The key findings of the August survey show a reversal in confidence from negative (in early 2009) to positive from the majority of respondents, although business has indicated that deployment of IT projects (project pipeline) is still lagging. Importantly, energy efficiency is now considered the top priority by the respondents, with density (cooling) and availability (uptime) following in second and third respectively. This marks another reversal of pre-recession priorities, when availability was consistent as the number one priority.
Russell Perry, Marketing Director for Emerson Network Power in Asia, says there are two key takeaways from the latest survey that will interest data centre professionals in the region.
“Number one is the reversal of the negative sentiment, which is typically a precursor to increased spend and the commissioning of new projects,” says Perry. “We’ll be interested to see at what rate this sentiment converts into an improved project pipeline”.
“The second is the switch from availability to energy efficiency as the top priority for new and existing data centre projects. This shows a clear connection between energy efficiency and cost reduction, which is consistent with the increased focus on OPEX as a result of the recession. It also shows that energy efficiency is now widely associated with lower cost, and less so with corporate governance or ‘green’ initiatives from past years.”
Por Lau, Managing Director of Emerson Network Power in Philippines, says the survey findings are consistent with what he’s seeing in the local market.
“The key objectives of the majority of the projects we’re involved with today are cost reduction and return on investment, and we’ve been able to demonstrate how the combination of energy efficient equipment, infrastructure and design consistently help companies meet these objectives,” says Lau.
“Moreover this is consistent at all levels, from large data centres to small computer rooms,” he says. “The challenge for us and for our customers is how to deliver the benefits of energy efficiency without impacting existing and future service level agreements in terms of availability and uptime, and indeed improving on them, and that’s where the expertise and resources of the leading suppliers come into play.”
The Market Pulse survey — now in its fourth iteration since Emerson Network Power launched the survey series in April 2008 — polls hundreds of IT professionals across Asia on a broad range of topics, including data centre design priorities, spending trends, project pipeline and investment confidence. The demographic makeup of the August survey includes end-users (53 percent), influencers (35 percent, up from 26 percent in March), and IT resellers (12 percent).
For more information on the results and demographics of the latest Market Pulse survey, visit www.NextGenITCinfra.com. You can also download a one-page executive summary from this site.
For more information please contact:
Joy Huang Emerson Network Power
+632 620-3600 ext 7655
Katz Tirante
Emerson Network Power
+632 620-3600 ext 7666