DEEP DIVE organisations such as Microsoft , AWS and Google and the other tech giants . These require huge amounts of data centre space , power and cooling .
At the same time , enterprise businesses are realising the cost , productivity and security benefits of moving their IT workloads off their premises – either in part or entirely – into regional colocation data centres for running their IT and hosting private cloud or hybrid cloud solutions . And with this development , a new category of Edge colocation data centre is also rapidly emerging for supporting Edge Computing . Highly connected , they are located close to major conurbations in proximity to highly populated areas . Not only do they greatly reduce network latency , bandwidth congestion and data transit costs by being physically closer to users and customers , the financial burden of operating in-house facilities is removed .
What are the region-specific challenges you encounter in your role ?
My role is to maximise the opportunity for Proximity Data Centres by responding quickly to demand from businesses , cloud providers , CDNs and HPC users for lower latency and reduced backhaul costs . To achieve this , I am focused , along with my team , on creating a network of strategically located Edge data centres throughout the UK . Ensuring these are physically close enough to high-speed fibre network infrastructure is key .
For a country the size of the UK , identifying data centres in the right places may appear relatively straightforward compared to say , Canada or the US – we are a small landmass and the physical distances involved between large conurbations and cities are relatively small by comparison . However , the devil is in the detail when it comes to getting data closer to the majority of the UK ’ s businesses and consumers . Outside of the London metro area , easily the most densely populated area with around 9.4 million , there are still around 57 million citizens to reach . Unlike in London , these are dispersed unevenly throughout the UK . Furthermore , the working population has grown to be more productive working from home due to the pandemic . People are moving out of expensive cities to work in semi-rural areas .
ENTERPRISE BUSINESSES ARE REALISING THE COST , PRODUCTIVITY AND SECURITY BENEFITS OF MOVING THEIR IT WORKLOADS OFF THEIR PREMISES – EITHER IN PART OR ENTIRELY – INTO REGIONAL COLOCATION DATA CENTRES FOR RUNNING THEIR IT AND HOSTING PRIVATE CLOUD OR HYBRID CLOUD SOLUTIONS .
The impact of real estate / labour costs is of course another important consideration in terms of data centre location decisions , along with the availability of skilled on-site engineers .
What changes to your job role have you seen in the last year and how do you see these developing in the coming months ?
In just two years , we have acquired , repurposed and commenced operation of 10 regional Edge colocation data centres . Our target is to have a total of 18 – 20 such facilities in place within the next 18 months . Our goal is to have a network of regional Edge colocation data centres within 15 miles of 95 % of the UK population , including those in the more neglected regions of the UK who would otherwise continue to be disadvantaged .
Over the coming months I will therefore continue to identify and respond to potential acquisition targets – ensuring the finance is in place at the right time . And ensure that high calibre engineering and operational personnel are available to run our new sites to Proximity ’ s high standards . �
On the network side , consideration also must be given to the number of hops and where on the network a site will be situated – these factors impact on its suitability to meet specific latency use cases . Access to local Internet exchanges and public cloud infrastructure via gateways are further factors .
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