5 Things You Need To Know About The Data Centre Colocation Market

As consolidation in the data centre space continues, and providers look to gain scale and add services, the demand for cloud from leased data centre space is rocketing. Here are five key points you need to know about the colocation market today.

Latest estimates from 451 Research say the global colocation market will reach $33.2 billion (£23bn) by 2018.

Among the largest providers, Equinix is the market leader in the combined wholesale and retail colocation market with a share of 8.1 percent of global annualized wholesale and retail colocation revenue, 451 Research found.

Digital Realty is the second largest supplier in terms of revenue at 5.6 percent, but leads the global market in terms of operational square feet with a 7.8 percent percent share globally.

Just five metro areas account for 27 percent of worldwide retail and wholesale colocation revenues

According to Synergy Research Group, ranked by revenue generated in Q4 the top five metros are New York, London, Washington, Tokyo and Silicon Valley.

In Q4 2015, the data centre colocation market was worth $27 billion

The majority of this revenue (54.6 percent) continues to be derived from local providers with sub-$500m (£348m) in colocation revenues, claims 451 Research.

In 2015 colocation revenue growth in the top 15 metros outstripped growth in the rest of the world by three percentage points

The worldwide market is slowly being concentrated more in those key metro areas. Top 15 metros with growth rates of 20 percent or more (measured in local currencies) were Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Singapore. Among the top five metros, Tokyo had the highest growth rate, according to Synergy Research.

The majority of colocation clients have a strong desire to locate their computing facilities close to major centres of commerce

Synergy Research Group’s John Dinsdale said: “This trend is advantageous to large colocation operators with a data center footprint that spans those key metro areas.”

“Colocation is quickly becoming the nexus of both cloud and enterprise IT,” says Katie Broderick, Research Director, 451 Research. “The colocation market is serving as data centre arms dealer to both enterprises and the cloud. In this process, colocation is often becoming the strategic connection point between the two.”

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