Design Editorial

It is no secret that IT and data center budgets have been placed on hold since late 2008. This has been the problem for data center design and construction thus far in 2009. The problem and the likely solution that will pull the IT industry out of the recession later this year and into 2010 is that IT departments are in constant flux and cannot standby much longer without doing something. The rapid change in IT and demand from clients requires new applications, new equipment and ultimately data center renovations and construction.

At the moment the data center design and construction industry is not being kept as busy as it once was. According to James Coe with Syska Hennessy, a design engineering firm that specializes in critical facilities, “the data center design and construction industry is not strong; it is there, but not growing strong at the moment.”

The signs that activity will pick up as the year progresses and into 2010 resonate in a recent study commissioned by Digital Realty Trust, wholesale data center provider. In the study conducted by Campos Research & Analysis, results from senior decision makers at large corporation in North America noted that a surge of data center expansions are being planned in the next year to two years.

The report notes, 84 percent of surveyed companies are planning datacenter expansions in the next 12-24 months. 64 percent of surveyed companies with plans to expand in 2009 are planning to expand in two or more locations. Surveyed companies plan to increase datacenter spending by an average of 6.6 percent in 2009. Datacenters account for an average of 35 percent of overall IT budgets for surveyed companies.

These are all good indications that design and construction work will pick up in the next 12 months.

During the final quarter of 08 and first quarter of 09 IT departments responded to corporate requirements to cut or stop spending on all items except those absolutely essential. As the economy appears to be bottoming out and signs of recovery are showing companies are loosening the cash flow for necessary work that has now backed up.

Demand for new equipment and a continued demand on other projects such as energy efficiency solutions, virtualization and consolidation will be the first signs of IT and data center recovery.

Data center design and construction will soon follow as power and cooling requirements will continue to be in flux. In addition, companies will look to more energy efficient solutions as it pertains to the data center infrastructure.

“Based on the results of this study, we expect to see sustained demand for datacenter facilities in 2009 and 2010 as companies implement these plans to expand their IT infrastructure,” said Chris Crosby, Senior Vice President of Digital Realty Trust. “One finding that may surprise people is that companies are increasing their datacenter budgets in 2009. This is a reflection of how companies view their datacenters as critical assets for increasing productivity while reducing costs. Also interesting are the parallels between this U.S. study and the European study we reported last month, with 4 out of 5 companies planning near-term datacenter projects in both markets.”

Stay optimistic, good days are ahead.