END USER INSIGHT

Henry Sutton , Founder , Gulf Data Centre Association

Founded just over a year ago , the Gulf Data Centre Association ( GDCA ) aims to create a supportive platform for the data centre market . By clarifying regulations and fuelling transparency through community building and networking , Henry Sutton , Founder , Gulf Data Centre Association , discusses the progression that ’ s in store for the region .

How has the GDCA managed to attract over 1,000 members in 12 months ?

The Gulf Data Centre Association ( GDCA ) was created with the goal of offering more market transparency to demystify the GCC region ’ s data centre industry as well as to support the local markets in growing the data centre ecosystem . The GCC market has been underserved for a long time , especially in terms of colocation and facilities that can support cloud requirements , but it ’ s a very tech-hungry region , with domestic demand for the likes of content and cloud applications skyrocketing . There ’ s a huge amount of growth and demand for data centre requirements and although the region is opening up economically and politically , there are still lots of questions about entering the market .

With the GDCA , we foster a sense of collaboration and enable knowledge sharing across borders on a neutral platform to help answer these questions . I think our rapid growth is testament to how invaluable this transparency and cooperation are for the industry . We ’ ve had positive feedback from the events we ’ ve hosted throughout the GCC so far . Word-of-mouth alongside social media have also played a big part in our growth . www . intelligentdatacentres . com

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