Majority of Japanese data centre operators looking to expand by 2020
Wed 29 Jul 2015

Almost two thirds of Japanese data centre operators plan to invest in expansion projects over the next five years, according to research [Japanese] conducted by IDC Japan.
The Japan Datacenter Facilities Survey, conducted in February 2015, questioned data centre managers linked to both public sector organisations and private companies, such as financial firms, manufacturing organisations and telecommunications service providers.
The study explored the status of data centre management and facilities spending in the domestic Japanese market. Facilities refers to any data centre building and power and cooling facilities.
Of the 65.9% of data centre operators looking to advance their expansion plans, the majority were interested in ways to enhance the capacity of their facilities and boost the overall operational efficiency using energy-saving measures.
According to the IDC report, the Japanese commercial data centre market is experiencing a boom period and data centre operators are looking to expand facilities in the hope of ensuring a significant return on investment.
With a notable shift away from enterprise data centre capacity, research manager Mimei Ito advised that operators “focus on solutions for commercial data centre (cDC) restructuring and optimisation.”
Another IDC report investigating Japanese data centre equipment and facilities published in February highlighted the challenges that data centre operators face with fluctuating market trends.
“Data centre facilities businesses are facing new business challenges due to rising construction and electricity costs. UPS and cooling system vendors will need to enhance product functions that contribute to operational efficiency, enhance product power saving functions, and utilise data centre infrastructure management (DCIM),” added Ito.