Keysource, the data centre and critical environment specialist, has announced the key findings of this year’s industry survey* which is designed to give an insight into the decisions and considerations that UK IT directors and senior decision makers in the data centre industry are making, which in turn are influencing the market. It is titled “The New Normal & It’s Green!” as it acknowledges that much of the developed world has taken the decision to ‘live with the virus’ and look to the future, embracing the increasingly important sustainability criteria for all businesses.

The results of the survey show that the data centre sector will continue to be at the heart of the global post pandemic recovery, as for many respondents, the ability to bounce back or accelerate growth lies in their technology and continued digital transformation. The good news is that this is creating increased budgets which, combined with a market that is bursting with service options, suggests a positive outlook. 

However, a large proportion of our respondents have highlighted real concerns around the challenges in delivering these often complex and multifaceted transformation projects. 83% believe that social and economic challenges will have an impact on their ability to meet current goals and objectives. Confidence was low across all key phases of the change process alongside reports that existing investments are preventing transformation in some form.

“The industry will need to work hard to protect customers against transformation failure or worse and perhaps step up with more innovative solutions to ensure that these objectives can be delivered,” says Jon Healy, Operations Director at Keysource.

The report also highlights the increasing importance of sustainability, arguably the hottest topic in the industry, and there are some encouraging results that show a shift from reactive and regulatory action to a more proactive and ‘how far can we go’ approach. In fact, more than 80% of those surveyed said they would consider making sustainable changes without a financial incentive or benefit and with corporate social responsibility and Environmental Social Governance all moving to the fore this suggests that the opportunities here are significant for industry and society. 

And finally, security and cybercrime are also flagged as a major concern, something that has grown substantially ever year in the survey. Despite this only 40% of respondents stated that they consistently undertake the necessary checks for suppliers which perhaps explains why only around half of those questioned were fully confident in their organisation’s resilience to a breach. 

“The results of the survey are compelling with demand for datacentres continuing to grow but security, sustainability and the ability to undertake change are all key concerns. The questions remain - can enough be done to keep up with this demand? Or how much will the industry drop the ball and is that ok? There is however no doubt that whatever happens it will be at breakneck speed. If it was easy, it wouldn’t be fun!” concludes Jon.

Keysource surveyed 250 Senior IT decision makers who have an annual budget for IT equipment and services, and have responsibility for their business servers and/or data centres. This is the fourth consecutive year that the company has carried out this industry survey. 

Access the report here: https://www.keysource.co.uk/news-hub/can-we-keep-up-keysource-launches-state-of-the-industry-report-2021