In two weeks, DatacenterDynamics will open the first ever Singapore Data Center Week (SDCW) – a series of events that will bring together data center industry leaders from across Southeast Asia.

The opening keynote will be delivered by Dr Pantelis Alexopoulos, former CTO of Maxtor and executive director of the Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). Other speakers include Joe Kava, VP of data center operations at Google and Bruce Yang, senior director of IDC at Tencent.

SDCW will also offer two training pathways, a technology exhibition and an awards show.

Looking east
According to research by DatacenterDynamics Intelligence (DCDi), investments in the data center market in Southeast Asia (excluding outsourcing) will reach US$2 billion in the next two to three years.

A third of businesses in the region are looking at some form of new build in the next financial year. The emphasis for enterprises has been on increasing the value they receive per square meter of facility space rather than increasing square meters, noted Nick Parfitt, lead analyst at DCDi.

“This is a trend common to established markets,” said Parfitt. “CEOs in Southeast Asia are increasingly asking to see more ROI for each dollar they spend on their data centers.”

The SDCW, held from 13 to 17 October in Singapore, aims to help make those investments. Attendees will be able to participate in workshops and seminars, share the best practices, market insights and success stories, network and find new partners.

In terms of professional development, two training pathways will be available: Critical Operations Professional and Data Center Power Professional. The first, aimed at the management level, will cover operations of the facilities, moves and changes and cabling teams. The second course is more hands-on, and provides a granular understanding of the key challenges related to energy.

Convergence
“Delegates used to be almost exclusively from the data center facilities side of the house, with IT staff coming into the fold in recent years, but today we’re seeing delegates with a mix of responsibilities, from IT, and Facilities, but also Networks and Finance,” said Vincent Liew, general manager for SEA at DatacenterDynamics.

“This represents a shift that we call 'Converged Decision Making' - where everything is linked. Today all large purchasing decisions need the buy-in of an array of stakeholders. Choosing a network fabric could influence how and where you will build your next data center. The traditional marketing mindset of targeting people with specific job titles or from selected disciplines may be obsolete.”

Three days of training will be followed by the DatacenterDynamics Converged Singapore Conference and Expo. In keeping with the theme of convergence, individual exhibition areas will house ‘solution stages’ where vendors can deliver 15-minute product-specific presentations during break times. They will culminate in the DCD APAC Awards ceremony, which will recognize the best data center projects in nine categories.

SDCW follows a successful annual DatacenterDynamics Converged Singapore Conference and Expo, held by DCD in October 2013.