The Rise of the Worker-Friendly Data Center

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The recreation area at the new CyrusOne data center in Carrollton, Texas features a spiral slide between stories, fitness machines, a rock climbing wall and a putting green. (Photo: Rich Miller)

CARROLLTON, Texas - As you walk through the new CyrusOne data center near Dallas, the tour winds through a modern cafeteria with a stylish eating area, an annex housing foosball tables, and a gaming nook with an advanced video game system. This opens onto one of the most unique spaces in the facility - a two-story recreation area featuring a climbing wall, putting green, and a spiral slide allowing a speedy trip from the fitness machines on the upper level.

The recreation area at CyrusOne reflects a new focus on the data center as a work space for busy professionals, complete with amenities to help them be more productive and unwind a bit. Data centers are designed primarily to house thousands of servers, but the nondescript concrete bunker of the past is giving way to campuses optimized for humans, complete with comfortable offices, conference rooms, theaters and gaming areas.

"We are pairing all our next generation facilities with industry-best office space so it’s a uniquely comfortable experience for our customers," says Kevin Timmons, CTO at CyrusOne. "They will have ample room to relax, connect, or grab an espresso in an environment a short stroll away from their infrastructure."

Differentiating Multi-Tenant Facilities

It's a trend seen primarily in multi-tenant data centers, where customer amenities offer an opportunity to differentiate a facility in a competitive market. This has meant more attention to the needs of data center staff, a unique breed of workers that historically have had to labor in 100-degree hot aisles, work on laptop carts, and traverse man-traps and biometric security just to get to the restroom.

CyrusOne, which offers both colocation cages and wholesale suites, is among a growing number of companies seeking to create more comfortable working environments for data center staff.

CyrusOne's Timmons says the focus on amenities was driven by demand from customers, who have quickly snapped up all the available office space in the company's Texas facilities. When Timmons and his team set out to design new facilities in Phoenix and Dallas, they included a generous office component in each project.

The Phoenix facility features 96,000 square feet of Class A office space and conference rooms, complete with a glass atrium and facade. In Dallas, CyrusOne has 30,000 square feet of office space for its headquarters operations, and another 30,000 square feet of office space for customers, plus the cafeteria, conference rooms and recreation areas.

These customer-friendly flourishes have their greatest value in the premier data center markets - including Silicon Valley, northern Virginia and Dallas - where customers can choose between a number of service providers. But they also hold appeal for enterprises that operate data centers at their headquarters buildings or on a corporate campus, where the servers are within walking distance of office space for IT staff. These companies with on-premises data centers are a key target audience for multi-tenant data centers, and the availability of office space and amenities could ease the decision to shift gear to third-party facilities.

Here's a look at some of the other amenities at the CyrusOne Dallas facility:

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The data center features a cafeteria and dining area with a sleek modern design. (Photo: Rich Miller)

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Not your ordinary vending machine: This unit is fully stocked with a variety of cables and connectors that customers may need, provided at cost by CyrusOne. (Photo: Rich Miller)