Data centres: Trusted foundation for digital world

Omer M. Wilson, VP of Marketing APAC for Digital Realty talks about Digital Realty’s recent launch in Singapore.

EITN: Please briefly share what Digital Realty does.

Omer: Digital Realty supports the world’s leading enterprises and service providers by delivering the full spectrum of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions. Our mission is to provide customers with the trusted foundation for the digital world, and our customers can span from cloud and information technology services, communications and social networking, to financial services and others.

Digital Realty is the world’s largest data center owner, operator and developer by physical footprint.

EITN: How many data centres have you built to be able to support your customers strategies?

Omer: We’ve built more than 275+ facilities in 47 metros across 24 countries on six continents. We support over 4000+ global customers and our top 20 customers include IBM, Facebook, LinkedIn and Oracle. Our significant global footprint enables customers to expand their reach geographically, providing the proximity needed for latency sensitive applications and offering interconnection on a global scale.

Digital Realty is the world’s largest data center owner, operator and developer by physical footprint.

Within APAC, we have 12 industry leading facilities in operation today with another 5 in development which will also open during 2021. We broke ground on ICN10, our first facility in Seoul, South Korea, and launched the development of our second facility (HKG11) in Hong Kong last year. Digital Realty currently operates three facilities in Singapore, namely SIN10 at 29A International Business Park, Digital Loyang I (SIN11) at 3 Loyang Way and our newly launched Digital Loyang II (SIN12). Singapore is a key strategic hub for us as one of the fastest growing data center markets in the world. Our Data Gravity Index™ saw Singapore ranked as the second fastest growing metro globally, highlighting the huge growth potential in the country and how this extends to the wider ASEAN region and the rest of the world.

Within APAC, we have 12 industry leading facilities in operation today with another 5 in development which will also open during 2021.

EITN: Could you delve a little bit more into interconnection – what does it mean, and how they help businesses achieve business outcomes and KPIs?

Omer: Interconnection is the ability to send and receive Voice and Data traffic through either a private or public connection. It goes beyond simple connectivity because it constitutes a many-to-many connection, rather than a one-to-one. Companies are able to connect to partners, customers, or employees globally to collaborate on or exchange data with interconnection services. This allows them to create new insights and add extra value to these partnerships. It’s the most effective way for businesses of all kinds to have access to important resources that support its mission critical applications and maximize the success of its daily operations.

Our interconnection services provide virtual or physical data center connectivity for businesses with their customers, partners, providers, and facilities while extending their network’s capabilities. Having the right connectivity service is key to ensuring high availability and improving disaster recovery plans for businesses. At the same time, having diverse data center connectivity will add security and performance to our customers’ mission-critical applications. A robust interconnection service can help businesses future proof their digitalization strategy while maintaining their competitive edge and reducing the total cost of ownership.

Our interconnection services provide virtual or physical data center connectivity for businesses with their customers, partners, providers, and facilities while extending their network’s capabilities.

We work with a variety of businesses to provide our interconnection services and we partner with cloud providers and other managed service companies to deploy virtual cross connects. This allows our customers to offer their services to multiple customers occupying the same Digital Realty facility. Financial institutions use hundreds of cross-connects to link to market data, exchanges and institutions around the world. We ensure that everything from connecting globally dispersed employees to deploying mission-critical infrastructure and applications happens within a reliable and secure environment.

EITN: How are you able to offer data centre services?

Omer: Our wide range of solutions and services allow us to offer unique and well-rounded data center solutions that can drive a wide variety of businesses. For instance, Digital Loyang II or SIN12, our upcoming third data center in Singapore, will launch PlatformDIGITAL® and colocation services.

SIN12 will leverage PlatformDIGITAL® to enable global distributed workflows in the data center to remove data gravity barriers and scale digital businesses. PlatformDIGITAL® enables businesses to re-architect towards a decentralized infrastructure, which brings users, networks, clouds, systems, and things together with the data to break through the barriers of data gravity. This solution model helps customers solve their global coverage, capacity, and ecosystem connectivity needs while adapting to the changing business landscape and fueling innovation for the future of business.

For instance, Digital Loyang II or SIN12, our upcoming third data center in Singapore, will launch PlatformDIGITAL® and colocation services.

SIN12’s colocation services will ensure that data is secure while also providing the freedom for businesses to access and scale their critical IT infrastructure on-demand. This will provide the foundation for businesses to expand into new global markets and deliver exceptional customer experiences. With Digital Realty’s global colocation markets, businesses can deploy at any scale-one cabinet to multiple MW-with optimal proximity to carriers, networks and cloud service providers.

EITN: Is there a regulatory body which oversees your activities? What is this authority, and what exactly does it do?

Omer: We work closely with the following government agencies in Singapore:

• The Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB)helps enhance Singapore’s position as a global centre for business, innovation and talent
• JTC Corporation (JTC)spearheads planning, promotion and development of a dynamic industrial landscape
• The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA)develops and regulates the converging infocomm and media sectors in a holistic way, creating a dynamic and exciting sector filled with opportunities for growth, through an emphasis on talent, research, innovation and enterprise

We also work with the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), that champions the development and transformation of the built environment sector, in order to improve Singapore’s living environment. BCA has a Green Mark certification scheme, a green building rating system to evaluate a building’s overall environmental impact and performance; and provides a comprehensive framework for assessing new and existing buildings to promote sustainable design and best practices in construction and operations. SIN12 was awarded a Platinum certification, building upon Digital Realty’s track-record of delivering sustainable data centre developments globally.

EITN: How do you work with hyperscalers like AWS, Facebook, Google and more?

Omer: We work together with AWS through Digital Realty’s Service Exchange, which allows direct access to AWS Cloud Services, enabling connections to AWS Cloud Regions across the globe. AWS Direct Connect will allow enterprises to gain instant access to a growing list of powerful AWS services like Blockchain, Machine Learning, IoT and more over a direct, private connection. Other benefits include rapid scale and the ability to take advantage of processing, analytics and data management at the digital edge, as well as cost savings when compared to internet-based connection.

As a leader in data center sustainability, Digital Realty’s scale and position allowed it to push for the first back-to-back utility-scale renewable energy transaction between a data center provider landlord and a customer.

Digital Realty also partners with Google by offering virtual access to Google Cloud’s Partner Interconnect service to support high-performance, secure and flexible connections between network assets and Google Cloud Platform. Through this service, businesses can connect their IT infrastructure to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) in multiple markets across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.

We also work with Facebook on sustainability goals through a virtual power purchase agreement to support Facebook’s renewable energy goals at data center facilities leased from Digital Realty. As a leader in data center sustainability, Digital Realty’s scale and position allowed it to push for the first back-to-back utility-scale renewable energy transaction between a data center provider landlord and a customer.