These factors will open up edge market opportunities for collocation providers , reducing overall investment risk and thereby making them more financially viable . |
Taking a prefabricated approach effectively introduces an on-demand or just-in-time ( JIT ) model to the provisioning of datacentre capacity – an unheard of concept until now . |
||
Speed to revenue |
Leveraging repetition |
||
|
Lower cost of entry
The lower up-front cost of prefabricated data centres versus larger traditionally built facilities , will lower the cost of market entry making edge markets more accessible to service providers and making the cost of the services hosted there more attractive to the ultimate customers .
With prefabricated solutions minimising their initial capital outlay at individual sites , colocation companies will also see an increase in the total number of markets they can address as they will be able to spread their investment in modular data centres across a larger number of sites .
|
‘ The much faster speed of construction of prefabricated data centres will enable colocation providers to start bringing in revenue faster and to respond to customer demands more quickly .’ |
Unlike traditionally built data centres which can sometimes take years to build , the much faster speed of construction of prefabricated data centres will enable colocation providers to start bringing in revenue faster and to respond to customer demands more quickly .
In fact , the speed of prefabricated construction allows a colocation company to build an order book at the same time as building the facility offsite , without any serious risk that they will be late to deliver service .
Informed expansion planning
Traditionally constructed data centres are typically built oversized and then fractionally occupied over time – an expensive and highly inefficient process . By contrast , because prefabricated facilities are built in a controlled factory environment before being assembled on site , the lead times are shorter . This enables capacity to be planned over a much shorter time horizon and then incrementally expanded as the need for more capacity arises .
This provides a number of key benefits : Allowing colocation providers to delay expansion orders until much closer to when they are actually needed , when they will have a clearer view of exactly how much and what kind of additional capacity they ’ re going to need ; Enabling capital expenditure outlay to be phased more in line with business growth ; Significantly reducing business risk ; and Each new phase can take advantage of the latest innovations that typically increase efficiency and reduce cost .
|
A large element of the cost of data centres is the design element . With a prefabricated solution though , using a repetitive design approach will streamline the process , minimise the cost and standardise not only the facility design , but also the associated operational processes such as training , support , spares , engineering , etc .
In this way repetition not only reduces capital expenses ( with lower ongoing design costs ) but also operating expenses ( with lower and more streamlined operational processes ).
Using the same design for every site , means the design cost is only incurred once for the very first facility . Regional variations may be added over time but sitespecific designs can be kept to a minimum . Additionally , a standard design opens up the possibility of repetitive manufacturing that further increases efficiency and reduces cost .
Speed to the edge
With increasing numbers of businesses and consumers demanding quicker access to data outside the world ’ s Tier 1 cities , market opportunity at the edge is growing fast .
There is no question that the next wave of data centre development will be the land grab at the edge and the colocation companies that take a prefabricated approach to building their new facilities will undoubtedly be best positioned to take full advantage of this growth market while at the same time minimising their risks .
Speed to the edge for providers translates into speed to data for customers – a winning formula for both .
For further information visit : www . flexenclosure . com
|
July 2017 | 11 |