The Future of the Cloud with CyrusOne and Granger Reis
The Private Cloud, Hybrid Cloud and Public Cloud are all different models of cloud computing, each with its own advantages.
A Private Cloud - as the name suggests - is a cloud computing environment for exclusive use by a single organisation.
A Public Cloud is a cloud computing environment where resources such as servers and storage are owned and operated by a third-party cloud service provider and shared among multiple organisations (tenants), ideal for startups.
Finally, a Hybrid Cloud is a combination of both private and public cloud environments, providing businesses with greater flexibility and optimisation.
The choice between private, public, and hybrid cloud depends on an organisation's specific needs, including security requirements, budget, regulatory compliance and the nature of its workloads.
We spoke to two data centre experts on the cloud, to learn more. Aashna Puri is the Director of Strategy and Sustainability at global data centre provider CyrusOne. She’s on a mission to shape the future of the digital world with sustainability in mind. Leading the Advanced Technology Practice at Granger Reis, Steve Dargan is the Senior Partner at the business consulting company, where he has a personal niche focus on data centres.
Advances in private, hybrid and public cloud computing
Steve has spent the last 20 years recruiting executive-level talent into the data centre industry, with clients including hyperscalers, data centre operators and investors. As well as identifying, engaging and attracting C-Suite talent, Steve and his team work right across the data centre life cycle from strategy, investment, development, design, construction, engineering and operations to identify the leaders who can transform the industry for the better.
“In July 2004, my journey into the data centre industry began with a visit to DHL's Command and Control Centre in Prague. Back then, things were a little different. Data centres were often small computer rooms within Telco NOCs, housing a few racks and consuming around 200-300kW of power,” he says.
The landscape has dramatically transformed since then. Over the past five years alone, the data centre market has witnessed hypergrowth, driven by the surge in data usage and the widespread adoption of cloud technology.
Now, with the rapid rise of AI, and particularly generative AI, the demand for data centres has skyrocketed and the design and engineering of these facilities has dramatically changed.
“As we know, AI is revolutionising business operations, with mid-sized to enterprise businesses increasingly adopting AI solutions to enhance performance,” Steve says.
Data centres are the backbone of AI development, enabling the expansion of AI technologies. In Q1 2024, global data centre leasing volumes exceeded 1,800mW, a significant jump from the average of 200-300mW just three years ago.
The demand shows no signs of stabilising, with hyperscalers moving from leasing individual buildings to entire campuses and AI cloud providers leasing buildings for AI training and inference solutions. AI training requires high-density, high-power data centres, while AI inference models demand traditional data centre setups with redundancy in power, cooling and connectivity.
“These changes have turned the industry into an essential and powerful force that glues all our technological advancement together – a long way from the back rooms of old,” Steve says.
The future of cloud computing is poised for significant advancements.
“In Private, aside from the obvious AI augmentation, we expect to see enhanced security and compliance to combat increasing cyber threats and respond in a tailored way to specific industry regulations.
“Private clouds will increasingly integrate with edge computing to provide faster data processing and lower latency, particularly beneficial for IoT applications.
“Future hybrid clouds will offer even more seamless interoperability between on-premises infrastructure and public cloud services, making it easier to manage workloads across different environments,” he says.
Steve is already seeing enhanced orchestration and management tools in use to simplify the deployment, monitoring and scaling of applications across hybrid environments.
“Public clouds will continue to lead in scalability and flexibility, offering even more granular control over resources and pricing models,” he continues. “We can expect further expansion of data centres globally, reducing latency and improving service availability in more regions.”
It’s in this space that Steve believes the data centre sector will see the continued introduction of innovative services, such as quantum computing, advanced machine learning models and more specialised databases.
There are three things which run across all of these areas:
A major lack in talent needed to resource these changes. We are already witnessing a massive surge in demand for leaders that simply do not exist. The only solution for this will be to grow new specific talent and look to other sectors for the experience and expertise needed.
Stronger focus on sustainability, with cloud providers investing in renewable energy and more energy-efficient data centres.
Improved cost management solutions to help organisations optimise their spending by dynamically shifting workloads to the most cost-effective environment.
Over the next 12 months, Steve’s data centre practice will focus on one thing: bridging the talent gap.
