New data center research showed that Hong Kong is the most stable location in the Asia Pacific region to support new and outsourced data center initiatives. Singapore and Taiwan also made the list as top areas for data center locations.
The IDC Data Center Index study noted that these sites are ideal for data center projects due to reduced energy costs and better availability of bandwidth resources in comparison with other locations in the Asia Pacific region. However, Simon Piff, IDC Asia Pacific associate vice president of infrastructure research, noted that the majority of countries in the area are profitable markets for data center businesses, with the exception of select regions with political and technical deterrents.
“Choosing a strategically correct location has become increasingly important for organizations to serve their customers across countries,” Piff said. “Hence, the scrutinizing process has to be done very thoroughly and carefully.”
The group decided to undertake the study in response to boosted interest in launching Asia Pacific data center projects. Within the past few months, a number of organizations have announced data center projects in Asia Pacific countries, including Skytap, Google, Digital Realty and Savvis.
Hong Kong Data Center
Late last year, Digital Realty Trust, Inc. and Savvis announced a collaboration on a new Hong Kong data center project. The Tier III facility was launched about 12 miles from downtown, in the Tseung Kwan-O Industrial Estate. The structure was built using Digital Realty’s POD architecture modular design and can support the demands of telecommunications, enterprise and cloud service provider clients in the Asia Pacific region.
The site is widely known as a critical location for data center initiatives because of nearby resources including low-latency links to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, three submarine cables and seven land-based cable systems. Additionally, a Digital Realty study found that 87 percent of Hong Kong participants plan to outsource design and building needs for data center construction, or utilize leased space for their needs.
“By 2015, Hong Kong will surpass the global percentage average of firms that outsource IT infrastructure with nearly 80 percent of organizations outsourcing to colocation, managed hosting and cloud environments,” the companies stated at the time of the announcement.
Singapore Data Center
In January 2014, Skytap announced the launch of its first international facility, a Singapore data center established to meet client needs in Australia and China. Brian White, Skytap vice president of products, said the new structure will help support the company’s growing global footprint, as well as provide resources for customers seeking to develop and test applications in the Asia Pacific market.
“International expansion into the Singapore market supports software development teams with the speed and latency they need to fast-track delivery within the region, as well as optimize collaboration amongst their globally dispersed teams,” White said.
The company also noted that a number of other organizations, including Amazon Web Services, IBM and Salesforce.com, recently established Singapore data centers. The regional expansion comprises approximately half of Southeast Asia’s data center capacity.
Taiwan Data Center
Google also announced additional funding for a Taiwan data center late last year. The search giant invested $600 million in the new structure, which would make it Google’s largest facility in the area. Joe Kava, Google data center vice president, said the facility utilizes a number of energy-saving systems for data center sustainability. Additionally, Laing Kuo-hsin, Deputy Minister with the ROC Ministry of Economic Affairs, said Google’s recent investment in the region boosted the country’s cloud market.
“Google choosing Taiwan as the location for its biggest cloud computing center in Asia is a milestone for the nations’ cloud computing industry,” Liang said.
