Data centre consolidation marches on. But what’s best for clients?

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The evolving data centre landscape

Ballooning data volumes and the growth of cloud computing are causing the data centre sector to grow exponentially. Alongside this growth, the data centre landscape is also going through significant change, predominantly due to increased competition and developing technologies that are affecting customer expectations. 

In a bid to remain competitive, seek scale, and broaden the markets they address, some large-scale data centre providers are joining forces in order to pool experience and service offerings – quickening consolidation at the top end of the market.

Does bigger always mean better? (Clue: we believe not.)

There’s nothing wrong with size, of course, and for those companies that want a property-type transaction with their data centre based on leasing space – handing over their infrastructure, parking it securely and carrying on with business – the hyperscale model can be a great one. And, of course, for sizeable companies that require enormous amounts of data storage space and are likely to have to scale up hugely and quickly, the hyperscale model can work very well. It is undeniable that these large-scale data centres offer their enterprise clients the cost savings, connectivity and performance levels they would struggle to achieve themselves. However, it is easy for enterprises to lose control of their IT deployment within these giant data centre environments, and they may not have access to the support they need should they want to change direction or address evolving requirements further down the line. 

While large-scale mergers are occurring at the top end of the market, reducing the number of data centre giants, our acquisition of Manchester-based Teledata in 2022 represented a different kind of strategic growth. This move was a deliberate step to expand our footprint into the thriving north west tech hub, combining our resources with a respected regional provider. By merging two smaller, focused providers, we are enhancing our service capabilities and regional presence. This is not consolidation for consolidation’s sake; it is a targeted expansion designed to bring our high standards of service to a new and dynamic market, offering more choice and localised expertise.

At Datum it’s all about service

In contrast to an ‘off the peg’ model, we offer a completely different proposition. Our clients (including FTSE 250 and Fortune 500 companies) can be small, large and anywhere in between. What unites them is their desire for a well-engineered infrastructure that is comparable to that offered by the top-end hyperscale providers, but with one significant difference – a completely different working relationship. 

Datum’s relationship with its enterprise clients is so much more than a landlord-tenant-type arrangement. Instead, it is based on an ongoing partnership and client-focused service geared towards enterprises that are developing and transitioning – at its most basic level this means access to leading edge technologies and 24 x 7 x 365 dedicated data centre management, but above and beyond this it means flexibility in terms of approach and contracts (no fixed-term contracts to tie clients in and the ability to easily scale server capacity up or down as needed), the provision of additional services (either though our on-site staff or through our network of partners) to assist companies with their digital transformation and growth plans, and service management for transparency and accountability. 

Our ethos is based on partnering with our clients to tailor a colocation service that is suited to their unique business needs and future growth plans. We know that nothing is set in stone and that requirements change, so our service is set up to accommodate this. Whilst we work with our enterprise clients to create the bespoke solutions required by their IT teams, we offer our service provider clients a top-quality service-managed platform that they can rely on and confidently recommend to their customer base, over which they can layer their own services. And flexibility is at the heart of everything we do.

Smaller does not mean riskier

We were acquired by UBS Asset Management in 2021 – a globally renowned investment group and a division of UBS Group, one of the largest and most respected financial institutions in the world. This robust financial foundation offers assurance to our client base of our long-term reliability, and highlights the trust and credibility we bring to our operations. The financial backing of UBS also provides us with the resources for continuous growth – expansion is already evident through the recent completion of our new Manchester data centre, MCR2, and the commencement of construction on FRN2, our second data centre at our London edge campus.

Talk to us about your colocation requirements

If you’d like to find out more about what makes Datum so unique, do get in touch. Or, even better, come and  take a look around our London edge and Manchester facilities.

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