“The Data Centre market in particular has witnessed hypergrowth over the last five years with adoption of cloud technologies, however the evolution of AI will turbo charge this,” Steve shared.
Currently, less than 60% of the demand for talent is at the early stages of the data centre life cycle, but the need for operational expertise is rising. Steve shares that this is concerning, given the limited pool of professionals with specific data centre operations experience.
“The compensation packages for such talent have increased by 25-30% over the last three years, with some areas seeing salaries double in the past five years. While over-promotion within the industry has led to a lack of what we would call ‘seasoned leadership’, particularly for C-Suite or Global EVP roles,” he says.
With this kind of demand for talent already outstripping supply, Granger Reis will focus on finding talent and expertise in navigating this period of transformation from other analogous mission critical sectors, that often bring a much richer depth of experience including leadership skills.
CyrusOne drives sustainable cloud growth
CyrusOne is a leading data centre developer that is at the forefront of building sustainable data centres that can handle high-intensity workloads, both in Europe and globally. The team has developed a range of innovations, both on the technical side and in how they develop partnerships, in order to reduce emissions from data centres.
“We also take measurement and accreditation for our sustainability very seriously,” states Aashna. “For example, one of our data centres in Spain has received the BREEAM Design Certificate with ‘EXCELLENT’ sustainability level. This is a monumental milestone for us as it’s the first data centre in Spain to have achieved this.”
As the Director of Strategy and Sustainability at CyrusOne, Aashna Puri is on a mission to shape the future of our digital world with sustainability in mind. Her journey in this role has been fuelled by a mix of entrepreneurial drive, a love for creative problem-solving and a deep-rooted commitment to making a positive impact.
“Having lived in seven countries across Africa, the US, Asia and the UK, I’ve soaked up cultures, perspectives and a global sense of responsibility. This international experience has made me passionate about connectivity - not just the kind that keeps our phones buzzing, but the kind that brings people, ideas and opportunities together,” she says. “That’s why the data centre industry feels like home to me; it’s the invisible backbone of our hyper-connected world which ultimately enables each human being to live their best life.”
In her current role, she’s at the helm of steering the company’s growth strategy, ensuring CyrusOne is not just expanding, but doing so thoughtfully and with foresight.
“I’m responsible for identifying expansion strategies, managing global market intelligence and guiding our investment decisions. It’s a bit like being the architect of our future - laying the groundwork for where we’re headed and how we’ll get there,” she explains.
With the surging demand for AI and cloud services, the need for new data centres is skyrocketing, which brings a crucial responsibility: minimising our environmental footprint. In her role, Aashna can ensure the company is thinking green upfront, as it scales up.
“As the data centre sector continues to grow, it's fascinating to observe how different regions are adapting to their unique needs,” Aashna continues. “In the US, the data centre market is both larger and more mature, with a significant concentration of hyperscale data centres. The US benefits from a relatively unified market, which allows for greater geographical flexibility. Additionally, the country is a leader in cloud adoption and AI-driven services, driving strong demand for data centres.”
In contrast, Europe’s market, though rapidly expanding, is more fragmented. Data centres are spread across various countries, each with its own set of market dynamics and regulatory requirements.
“Europe is also more focused on sustainability, with a commitment to becoming climate neutral by 2030. This has led to stringent regulations governing data centre operations and the implementation of AI technologies,” says Aashna.
Regulation is another key difference. Europe enforces robust standards to support its climate goals, while the US has a more fragmented regulatory landscape, with varying federal, state and local regulations. Although privacy laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) are becoming more prevalent, the overall regulatory approach in the US is less stringent compared to Europe.
“Despite these differences, both regions are intensely focused on scaling up their data centre capacities to meet the global surge in demand,” says Aashna.
The next 12 months promise to be a period of significant growth and innovation for CyrusOne.
“We are planning to expand our footprint in key gateway markets, particularly in regions where the demand for AI, cloud services and digital infrastructure is surging,” she says.
Sustainability remains a top priority. Over the next year, CyrusOne will be rolling out new initiatives aimed at reducing our carbon footprint and enhancing the environmental resilience of our data centres.
“We’re pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with data centre technology. This means looking at ways to optimise efficiency and enhance the overall performance of our footprint.”
To read the full story in the magazine click HERE
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