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Tag: expansion

  • Survey Highlights Key Role Datacentres Play To Ensure Competitiveness


    More than four out of five companies surveyed are planning datacentre expansions within the next two years, according to Digital Realty Trust.

    The wholesale datacentre provider also found that more than a quarter of surveyed companies are actively planning immediate datacentre expansion projects that are commencing in 2009.

    Almost 70 per cent are planning projects that will commence in 12-24 months.

    The findings are part of an independent survey commissioned by Digital Realty Trust.

    The study is based on a detailed survey of senior decision makers who are either directly responsible for datacentres or influence significant decisions related to datacentre operations at large European organisations.

    Bernard Geoghegan, senior vice president at Digital Realty Trust, said that despite the dramatic changes in the economic climate, the results indicate that an even larger proportion of European companies are planning datacentre projects.

    He said these projects are bigger by every measure.

    "These trends corroborate what we are continuing to hear from so many of our customers – that datacentres have become critical corporate assets that ensure competitiveness in difficult times and that will drive growth when economic conditions improve," he said.

    Other key findings of the new study include:

    • Compared to last year’s survey results, there has been a 117 per cent increase in the number of firms that will seek more than 2,500 square metres for their datacentres, indicating that the scope of datacentre projects has grown significantly.
    • Compared to last year’s survey results, there has been a 22 per cent increase in projected average datacentre space requirements from 1,300 square metres to 1,600 square metres – a significant increase that will impact the balance of supply and demand for datacentre space in European markets.
    • A 21 per cent increase compared to last year’s survey in average power capacity per rack (4.7kW v. 5.7kW) that companies are projecting, which is a significant metric for datacentre power requirements.
    • More than 60 per cent of companies plan to use a partner to expand rather than taking a do-it-yourself approach to these large datacentre projects.
    • Companies identified London as the top location for the datacentre projects being planned. Paris was identified as the second most popular location for upcoming datacentre projects.

  • Snom Favors Italy Over UK For Expansion


    The VoIP phone maker and developer Snom Technology is making a push into Italy and opening an office in Milan.

    In what could be a barometer of the current state of Europe’s economies, the German company ruled out a move to the UK.

    Heike Cantzler, marketing manager for Snom Technology, said both the UK and Italy were considered for the expansion.

    She told voip.biz-news that both Italy and the UK had very active Web markets – which had made the decision about where to expand difficult.

    Ultimately, concerns over the UK’s economic situation and the perception that the Italian market was more receptive to new technology, tipped the balance in Italy’s favor.

    "The financial problems in the UK are worse than in Italy," said Cantzler.

    "The UK and US economies have big problems. With the rest of Europe, we are still waiting to see what will happen.

    "Maybe next year will be hard but at the moment we do not feel any difference."

    Snom develops and manufacturers VoIP telephones based on an open standard for enterprise communications.

    It employs 50 people worldwide, with offices in Germany, Italy, the US and China.

    In common with other VoIP industry businesses, Cantzler said a recession was likely to benefit Snom as companies sought ways to reduce costs.

    She said that as Snom phones can be operated with a large number of compatible IP-PBX that support SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), they offer customers a wider choice for enterprise communication systems.

    In October, the Berlin-based company launched the Snom 820, a VoIP business telephone with a high-resolution TFT color display.

    Cantzler said the 820 typified Snom’s philosophy of adding as many features to products while keeping prices down.

    "The 820 is the only phone worldwide – aside from Microsoft’s phones – that integrates with Microsoft Outlook," she said.

    "This is really interesting because the Microsoft phone is one that is very expensive and very difficult to handle. Even Microsoft developers tell us that they use a Snom phone because it’s easier."

    Praise indeed.