The phrase “data is the new oil” is not new at all, but with continued advancements in digital transformation impacting the way businesses and consumers interact with one another, organizations are using more oil than ever to reach optimal engine performance.
With such reliance on data for organizational success, storing, safeguarding and operationalizing that data is causing a boom in U.S. data center investments. According to a recent report released by independent national commercial real estate valuation, assessment and advisory firm BBG, U.S. data center investments hit a staggering $20B in 2017, and are expected to grow even more in years to come. Furthermore, 2017 data center investments grew nearly three times the level ($7.8B) of the year before, and nearly five times the level ($4.7B) of seven years before.
Some other key findings include:
Data center absorption rates totaled 337.2 megawatts in 2017
The top 15 U.S. markets were within roughly 20 megawatts of the record of 2016
The top areas for data center usage in order were northern Virginia (115.0 MW), Chicago (44.0 MW), Dallas/Fort Worth (43.0 MW) and Phoenix (29.9 MW)
Much of this data center demand can be attributed to exponential growth in organizational cloud computing and increased global IT spending. Here at Markley, we are witness to this growth and continue to strategically invest and build out our data center properties in both Boston and Lowell to meet this increasing demand.
Foremost, we understand the criticality of our clients’ data centers to their mission and to their customers. That’s why Markley delivers access to a wide range of service providers, dedicated dark-fiber networks, redundant power and state-of-the-art security for uninterrupted, reliable and secure power and service. To learn more about our data center services, please visit: www.markleygroup.com/data-center
