Asset valuations + tech's pivotal role in the sector, is seeing a focus on tech ownership as a market entry point.
Increasingly all actors in the sector have a greater understanding of the role technology plays in this fast-paced market.
Whilst other real estate sectors have started to embrace technologies to improve asset quality, the data centers sectors is highly unique, owing to the asset's level of tech dependence.
A dependence that is set to continue with the greater demand and supply of data processing capability, such as AI. This shift is reshaping the cost, design + purpose of data centers, which is seeing a clear demarcation from asset owners in terms of what type of asset + data services they will provide.
Technology is increasingly becoming the go-to entry point for both new market entrants and incumbents seeking to either, leverage the value in other parts of the lifecycle, or as a means to tackle the many headwinds that the sector is facing.
The breadth of participants continues to grow as the inter-dependency between assets, technology, infrastructure + energy solidifies. From a tech venture investment perspective this brings together, the major investors in fields such as Proptech, Energy and the TMT funds who have a a strong allocation to Telecom.
As such, our tracking of the leading 1,750 technologies, we expect to continue to grow - with a velocity reflective of the scale of market players, the capital able to be deployed + the upcoming demand for data services.
Byte size
snapshot: Global shifts, we are seeing
Equal roles for tech + real estate in value + service delivery
Temperature rising in cloud costs with many cloud users pivoting to hybrid storage
CRE asset owners anticipate network infra as key to leasing yields
energy conflicts with public need will lead to roll-out of nuclear + other alternatives
1,750
largest Tech companies we are tracking
Unparalleled data consumption + processing demand, has led to intense activity across all aspects of the data center value chain.
The Maturing of Modular Use: The Building Block of Hybrid
52% of owners have implemented some form of modular deployment.
Modular data centers are likely to be a large growth area in the next 5 years as they can fast track construction, add scale to existing data centers and can provide connectivity in remote and difficult environments.
Data Center's Atomic Kitten:
Nuclear energy in-action
65%of total energy used by France is from nuclear energy.
Whilst much media attention has focused on renewable energy what has been less visible is the increased interested in nuclear energy.
Governments including the UK, large tech companies and investors are increasingly exploring nuclear options including SMRs for energy independence.
Data Center Investors: Outlook on Valuations
$1.8TCapital to be deployed by leading data center players by 2030.
Data centers ranging from large hyperscale down to smaller podular units in cities are all expected to grow.
Driverless Data:
Releasing The Handbrake
50 to 100 milliseconds Is the requirement for self-driving cars to react including perception, planning, and driving.
This is significantly less than the average human reaction time to commence braking (0.5 seconds) and requires low latency and reliable connectivity from nearby data networks.
Computing The True Carbon Cost Of Data + AI
5% average home energy use
Comes from average data storage needs for two adults equating to around 1TB of data.
This equates to 40kg of CO2e in emissions and shows the impact of cloud storage over the lower impact of saving to a hard drive (fraction of a kilowatt)
Unlocking the Highway:
The Network Infra Techs
1% drop in revenue for every 100ms of latency as per Amazon in 2013.
Since then E-Commerce has grown rapidly and latency can have a profound impact on enterprise performance for time-sensitive operations including profit margins and risk metrics.
DERS + DERMS: Can Systems Make a Difference?
34% saw transmission expenses fall due to DERS in one of the most comprehensive pilots in the US.
The potential for energy savings (and cost savings) alone is powerful but the environmental impact also crucial.
Threat Or Opportunity?
Quantum Horizons
5-10 years Cryptographically relevant quantum computer (CRQC) is expected to be mature in this period.
Core systems, governance and broader cyber security will need to catch up to ensure future threats can be managed.
Selfies, Reels + Toks: Our Data Consumption Habits
76%of global mobile data usage in 2025 is consumption of video applications.
The ubiquity of smart phones and the growth of social media (covering 7.8% of traffic) has changed behaviours and network needs.
Previous higher use of data including web browsing and audio streaming have less volume and impact.
The use of AI models (a large component of enterprise and computer data usage) are far lower for cell phones at this time.
Management Platforms:
The low-hanging fruit?
~50% Data centers that use DCIM solutions experience
lower outage rates.
Software improvements have shown that efficient management of data can be as crucial as other inputs
such as network and energy.
With Cap Rates so tight, leveraging tech for value is critical.
Our services drive your market differentiation, which is becoming increasingly critical in real estate
Evolving with Confidence
We supported a mid-sized colocation operator acquiring new assets by providing a 5-year innovation outlook and benchmarking global best practices.
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Smart Capital, Smarter Assets
We supported a European PE house in identifying 3-4 key technology building blocks which could deliver strong ROI, improve the attractiveness of assets.
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Framework for Data-Driven Growth
We helped a major Asian conglomerate refine its investment thesis by defining clear criteria to evaluate emerging technologies addressing data growth.
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