Viren Wadhwa, Director of Marketing and Communications, STT GDC India
India has emerged as one of the fast-growing data centre markets owing to a massive and still-growing internet user base, the proliferation of data, and the creation of a conducive environment through the Government’s Digital India mission.
Even as Coronavirus pandemic continued across 2020-2021, the data centre industry exhibited its durability. The industry as a whole flourished, including new projects and development. Colocation in a data centre has long been a popular choice for SME’s, large enterprises and hyperscalers. As the pandemic progressed, the importance of remote monitoring and artificially intelligent automation & management solutions became apparent,. With the advent of this New Year, let’s take a look at potential data centre trends for 2022 and beyond.
1. Sustainability takes Centre Stage
Some data centre operators are more forthcoming about their ecological effects than others, but many have taken a proactive approach to limit harm and “becoming green.” Indian Government is aiming for a strict renewable energy policy. India has set a goal of reaching 500 GW of renewable energy consumption by 2030, up from the current 100 GW, at the recently concluded COP-26 Climate Change Conference. As a result, states are revising their open-access rules to encourage renewable energy generation and use. The entire ecosystem, from vendors to end-users, has placed a strong emphasis on lowering carbon footprint, which is a critical driver for the data centre business. Many state governments have enacted policies to encourage the construction of greenfield data centres. For example, the Karnataka Government has inked an MoU with firms to supply electricity to DC facilities using green energy. India is more likely to meet or even exceed the specified targets if businesses continue to operate sustainably and in accordance with policies.
2. Increased Emphasis on Security & Compliance
Data and IT security protocols have always been a major concern for many businesses, and with the migration of IT systems to cloud platforms, it is now front and centre on everyone’s IT agenda. Colocation providers have worked hard to maintain the greatest level of security and have meticulously followed industry standards for security and satisfied all compliance criteria. Security solutions have always been a significant aspect of DC design and architecture. However, Data Centres are sophisticated ecosystems, and defending them necessitates considering the security requirements of each component separately while adhering to a centralised, holistic security strategy.
3. Large Enterprise data centres
As businesses became more reliant on the internet, data volumes skyrocketed, with more being added via social media and a growing number of sensing devices. This is leading to the advent of large enterprise data centres, that compute and store vast amounts of data.
With the advantages of economies of scale and custom engineering, they significantly outperform traditional data centres.
4. Automation
The lockdowns and social distancing requirements sparked a surge in interest in automating jobs, including using robots. This reduces the need for human intervention in data centre operations, which was a significant benefit during the pandemic. This pattern is expected to endure beyond the pandemic’s initial consequences. Remote access and centralization of control are made possible through automation, which increases productivity while lowering waste and personnel expenses. It also frees up important human resources that may be directed toward innovation and higher-level strategic goals, while also enhancing employee satisfaction and engagement.
5. Build to Suite – A second Wave
A build to suit lease allows a customer to design and customise a data centre facility to fulfil special or unique location or design needs without incurring the substantial upfront capital costs associated with building and owning a data centre. It allows a company to choose the best geographical location while avoiding the high capital costs of new DCs. ‘Speed,’ ‘Custom design,’ flexibility,’ and ‘pricing transparency’ are just a few options provided by some developers providing a ‘build-to-suit’ revolution to businesses.
6. Edge Computing
While the fundamental idea of edge computing is simple, there are significant advantages of this innovative methodology to network architecture and is a little more complicated. Edge computing can help achieve flexibility, speed and agility when it comes to guaranteeing a streamlined, effective IT infrastructure, in addition to providing a direct on-ramp to a company’s preferred cloud platform.
Edge computing is a more efficient option since data is processed and analysed closer to the point of origin. Latency is considerably decreased because data does not have to travel over a network to a cloud or data centre to be processed. Edge computing — particularly on 5G networks — provides faster and more thorough data processing, allowing for deeper insights, faster response times, and better consumer experiences.
7. Regulatory Policies
Revisions in regulatory policies with respect to data centres has cleared the way for massive expansions within the industry. This has given the data centre firms in India a strong wind in their sails. As businesses adopt local service providers, data protection and localization will provide the industry with a huge boost. Several state governments have incentivised data centres expansion, and related industries. A significant portion of the money spent on data centres will go toward infrastructure to meet the government’s requirements. Thousands of new jobs are projected to be created as a result of the Bill and industry’s positive response to it, including an increase in demand for IT specialists and engineers.
8. Increased dependency on Cloud leading to increased business for Colocation platforms
Covid-19 has altered how individuals communicate with one another, and there is now a greater dependence on technology to facilitate connections. Individuals and organisations used productivity tools to stay in touch with co-workers. The cloud and cloud-based apps are being used more than ever before, increasing the data centre’s need on servers and software to run these services. The significance of the data centre’s connectivity has been reinforced as a result of this.
9. Focus on reducing the skill gap within the industry
Every area of the economy is experiencing a skills shortage, particularly in technology-driven industries. Several organisations have initiated projects to give vocational training in this field in order to alleviate the demand-supply gap of entry-level trained labour in the data centre Industry. Through their social commitment, these companies have been trying to empower people from financially disadvantaged backgrounds for inclusive growth. It focuses on education, entrepreneurship, employment, electrification, and emergency preparedness to assist people better their lives through access to electricity.
10. Move towards consolidation
Several smaller players will consolidate with larger players leaving fewer conglomerates that will be able to handle the growing demand of the industry along with providing a smoother functioning and business continuity.
The Indian data centre business is expanding at a breakneck pace. India has become a fast-growing data centre hub thanks to a massive and still-growing internet user base, the explosion of data, and the creation of a favourable environment through the Government’s Digital India initiative.
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