Study Reveals Datacenter Growth
SAN FRANCISCO - Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR) , the leading owner and manager of corporate and Internet gateway datacenters, is reporting new research data that indicates a significant increase in the number of datacenter projects being planned by U.S. corporations during the coming 12 months. The findings are from a recently completed survey commissioned by Digital Realty Trust of senior decision makers who are either directly responsible for datacenters or influence significant decisions related to datacenter operations. The results of this new study were compared against a similar study conducted by the Company in 2007 to produce comparative metrics about the growth, and other trends, in the datacenter industry.
Key findings from the research study include:
-- 86 percent of respondents in the 2008 study will definitely/probably
expand their number of datacenters in the next 12 months, indicating
an active phase of datacenter development during the second half of
2008 and first half of 2009.
-- 45 percent of respondents plan to expand in 3 or more locations. This
is an increase of nearly 20 percent over 2007 indicating that the
scope of datacenter projects have increased along with the number of
projects.
-- Planned square footage required for an average expansion site went up
50 percent from 10,000 square feet in 2007 to 15,000 square feet in
2008 - another indication that the scope of datacenter projects have
increased significantly in the past year.
"This survey of Fortune 2000 companies confirms what our team has suspected based on conversations with customers. The demand for datacenter space is, in fact, accelerating and being driven by the rapidly growing IT infrastructure needs of companies across a wide cross-section of industries. Our 2007 survey indicated that there would be a significant volume of datacenter projects on the horizon, and the increases forecasted in this year's survey are consistent with our new customer activity," said Michael F. Foust, CEO of Digital Realty Trust.
Mr. Foust added, "It is particularly significant that 86 percent of companies are planning datacenter expansions in the next 12 months, especially in the context of the current economic environment. Despite the challenging market conditions, companies are making major investments in IT infrastructure, reflecting the critical nature of these assets to today's corporations."
Other findings from the research study include:
-- Power usage of datacenter centers continued to grow, with a 12 percent
increase in average kW use per rack in 2008 over the 2007 metrics.
-- A higher percentage of companies reported that they expect to need the
support of a partner for their datacenter projects. That metric
increased 10 percent in 2008 (from 52 percent to 57 percent). Only 26
percent of companies are planning a "do-it-yourself" approach to their
datacenter projects.
-- Disaster recovery and Sarbanes-Oxley requirements were cited most
frequently as key drivers for datacenter expansions. Power
requirements, new applications, more physical space, connectivity
needs and cooling requirements were also as among the key drivers.
-- Among companies that are planning datacenter expansions:
o 83 percent plan to expand physical space
o 77 percent plan to expand power capabilities
o 76 percent plan to expand cooling capabilities
Digital Realty Trust also recently published the research results from studies of green datacenter trends in the United States and in Europe. To read highlights of these studies, visit the "News" section at http://www.digitalrealtytrust.com/.



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