Annual Digital Realty Survey Finds Virtualization, Big Data, and Consolidation to be Top Data Centre Drivers in APAC

SINGAPORE, May 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The virtualization of critical applications, big data, and data centre consolidation will drive the next wave of data centre capacity growth in APAC, according to a commissioned survey conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR).

Digital Realty's 2014 survey of data centre trends in APAC canvassed data centre decision makers in Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, and Australia.

The combined survey results for the four countries revealed that the top expected drivers of data centre capacity growth were virtualization (47 percent), big data (46 percent), and data centre consolidation (41 percent). The next tier of drivers included business growth (39 percent), business continuity (34 percent) and storage growth (32 percent). 

Key drivers of data centre growth differed by country:

• Hong Kong: data centre consolidation, and big data related technology investments
• Australia: big data related technology investments, virtualization, and data centre consolidation
• Singapore: big data related technology investments, and virtualization
• Japan: data centre consolidation, virtualization, and storage growth

"This survey helps us better understand the business priorities of our APAC clients, enabling us to become a valued partner and trusted advisor in the development of a data centre strategy that is uniquely suited to our clients' needs," said Kris Kumar, Digital Realty Senior Vice President and Regional Head for the Asia Pacific region. "IT transformation projects such as virtualization and big data are viewed as the main factors driving robust development across the data centre sector. We feel this demonstrates the maturing aspect of these organizations in relation to their data centre plans and budgets."

Key Considerations: Safe Locations and Resiliency

When making decisions about new APAC data centre facility investments, the most important considerations for respondents were the data centre's location and resiliency. Factors rated as "Important" or "Very Important" by respondents included the risk profile of the location (78 percent), the resiliency level and availability of the facility (77 percent), and the level of control over the facility (75 percent). APAC companies also prioritized the data centre's network connectivity options and carrier availability and density, with 75 percent of respondents claiming this as a priority.   

Strong Expansion Plans

Around 50 percent of respondents said their data centre budgets will grow between 5-10 percent in the next 12 months, with nearly 60 percent of respondents in Australia and Singapore expecting to increase their spending between 5-10 percent. An additional 11 percent are planning to increase their investment in data centre facilities by more than 10 percent over the next 12 months. When surveyed regarding their future plans for data centre capacity planning, respondents (60 percent) indicated they are planning some form of expansion within the next four years. Respondents consider outsourcing (40 percent) and colocation or other data centre leasing (31 percent) as the preferred sourcing models to address their expansion plans.

Survey Methodology

In this Digital Realty-commissioned study, Forrester Research conducted an online survey of organizations in the US, UK, Singapore, Japan, Germany, Hong Kong, France, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, and Ireland to evaluate their data centre investment plans and drivers. Survey participants included senior-level decision makers in IT, finance, and line-of-business roles with responsibility for data centres. Results of the Asia-Pacific portion of the study are based on surveys of 245 senior-level decision makers with responsibility for data centres. Almost all (90 percent) of the Asia-Pacific survey respondents work for firms headquartered in the Asia-Pacific region; more than half work at firms with more than 1,000 employees. Survey respondents were located in the following regions: 30 percent in Singapore, 29 percent in Hong Kong, 25 percent in Japan, and 15 percent in Australia. The majority of Asia-Pacific respondent organisations (52 percent) had 2013 revenue of US$100 - $500M; and 22 percent had US$500 - $1B in revenue. The survey began in January and was completed in February 2014.

About Digital Realty

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. focuses on delivering customer-driven data centre solutions by providing secure, reliable and cost-effective facilities that meet each customer's unique data centre needs.  Digital Realty's customers include domestic and international companies across multiple industry verticals ranging from financial services, cloud and information technology services, to manufacturing, energy, health care and consumer products.  Digital Realty's 131 properties, including 13 properties held as investments in unconsolidated joint ventures, comprise approximately 24.5 million square feet as of March 31, 2014, including 1.3 million square feet of space under active development and 1.4 million square feet of space held for future development.  Digital Realty's portfolio is located in 33 markets throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.  Additional information about Digital Realty is included in the Company Overview, which is available on the Investors page of Digital Realty's website at http://www.digitalrealty.com. 

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially, including statements related to our 2014 survey of data centre trends in Asia Pacific, expectations regarding future data centre expansion and spending, demand and demand drivers for data centres in the Asia Pacific region, and our strategy and plans. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, the following: the impact of current global economic, credit and market conditions; current local economic conditions in our geographic markets; decreases in information technology spending, including as a result of economic slowdowns or recession; adverse economic or real estate developments in our industry or the industry sectors that we sell to (including risks relating to decreasing real estate valuations and impairment charges); our dependence upon significant tenants; bankruptcy or insolvency of a major tenant or a significant number of smaller tenants; defaults on or non-renewal of leases by tenants; our failure to obtain necessary debt and equity financing; risks associated with using debt to fund our business activities, including re-financing and interest rate risks, our failure to repay debt when due, adverse changes in our credit ratings or our breach of covenants or other terms contained in our loan facilities and agreements; financial market fluctuations; changes in foreign currency exchange rates; our inability to manage our growth effectively; difficulty acquiring or operating properties in foreign jurisdictions; our failure to successfully integrate and operate acquired or developed properties or businesses; the suitability of our properties and data centre infrastructure, delays or disruptions in connectivity, failure of our physical infrastructure or services or availability of power; risks related to joint venture investments, including as a result of our lack of control of such investments; delays or unexpected costs in development of properties; decreased rental rates, increased operating costs or increased vacancy rates; increased competition or available supply of data centre space; our inability to successfully develop and lease new properties and development space; difficulties in identifying properties to acquire and completing acquisitions; our inability to acquire off-market properties; our inability to comply with the rules and regulations applicable to reporting companies; our failure to maintain our status as a REIT; possible adverse changes to tax laws; restrictions on our ability to engage in certain business activities; environmental uncertainties and risks related to natural disasters; losses in excess of our insurance coverage; changes in foreign laws and regulations, including those related to taxation and real estate ownership and operation; and changes in local, state and federal regulatory requirements, including changes in real estate and zoning laws and increases in real property tax rates. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see the reports and other filings by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, as amended, for the year ended December 31, 2013 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2014.  The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Digital Realty Trust, Inc.