Annual Digital Realty Survey Finds Network Connectivity and Resiliency to be Top Data Center Priorities in North America

SAN FRANCISCO, May 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- When making decisions about new data center facility and colocation investments, business and IT leaders at midmarket firms prioritize network connectivity options, resiliency levels, and the level of control over the data center facility, 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 center trends in North America focused on midmarket firms (up to $500 million in revenue), whereas previous annual surveys targeted global enterprise organizations ($1 billion or greater in revenue). The survey canvassed data center decision makers on a broad range of topics, including current facilities and budgets, future plans and influencers, and investment criteria.

Respondents identified network connectivity options, including carrier availability and carrier density, as a top priority in data center investment decisions (82 percent), followed by resiliency level and availability of the data center facility (80 percent), the level of control over the facility (78 percent), and access to cloud and other partners (75 percent).

"We feel the results of this survey validate our understanding of the requirements of our midmarket clients," said Digital Realty Interim CEO Bill Stein. "Our midmarket clients are increasingly seeking a single source for all their data center requirements, including not just power, space, cooling, and connectivity, but also access to strategic partners such as cloud services, network services, and managed service providers. The recent introduction of our Digital Partner Network, which was kicked off by our alliances with tw telecom and Level 3 Communications connecting our facilities to Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, is an important step in this direction."

Strong Expansion Plans

Data center capacity is crucial to midmarket businesses for both internal and external operations. Today, midmarket firms require multiple data center sites to meet these requirements. More than one-third of the businesses surveyed (41 percent) have at least four data centers and the majority (53 percent) require 2,000 square feet or more of data center space. This includes both internally owned data centers/server rooms as well as outsourced, hosted, and colocated data centers.

When surveyed regarding their future plans for data center capacity planning, respondents overwhelmingly (88 percent) indicated they are planning some form of expansion within the next four years, either by provisioning a new site or by expanding a current site.

Mr. Stein continued, "Data center demand continues to be robust. According to IDC/EMC, the digital universe is doubling in size every two years, and is expected to multiply tenfold by 2020. Our clients need data centers to support this growth. Furthermore, it's interesting to note that more than 60 percent of our first quarter lease signings were with cloud infrastructure providers; cloud remains a key data center demand driver."

Webinar

Guest speaker Forrester Research, Inc. analyst Sophia Vargas and Digital Realty Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing Matt Miszewski will discuss the survey findings in a 60-minute webinar on Friday, May 30 at 9:00 PT/ 12:00 ET. Please register for the webinar at http://events.digitalrealty.com/forrester-webinar. The webinar will also be available via a replay on the Digital Realty website.

Survey Details

In this Digital Realty-commissioned study, Forrester Research conducted an online survey of 1,030 organizations in the US, UK, Singapore, Japan, Germany, Hong Kong, France, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, and Ireland to evaluate their data center investment plans and drivers. Survey participants included senior-level decision makers in IT, finance, and line of business roles with responsibility for data centers. Results of the North American portion of the study are based on surveys of 233 senior-level North American decision makers with responsibility for data centers at midmarket firms with up to $500 million in revenue. The study began in January 2014 and was completed in February 2014.

About Digital Realty

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. focuses on delivering customer-driven data center solutions by providing secure, reliable and cost-effective facilities that meet each customer's unique data center 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 center trends in North America, expectations regarding future data center expansion and spending, demand and demand drivers for data centers in North America, 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 center 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 center 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.