Welcome to the sixth edition of Harper Harrison’s Data Center News wrap-up. We know how busy many of the industry leaders are in this thriving sector, so we thought we would highlight some of the months industry news into a bite size format. Download our future

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 6 (January 2021) 

6th Edition.

Another busy month in the books for those involved with the Data Center industry. A number of key announcements and investments has led to unprecedented demand. The question everyone is asking… is the supply chain going to be able to keep up with demand throughout 2021? 

There have been several strategic hires across the industry, most notably, Cyrus One’s appointment of new President and CEO Bruce Duncan. Over in the Europe, JLL appointed Mike Harrington as Head of Data Center Facilities Management and Tom Glover as Head of Data Center Transactions. 

Industry Insights.

There have been some key announcements over the last four weeks that are going to inject a significant amount of capital in the industry. Digital Colony raised $4.1B for its second fund dedicated to global communications-infrastructure investments (Data Center Knowledge, 2021). 

Sabey Data Centers were the latest colo provider to gain funding. Manulife have invested $150m and become a strategic partner to expand Sabeys growing Seattle operation. “Demand for digital capacity will continue to increase, and Sabey Data Center Properties is dedicated to meeting that demand,” said Dave Sabey, Chairman & President of Sabey Corporation (Data Center Frontier, 2021). 

In the past, there has been some concern about the influx of new investors, but Chris Crosby, Founder and CEO of Compass Data Centers believes the types of investors driving industry growth are a good fit. Investors with a “build-to-last” rather than a “build-to-exit” mentality “are going to be the successful ones in that game,” (Data Center Knowledge, 2021) 

Cyxtera to Go Public Through $3.4 Billion Merger with Starboard SPAC.

It has been announced that Cyxtera will become a public company through a merger which is sponsored by Starboard Value. The deal has valued Cyxtera at $3.4Bn. The company will be traded on NASDAQ as CYXT and current owners will retain a 58% stake in the company. Starboard Value Acquisition Corp shares reached 16.8% in premarket trading. 

Microsoft will establish its next U.S. data center region in Georgia. 

Microsoft will establish its next data center region in Fulton and Douglas counties. This is part Microsoft’s commitment to the Atlanta region, to support creation of new jobs and local business growth. The new region will deliver world-class data security and privacy as well as faster access and to the broadest range of Azure cloud services (Microsoft, 2021). 

Facebook to expand Utah data center again by 900,000 square feet.

Facebook announced they plan to expand their Utah Eagle Mountain facility by 900,000 square feet with two new buildings being added. This expansion is significant and will increase the facility in size by roughly 50%. The Eagle Mountain project has been central to Facebooks green pledge having already bought 235MW of solar power in Utah from Rocky Mountain Power. 

With $3.6B in New Capital, Vantage Data Centers Doubled in Size and Entered International Markets in 2021.

Vantage Data Centers seem to be the name in everyone’s mouth at the moment. The new capital has seen the colo provider grow from strength to strength over the last year. The business has doubled in size, entered international markets, and increased IT capacity by 90% (business wire, 2021). In Europe, the expansion included the acquisition of Etix Everywhere and several greenfield developments in Frankfurt, Berlin, Milan, Warsaw and Zurich. In North America, Vantage increased their presence through expansions in the worlds two largest data center markets. 

Cyrus One appoint CEO Bruce Duncan Bringing Fresh Vision. 

Cyrus One announced the appointment of Bruce Duncan as the new CEO and President "As the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of First Industrial Realty and former Chief Executive Officer of EQR, Bruce has extensive experience in real estate matters and investment strategy, as well as valuable experience as Chief Executive of other publicly traded Executive Officer of EQR, Bruce has extensive experience in real estate and investment strategy, as well as valuable experience as Chief Executive Officer of other publicly traded companies" (Cyrus One, 2021). 

NTT launches two 36MW data centers in Hillsboro, Oregon and Chicago, Illinois. 

NTT has launched two data centers in the US, supporting 36MW of IT load. The Chicago data center is the first on a new campus which is expected to expand further. The new campus in Hillsboro is expected to grow to 126MW with carbon neutral IT an option for customers. “2021 is going to be a year like no other for our division and opening these two new data centers is just the beginning," NTT Ltd.’s CEO for the Global Data Centers division in the Americas, Doug Adams said (Data Center Dynamics, 2020). 

Conclusion. 

There is certainly light at the end of the tunnel for countries across the globe as the vaccine deployment gains traction. Although the data center industry has been full steam ahead since last year, and there has been some incredible delivery in Q1, the world opening up is only going to help. How is the industry going to keep up with this demand and Is there enough industry talent to support this demand? 

60 Seconds with... Chad Fowler 

How did you get into the Data Center industry? 

Over twenty years ago, as I was entering the design industry as an architectural intern, the second project that I worked on was a data center. It was a completely new project type at the time which introduced me to many new things. I really loved the idea of integrating architecture and engineering into this building type and since then I have been working on different types of data centers. 

What makes the Data Center sector unique? 

As an Architect, we live in all the buildings we design but the data center industry is really something that touches all of us as the technologies that we use all flow through data centers now. It’s not a place we live, it’s not a place that we visit but virtually how our information flows through these facilities is incredible. Our connection to the industry is certainly going to increase as our reliance on the virtual world grows. For example, the 5G network, what’s that going to bring us? We’ll even be driving a car that will be touching a data center! 

What 3 tips would you give to someone just getting started in the industry? 

• Always be learning! There are a lot of knowledgeable people in the industry with a lot of experiences that is always exciting to hear and absorb. 
• Always be on your toes! Keep your eye open to new technology and new equipment. What are the new trends and what are companies looking at to give them an edge? 
• Always be open to change and be inventive! Don’t always follow the course.  

What do you think will be the biggest challenge in the next five years for the Data Center market? 

The biggest challenge is going to be within sustainability and carbon footprint. How do we address that in the data center industry? Power demand doubles every two years, so how do the data center owners address that growth rate while reducing their carbon footprint. 

How do you believe we can overcome this challenge? 

That is the million-dollar question! Hyperscaler’s are pushing the idea of carbon footprint and are at the forefront of that. By doing this, I think it’s going to push the industry to embrace the idea of sustainability and I think the designers, architects, engineers, owners, and operators need to think of this at the start of a project rather than as an afterthought. 

There is certainly light at the end of the tunnel for countries across the globe as the vaccine deployment gains traction. Although the data center industry has been full steam ahead since last year, and there has been some incredible delivery in Q1, the world opening up is only going to help. How is the industry going to keep up with this demand and Is there enough industry talent to support this demand?