOOSTS RELIABILITY AND EFFICIENCY

Digital twin technology leverages drones and specialist software to give an overview of operations, says Black & Veatch’s Julia

Guerra and Anthony Taylor

Operational intelligence provides insights that help optimise day-to-day operating and maintenance practices to boost reliability and efficiency. This can include important monitoring and diagnosis services that provide a dashboard for clients to see deeply into their systems

via the cloud. Adaptive planning focuses on the future, using scenario analysis and predictive analytics to better inform asset management, long-term capital expenditures and other planning decisions.

Black & Veatch also prepares clients with well-defined procedures, such as lock out/ tag out and confined space instructions, to optimise day-to-day operations and maintenance. Other services include: preparation of facility-specific operations manuals; process control optimisation and troubleshooting; onsite technical support for completion of facility start-up and commissioning; assessments, including facility operations, of staffing

and maintenance; laboratory design and onsite laboratory reviews; and equipment specification development.

“Recently, we've been leaning towards something called DroneDeploy,” says Black & Veatch BIM coordinator Julia Guerra. “This is a very exciting piece of software that very easily shows with one click that a client representative in the field doesn’t need to be an engineer to be able to use a drone. It's about simplicity, scalability, and how everybody can get their hands on it – from the owner to the surveyor or an engineer, it doesn't matter, everybody can use the same data. We’re taking the fear away from drones and simply making it a tool like

JULIA CAROL GUERRA

TITLE: BIM COORDINATOR

INDUSTRY: ENGINEERING

LOCATION: UNITED STATES

Julia Guerra works in technology construction for Black & Veatch. Her background includes reality capture technology including Drone services, 360 cameras and laser scanning. Julia has extensive experience in BIM technology, including 3D modelling, and model management for field teams. She has previous experience in founding a drone programme that accelerated to 10 pilots in under a year. Her experience in reality capture includes execution and strategy of laser scanning, and 360 capture walks. Julia can help provide a clear picture for communication

EXECUTIVE BIO

ANTHONY TAYLOR

TITLE: BIM COORDINATOR & TECHNOLOGY MANAGER

INDUSTRY: ENGINEERING

LOCATION: UNITED STATES

Anthony Taylor is BIM Coordinator & Technology Manager for Black & Veatch. He is responsible for the strategic development and implementation of Black & Veatch’s BIM initiative using BIM related tools and platforms including BIM 360. Anthony specialises in

the use of BIM on complex regional and global BIM projects including setup, establishing objectives, providing technical direction and support. Anthony has design capabilities in multiple software applications including Globally

specific space control, grading and drainage design through Civil 3D and/or OpenRoads (Power Inroads SS4), and mission-critical facilities utilizing BIM 360, Revit, VEO, CADworx, NavisWorks.

everything else so that people in the field are just as comfortable using a drone as they might be using a hammer.”

BIM 360 connects workflows, teams, and data for clients and contractor

Black & Veatch’s digital-twin work makes extensive use of BIM 360, part of the Autodesk Construction Cloud designed to connect workflows, teams, and data. This software – along with an extensive line of modules designed to extend and focus functionality – reduces risk, improves

quality, and helps deliver projects on time and on budget by predicting safety hazards, proactively managing quality, automating tasks, and reducing rework so that clients can control costs and stay on schedule.

“With BIM 360, not only are you able to have your team on a single platform, you're seeing data throughout the project lifecycle from design to construction,” says Anthony Taylor, BIM Coordinator & Technology Manager in Black & Veatch’s Data Center Group.

“You have the ability for your clients to see the same data from any device that has Internet service. That could be a computer or a tablet or a phone – as long as there is Internet access, you can access these files anywhere in the world.

“BIM 360 also has security layers, so if you only want certain roles like project managers or admins to have access to certain folders, it's really great for management and security,” says Taylor.

JULIA GUERRA BIM COORDINATOR, BLACK & VEATCH

“We’re making it so people in the field are just as comfortable using a drone as they might be using a hammer”

ANTHONY TAYLOR BIM COORDINATOR & TECHNOLOGY MANAGER, BLACK & VEATCH

“With these new technologies, not only are you able to have your team on a single platform, but you're seeing data throughout the project lifecycle”

3D, 4D AND 5D DIGITAL MODELS SHED NEW LIGHT ON CONSTRUCTION

Traditional paper plans used by construction contractors have been replaced by digital twin technology, says Black & Veatch’s Angie Nygren and Greg Zalewski Black & Veatch has been leading the construction industry since its earliest days of building infrastructure in America’s heartlands and worldwide. The company delivers the highest standards of safety, quality and efficiency and adapts its diverse construction solutions to mitigate risk and suit client budgets.

