Data Centres Have Returned As “A Top Priority” In The UK

Data centres have returned as a top priority in the UK IT space and are seen as the key to IT architecture, cloud plans, and the moves to outsourced offerings.

The claim comes from consulting firm BroadGroup, which was speaking at the first ever International Colocation Club which took place last week in Paris.

BroadGroup also said that 24 percent of UK data centre space as a proportion of total space is now outsourced.

Pain point

The findings come in contrast to those found by the firm a couple of years back, where CIOs regarded data centres as a pain point because of data growth, lack/cost power, old estates, and previous lack of focus.

The objectives of the club meet were to share and exchange ideas around market challenges and business experience in the colocation industry and allow Colocation players to meet with their international peers.

“Cloud means that procurement is no longer the reserve of data centre specialists, even property people or led by specific applications, but by a broader IT infrastructure and cloud strategy,” said Steve Wallage, MD of BroadGroup Consulting.

Presenting different strategic alternatives for colocation and cloud, BroadGroup believes in flexibility in the data centre world.

“We are now seeing highly flexible or monthly deals and a move towards more dynamic on-demand offerings,” said Wallage.

The initiative was launched in France three years ago and with more than 30 companies as members, the Colo Circle – known as Cercle ColoC. Meeting twice a year at Schneider Electric, the leadership of colocation companies in France discussed the current business environment, and their perspective of the year ahead. While there were macro-economic trends undermining France’s economy at present, colocation remained a strong business with acquisitions still in play and further expansion planned both within Paris, and across a number of business cities in the country.