DATA CENTRE PREDICTIONS
uncertainty around last year ’ s A-level results , challenges for first-year university students and a decision by many organisations that taking on graduate trainees and / or apprentices is just not practical effectively put us back to square one , ( although at BCS we forged ahead with our graduate and apprenticeship programme ) and these decisions will severely impact the future .
The international market
There will be implications with regards to BREXIT , such as supply chains , imports and exports and employment that will affect the technology and data centre sectors .
The uncertainty around BREXIT has , at the very least , been unhelpful for the data centre sector and regardless of the deal , there are likely to be challenges ahead .
Will there be an increase in costs for organisations purchasing equipment from mainland Europe ? Probably . Will this lead to a move towards the UK becoming more self-sufficient and onshoring more of its manufacturing ? I hope so .
Conclusion
In 2020 , the COVID-19 pandemic produced few net-new technology and business developments , but it certainly accelerated many technology trends already in motion .
The last year has shown how important the sector is and how dependant the world is on this invisible infrastructure . According to a recent report from Gartner , COVID-19 caused a 10 % dip in worldwide data centre investment , but a 6 % increase should come in 2021 and growth will continue through 2024 . This is great news for the sector and once again highlights our resilience and determination . ◊
THE LAST YEAR HAS SHOWN HOW IMPORTANT THE SECTOR IS AND HOW DEPENDANT THE WORLD IS ON THIS INVISIBLE INFRASTRUCTURE .
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