UK Lagging In Terms Of Data Centres, But Cloud Giant Expansions Will Change That

The UK hosts less than five percent of the world’s major cloud and Internet data centres, falling behind countries such as Australia, Japan, and China as use of cloud computing continues to grow in 2016.

The United States takes the overall majority share of cloud locations, however, with almost half of all major Internet data centres situated in the country, according to findings from analyst house Synergy Research Group.

But the UK could get a significant boost this year, as the world’s three largest cloud providers prepare to open data centres in the region.

AWS, Google, and Microsoft have all confirmed that they will be launching new cloud data centres in the country as the public cloud war heats up.

Change

“Perhaps the biggest surprise is that the UK does not feature more prominently, but that situation will change this year with AWS, Microsoft and Google all opening major data centres in the country,” said Synergy Research Group chief analyst John Dinsdale.

The findings were released this week and analysed the global data centre footprint in Q4.

The United States plays host to 46 percent of major cloud and Internet data centres, claims Synergy, with China and Japan taking 7 percent and 6 percent respectively.

Following these three leaders are Australia, Singapore, Germany, the UK, and Brazil, each accounting for between 3 percent and 5 percent each.

Synergy Research Group looked at 17 of the world’s biggest cloud and Internet service firms, including operators in IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS, such as Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform. In aggregate the companies now have over 230 major data centre sites, said Synergy.

“Given that explosive growth in cloud usage is a global phenomenon, it is remarkable that the US still accounts for almost half of the world’s major data centers, but that is a reflection of the US dominance of cloud and internet technologies,” said John Dinsdale, a chief analyst at Synergy Research Group.

Dinsdale points to the local market requirements and the scale of the other countries being the reason for the larger spread of data centre concentration.

Google expansion

Amid Google’s data centre expansion in the UK, reports circulated earlier this week of the company looking to make key acquisitions to bolster its cloud business.

Google made a hit list of cloud acquisition targets that it wants to purchase to address key areas in its cloud products that may be flagging behind offerings from competitors AWS and Azure.

Sources familiar with the matter, cited by Re/code, claim that Diane Greene and her team are looking at a number of acquisitions that include an app services startup and a pure play SaaS provider.

The sources said that Google’s wants haven’t yet got to an official stage, but the company is eyeing up Shopify, payroll provider Namely, and Xactly.

Dinsdale told TechWeekEurope that any such acquisitions on Google’s behalf would be a way to make up for lost ground.

“While Google has a huge foundation of data centres and relevant technology, it does not seem to have put cloud at the front and center of its strategic focus,” said Dinsdale.

“Google has been left behind a bit and seems to be juggling with a long list of priorities of which cloud is just one. I think Diane Greene is trying to rectify that and is trying to give Google more edge in its efforts to compete with the other two [AWS, Microsoft].”

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