The company’s construction experience extends across all industries they serve, benefitting from a holistic view of infrastructure lifecycles. Black & Veatch has experience with multiple contracting approaches as a prime contractor, design-builder, construction manager at-risk (CMAR), major subcontractor, joint venture partner, or consortium member. The company also selfperforms construction trades as a direct hire, as a construction manager of multiple subcontractors, or a combination of both.

“I'm seeing a couple of trends in digital twins in construction,” says Black & Veatch Architect Angie Nygren. “The first is much more client interaction. Historically, we used to give 2D plans to the client; they would approve the plans, and we would build it, and then it would be something of a surprise when they saw the end result after construction.”

2D plans and drawings are not enough for clients anymore, says the Black & Veatch team, with clients instead calling for 3D and digital twin models. “They want to see the building in three dimensions before we even stick a shovel in the ground,” says Nygren. “The client is going to be the end user, so they want to know things like how are they going to load the racks? How are they going to access the cable tray? Will they have a clear space for a ladder to get to areas that will be required in the future?”

Modelling catches issues long before they become problems Black & Veatch goes further than this and ensures clients can assess the smallest details, which can then attract interest from other departments such as marketing and brand management. “Clients can discover how the finishes we've chosen interact with their brand,” says Nygren. “How is the flow of the space from break rooms to offices? Increased client interaction means they’re looking for that 3D fly-through.”

This approach to construction means even the smallest efficiencies can be identified or discovered in the digital twin environment. “We model everything,” says Nygren, “so that we know if there's a picture that's going to clash with a duct from our model long before this is an issue in the field.”

Beyond the third dimension, Black & Veatch is also seeing trends extend into the fourth and fifth dimensions of those digital twin models. These take into account not only what the project or product will look like, but also how it looks over time as well as the costs involved in its operations and maintenance.

“While you're evaluating a project, you can look to custom construction sequencing to see how this project is going to be built, and you can look for

opportunities there to either accelerate or – if you're considering phasing – how you would implement that throughout the project by using that 4D aspect,” says Greg Zalewski, Preconstruction Manager at Black & Veatch

“On top of that, we're starting to see a lot more focus on the fifth dimension, which is adding cost to that,” he says. “While the fourth dimension takes the model through time, the fifth dimension adds cost to that time factor. From an owner's perspective, you can actually get a very reliable picture of what your capital expenses are going to be throughout the course of that project and how you need to finance and fund it.”

As digital twin technology becomes the industry standard, data centre owners and operators will benefit from more reliable, efficient and sustainable facilities. Traditional paper plans used by construction contractors have been replaced by digital twins, which allow clients to design a site even before land or buildings are purchased.

Digital models presented in 3D, 4D and 5D will impact not only site due diligence and design, but also construction, budgeting, modernisation and operations. Modelling catches issues long before they become problems and Black & Veatch goes further to ensure clients can assess the smallest details. This can then attract interest from other departments such as marketing and brand management.

Black & Veatch is ever-evolving and leading the industry in applying these

tools and technologies to leading-edge data centre development. The company has the capability, scalability, and global resources to help clients select sites that will meet future capacity and sustainability requirements.

This expedites challenging schedules and gives clients a competitive advantage by leveraging Black & Veatch’s vast global internal resource pool, preferred subconsultants and long-term relationships with utility providers in major markets worldwide.

References:

• What is a digital twin?

• Mission-critical facilities/data centers

WRITTEN BY: JOSEPHINE WALBANK

Thought podcasts were limited to comedy? The host outlines

right? But even the most committed data centre enthusiasts might be surprised to learn about the wealth of dedicated data centre podcasts out there.

The podcast genre offers marketers and thought leaders a wealth of unique qualities. It is characterised by its informal, conversational approach, with content that is usually more personable and relaxed than video-based content. Plus, the length of the episodes allows the speakers to create a thorough deep-dive into their topics.

For these reasons, the growth of data centre podcasts is a fascinating trend, which is highly reflective of the nature of the wider industry – namely, the willingness to share ideas, the genuine interest in learning, and the focus on cross-industry collaboration.

To find out what’s driving the rise of data centre podcasts, we spoke to one of the most influential players leading the charge: Andy Davis, the host of the Inside Data Centre Podcast. Over 100 episodes-strong, he has welcomed guests spanning the full breadth of the industry and, even two years in, is still growing.

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ANDY DAVIS HOST, INSIDE DATA CENTRE PODCAST

How did the podcast begin?

As with many great things, the Inside Data Podcast launched its first episode in July 2020, during the UK’s COVID-19 lockdown.

“It was at a time where there wasn't a lot going on in the world, to be totally honest. And, although the data centre sector was very buoyant during lockdown, it experienced, like everybody, that first three to four-month period where nobody really knew what was happening.

Everything stopped, people were taking stock and didn't really know what to do,” Davis explained.

