Ep. 44 Federal Cloud Transition: Data Center Shortage?

When Vivek Kundra called for a cloud-first emphasis back in 2011, he never thought that it would be so popular that a situation would arise where data centers may be in short supply.

Everybody knows 70% of the world’s Internet traffic goes through Ashburn Virginia. In spite of massive numbers of data centers and constant construction or more, most do not know there is a 1% vacancy rate. Every data center under construction in Northern Virginia for the next 18 months is under contract.

We have documented the challenge of moving to the cloud in many other podcasts. We have discussed everything from funding, and security, to managing the transition. Who would have thought that the data explosion had caused a shortage of data centers?

As a result, when an agency starts to look for a data center, they may not have the range of selection they had as little as three years ago.

Today, we sat down with Stuart Dyer from CBRE, he is an expert in helping organizations select the correct data center for their needs. Because of the explosion in demand, getting a data center is not as easy as asking for five bids and selecting the best value.

During the interview, Stuart explains how an agency must have a thorough understanding of every aspect of the requirements for a data center. Size, redundancy, and security are among many factors. The reason is they may have to prioritize what they can live with and what they cannot. It is a seller’s market for data centers.