Growth Predicted for European Market

New reports on the London data center market and Western Europe show increases in demand, but fundamental shifts underway. Meanwhile, European colocation provider Interxion co-chairs a Green Grid committee.

BroadGroup - European Data Center market
The Broad Group released its third bi-annual report on the European Data Center Market.  It showed demand and investment in Europe increasing, but noted that power supply and financing issues will curb expansion.  The report identifies close to 20 million square feet of third party data center space in 17 Western Europe markets, with the UK and Germany tied in terms of importance. BroadGroup predicts a growth rate of around 14 percent annually and believes it could be much higher if some wholesale builds can gain funding and attract large corporate customers. The report also hints at shifts in the market taking place as providers pursue new market segments, adapt new business models and enter multiple markets.

Tariff Consultancy report on London
A September 2010 report from Tariff Consultancy Ltd looks at the London data center market from 2010 to 2015. The report includes supply and demand data from 2009-2010, types of demand for space, including example deals, and a future demand forecast for data center space in the London market for 2010 - 2014.  Data was supplied from the main facility businesses, including City Lifeline, COLT, Equinix, Global Switch, Interxion, TelecityGroup and Telehouse Europe.

eWeek comments on the report, saying that the total raised floor space in London is forecast to increase to 300,000 square meters (~3.2 million square feet) by 2015. It says one of the main drivers for this increase is the London 'interconnected ecosystem', despite the high cost of real estate.  The report states that the London data center market accounts for around one half of the total UK carrier neutral data market as of the end of 2010.  A known issue for the London market was confirmed in the report - the availability of appropriate power supplies.

Interxion appointed to Green Grid committee
Interxion announced that Director of Corporate Communications, Ali Moinuddin has been appointed by the Green Grid as co-chair of its European Communications Committee.  As co-chair Moinuddin will be tasked with raising awareness of advanced energy efficiency in data centers and the broader ecosystem of business computing among the pan-European community.

Kevin Dean, Chief Marketing Officer, Interxion, commented, “The Green Grid is making great strides in delivering industry-standard data center practices and metrics. With Ali’s expertise and Interxion’s strong position in the pan-European data center market, I’m confident that we can contribute significantly to building awareness of The Green Grid consortium to increase the impact of its energy-efficiency leadership.”

Interxion is a founding member of the Uptime Institute's European Chapter and a  member of the European Commission's DG Joint Research Committee on Sustainability and its European Data Center Code of Conduct Metrics Group.