In particular, Davis says that the matter of whether or not to continue recruiting was left with a big question mark, during these first few months. As the Director of the data centre recruitment company DataX Connect, Davis saw this as the perfect moment to launch this long-awaited plan.

“The plan was to record five episodes. So, I reached out to five people that I knew in the sector and asked if they would be interested. Everyone said they’d love to do it, then it snowballed from there.”

Shedding light on the workings of a secretive sector

Data centres – even for those within the industry – have long held a reputation for

Nobody knew we existed; no one outside the industry even knew what a data centre was. So I wanted to be part of the process of making the sector more visible to everybody”

Making

data centres the sector of choice

secrecy. But, in the face of challenges that threaten to halt the sector’s growth in its tracks, data centre leaders have had to speak with frankness and transparency.

“The main reason I started the podcast was because I've always been quite vocal about the sector being very secretive,” Davis explains.

“It was always a case of having to sign an NDA to have a conversation with someone about something, and I thought that that wasn't really necessary a lot of the time. There's a lot of great people in the industry with good stories to share.”

And, for Davis, the style of podcasts meant that the people who would normally require an NDA were suddenly a lot more open when asked to take part in a more informal discussion.

“That was one of the objectives: to try and demystify the sector a little bit, and to attract more people to the industry,

“The power of a podcast is amazing; for our organisation, it helps to reinforce the fact that we're trying to help the sector, we're not just sort of in it for quick wins. We are trying to do something a bit different and help everyone out”

ANDY DAVIS HOST, INSIDE DATA CENTRE PODCAST

because I'm a big believer that if people don't know it exists, they're never going to come to us. And we were our own worst enemy by being so secretive.”

“Nobody knew we existed; no one outside the industry even knew what a data centre was. So I wanted to be part of the process of making the sector more visible to everybody.”

The unique qualities of the podcast genre

Although Davis’ guest list started small, fast forward two years and a huge variety of speakers have come to the fore. After all, the more names that feature on the podcast, the more leaders will see this trend, and realise that they can indeed hold open discussions about what they’re doing themselves.

And, pushed by the need to share information to address sustainability challenges and navigate the current talent shortage, “the sector is genuinely wanting to be more open”.

Taking a different approach to the usual focus on CEOs and leadership teams, Davis works to cover people across the sector, spanning the full breadth of different fields, experience levels and topics.

“I've had people like Mike Tobin and Guy Willner on the pod – both of whom were game-changers in the data centre sector in those early days, in that Wild West part of the industry, where they were really shaking things up and leaving a footprint. Interviewing people like them always leaves you inspired, because a lot of these entrepreneurs have come from quite tough backgrounds. They're not well educated, but they're risk-takers; basically, they take educated gambles across their career,” Davis explains.

“People like that can help those in a similar boat that are (hopefully) listening and think that they can't succeed because they haven't got the education. I think, again hopefully, that kind of story helps them. So I've always enjoyed those types of conversations.”

“I also really enjoy talking to the apprentices that have just started in the sector. Again, it helps me to understand how they found their way in,” adds Davis.

“I think that, if we don't understand and fix the pathway, we're not going to attract new people. So, we need to be asking these apprentices, ‘how did you find it?’.”

Tackling talent shortages and climate change – all through podcasts

The perspective that Davis’ career has given him has, undoubtedly, influenced the content that he produces.

“I think it's all about being more open. I think people now understand the challenges we face, from a talent perspective. That's my day job, and that's where a lot of my conversations spring from,” Davis explains.

“If we aren’t open, don't start talking to people and don't start sharing our stories, the sector is going to stagnate.

HOST,

ON AIR

The data centre industry itself has grown faster than the talent pool, meaning there aren’t enough people, so we have to be more open to new things. Whether that's allowing different skill sets to come into the sector or looking to different demographics and different geographies for talent.”

Interestingly, this improved communication and cross-industry transparency is also key, Davis believes,

in tackling data centres’ other biggest challenge: sustainability.

“For the challenges around sustainability and power, it all comes back to collaboration. Before, everything was a secret. You'd never see a data centre organisation working with another one, it just didn't happen,” says Davis.

“Whereas now, there's a lot of great programmes globally, with organisations working together to try and solve a specific problem. What I see most, relating it back to the podcast, is that, now these conversations are happening, everyone is happy to share what they're doing.”

ANDY DAVIS

INSIDE DATA CENTRE PODCAST

“If we are not open, don't start talking to people and don't start sharing our stories, the sector is going to stagnate”

TOP 10

SINGAPORE

NUMBER OF DATA CENTRES: 103

Within the APAC region, Singapore is renowned for the global focus of its data centres.

The world’s technology giants – including Google, AWS and Meta (Facebook) – have designated Singapore as one of their key APAC hubs, with this tendency showing no sign of slackening.

