Data Centres at a Time of Pandemic - Weathering the Storm - plus Revised DC Space Forecast

The Covid-19 Pandemic is set to Impact the Majority of Data Centres with Growth to be Maintained - this DCP Report Finds

This report called 'Data Centres at a time of Pandemic - Weathering the Storm' analysis the issue of the impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Data Centre segment worldwide, with an analysis of short term and long term impacts, capex and revenue changes, and operational and expansion made during the first quarter of 2020. It considers the operations and management strategies of the key Data Centre Providers.

The analyst provides an overview of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Data Centre segment worldwide, in Europe, North America and the Asia Pacific and China.

The report considers the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the key terms of Data Centre demand, Data Centre operations and Data Centre construction. The report analyses the drivers for Data Centre growth and contrasts pre-Covid-19 forecasts for Data Centre space (measured in m2) against the most recent results posted by Data Centre Providers worldwide and provides a revised forecast for Data Centre growth by region for the period from the end of 2020 to the end of 2021.

The majority of Data Centre Providers believe that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic will be short-term only, with Chinese Data Centre Providers already resuming their construction programmes (as of the beginning of May 2020). Additionally, the large cloud service providers have emphasized the continued medium and long-term growth prospects, even though the sourcing computer hardware and the build out of existing construction projects have been delayed in the short term.

The period of the pandemic has been associated with the rapid growth of e-commerce, online gaming, online healthcare and social media including online video conferencing exemplified by the rise of Zoom video conferencing.

The report provides a global comprehensive overview of Data Centres around the globe including Data Centres in the USA, China and Europe and their response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The DCP Data Centres at a time of Pandemic - Weathering the Storm report finds that the immediate effects of the Covid-19 pandemic include the following:

1. Constant Growth - There is continued growth of Data Centre capacity and Capex despite the pandemic conditions.
2. Supply Chain Disruption - But short-term capex and IT supply chains were impacted by the pandemic.
3. Essential Infrastructure - Data Centres are being classified by authorities globally (sometimes for the first time) as critical infrastructure to be maintained.  
4. China led the way into lockdown – China was the first country to experience the pandemic and implemented lockdown and social distancing measures in January 2020.
5. China was the first country out of lockdown - Chinese Data Centre companies implemented social distancing measures and restrictions on visitors with employee screening & from March 2020 resumed Data Centre construction.
6. Automated Data Centre services are becoming more important – as non-essential visits to the facility are banned remote hands services and software automation services are being used instead.

The DCP report considers the growth in selected Data Centre markets worldwide since the pandemic struck, and considers Data Centre responses by region:

1. China - The first country to be affected. Data Centres responded with a ban on construction activity and temperature testing for all employees and a visitor ban. Data Centres were impacted by IT supply chain shortages with a shortage of new servers for installation. Existing power utilisation rates increased as existing servers were run at full capacity.
2. North America - Data Centres have introduced their own business continuity plans, with social distancing and non-essential visits to be stopped. Data Centre Providers have sought to encourage the usage of their “smart hands” services as an alternative to manual intervention and remote working via a software fabric and web portal.
3. Europe - Data Centres have enforced restrictions based on Government regulations of social mobility, but with Data Centre facilities designated as being “critical” infrastructure.
4. Asia Pacific - Data Centres have also complied with Government restrictions such as Singapore’s implementation of a “circuit breaker” approach locking down activity, but with Data Centre’s again being an essential part of Singapore’s “infocommunications” sector.