SOUTH AFRICA

NUMBER OF DATA CENTRES: 55

South Africa is a key hub of the African data centre market, particularly in the wake of recent investment from major global players and the launch of subsea network cables, such as Google’s Equiano and A2Africa.

According to Neil Templeton, VP of Marketing at Console Connect, “2022 is the year of ‘big change’ for the continent”.

“Major investment has been made over the last 12 months in new data centre infrastructure, while the arrival of more hyperscale cloud providers on the continent will be a game changer for local businesses.”

VIETNAM

NUMBER OF DATA CENTRES: 24

Thanks to growing demand amongst Vietnamese companies for cloud services, Vietnam is experiencing a booming digital economy, further fuelled by an impressively high rate of digital literacy amongst its population. As a result, it’s projected that, by 2025, the Vietnamese data centre market will reach $1.6bn.

The country’s data centre industry is predominantly concentrated in Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and its capital city, Hanoi, with major operators including FPT Corporation, KDDI and Viettel.

HONG KONG

NUMBER OF DATA CENTRES: 116

Alongside the data centre boom currently underway in China, Hong Kong is also piggybacking off this vast, mature market.

Increasingly, Hong Kong is garnering the interest of data centre operators in mainland China, who are using Hong Kong’s prime location to bolster their plans of growth across the rest of the APAC region.

Currently, the areas of Kwai Chung, Tsuen Wan and Tseung Kwan O are experiencing the most significant increase in data centre numbers.

MALAYSIA

NUMBER OF DATA CENTRES: 47

Thanks to its prime positioning – in relation to the rest of Southeast Asia – Malaysia is currently experiencing a period of rapid cloud and digital infrastructure transformation. The leaders setting the pace of development include NTT, Keppel Data Centres and Regal Orion.

And, as the largest player in this growing tech sphere, Cyberjaya is Malaysia’s fastest growing data centre market, with the city having a staggering 70% share of Malaysia’s total capacity.

BRAZIL

NUMBER OF DATA CENTRES: 153

Brazil is another example of a key data centre market, entering a rapid phase of digitisation.

According to Layer 9 Data Centres’ CEO Michael Ortiz, the way that individuals consume data is also changing dramatically.

“10 years ago, an average LATAM household family of four would download about 7GB of data per month. But today, that same family is downloading 77GB of data – in fact, that number doubled to 77 from 38 in just the last three years,” Ortiz explains.

And, with 223 million Latin residents still without access to the internet, the further growth opportunity available in this market is abundantly clear.

NUMBER OF DATA CENTRES: 209

Despite its status as one of the world’s most mature data centre markets, there is still ample scope for Japan’s market to grow even further. As such, with the growth of the world’s remote workforce, Japanese data centres represent an increasingly valuable opportunity.

The majority of current market growth is centred upon Tokyo, although Japan’s other cities are also set to witness new data centre builds.

This is particularly true of Osaka, which is the fifth largest APAC data centre market outside of China. In fact, of Japan’s 209 data centres, 114 are in Tokyo, 34 are in Osaka and 7 are in Nagoya.

NUMBER OF DATA CENTRES: 290

Historically, Australia has been overlooked, due to its notoriously low population density and significant distance from other APAC markets.

However, Australia has experienced a decade of rapid IT expansion, for which data centres have proved critical.

"If you match Australia to its direct population, it's punching well above its weight," says Simon Cooper, Chief Operating Officer of NEXTDC. "That's something Australia has always done with technology."

INDONESIA

NUMBER OF DATA CENTRES: 69

Cloud providers are increasingly working to establish a presence in Indonesia, particularly the key market of Jakarta. Currently, the primary source of data centre investment in the market is in the hyperscale cloud sphere – with the main players in the region including Princeton Digital, Keppel Data Centres and SpaceDC.

Indonesia’s data centre industry market was valued at $1.53bn in 2020. But, in just six years, it is expected to reach a value of just over $3bn, registering an impressive 12.95% CAGR.

Alongside the increasing demand for data amongst the population, this growth is also being accelerated by the landing of the new INDIGO cable in Jakarta, which connects Singapore to Sydney.

India's Data Center Building Boom

digital workforce.

Despite the historically very low availability of connectivity amongst its population – according to Cloudscene, India has an internet literacy rate of just 26% – this underserved market is quickly being recognised for its exceptional scope.

Mumbai has the largest share of India’s data centres, and this trend is set to continue. In fact, according to JLL’s market report, around 60% of the total additional capacity that is added in India over the next five years is predicted to be in Mumbai.

Amongst those leading the growth plans, the Adani group intends to invest around $10bn in its Indian data centre parks, and Colt DCS is working towards establishing one of India’s largest hyperscale sites, while Equinix also recently made its stake in the market.