Digital Realty Trust, Inc., a leading owner and manager of corporate data centers and Internet gateways, is reporting new research data about a number of emerging datacenter trends in the IT industry. The findings are from a recently completed survey commissioned by the Company of senior decision makers who are either directly responsible for data centers or influence significant decisions related to data center operations. The research was conducted by the respected research firm Campos Research & Analysis which surveyed executives at leading corporations throughout North America to gather information about their data center-related initiatives. The surveyed companies come from a wide range of industries, including financial services, manufacturing, professional services, packaged consumer goods, telecommunications, consumer services and information technology.
Key findings from the research study and additional data points include:
* Five out of every six respondents (more than 80 percent) have plans to expand their data
centers:
* One third of all study participants plan to expand their datacenters within the next 12 months;
* Nearly 40 percent of participants are planning expansions that will occur in the next 24 months;
and another 12 percent are planning expansions beyond the 24 month mark;
* Only 15 percent of survey participants have no plans to expand; and
* Of the study participants who are planning datacenter expansions, 75 percent plan to expand in
two or more locations, indicating that these expansions will be complex, multi-site data center
initiatives.

The study also determined that the average company surveyed has between three and four major datacenters, and nearly 20 percent operate six or more major data centers (excluding "IT closets in branch offices").
The majority of participants in the research study indicated that the following factors are key drivers in the need to expand data centers and/or establish new data centers:
* New applications, which require new or expanded datacenters;
* The need for more square footage to meet the general growth in the scope of data center
operations;
* Disaster recovery initiatives, which require additional datacenter infrastructure;
* Sarbanes-Oxley/Compliance requirements, which require additional datacenter infrastructure;
* Power, which has become an increasingly important driver for corporate datacenter planning;
* Network connectivity, which requires the need for new data center space that meets evolving
connectivity needs; and
* Cooling, more advanced datacenter space requires high volume systems .
"This data illustrates that the demand for advanced data center facilities is broad-based and has long-term growth prospects given the scope and timeline of the projects described by these companies. With our ability to provide a wide range of customer oriented solutions from build-to-suit to Turn-Key Datacenters combined with our Critical Facilities Management and flexible financing options, we believe that Digital Realty Trust is well-positioned to benefit from these very favorable trends," said Michael F. Foust, CEO of Digital Realty Trust. "The study also confirms what we see: that the data center has become a critical part of business operations whether you make loans, build cars, or provide energy solutions. Its strategic importance crosses all industry verticals, not just Internet-centric companies. I look forward to seeing more industry research that addresses these emerging trends."
Chris Crosby, senior vice president of sales and technical services for Digital Realty Trust, added: "The findings in this research study are noteworthy because they crystallize issues that many people in the industry have commented on, but which have not yet been quantitatively corroborated in studies we have seen. This research clearly shows that there are strong drivers for continued growth in the demand for data center space, with the vast majority of large companies actively planning data center projects this year or in the next couple of years."
A number of additional findings from the research study include:
* Currently, most corporate datacenters consist of 10,000-25,000 square feet of raised floor
space, with small percentages of respondents indicating that their datac enter operations are on
the low end or the high end of the size spectrum.
* Most want at least 10,000 square feet, at least 4.1kW per rack, and some level of redundancy.
* When study participants were asked to rate the importance of several factors in selecting a
geographic location for their data centers, security was ranked as the most important followed
by telecom and accessibility for company personnel.
* Taxes, labor pool and real estate costs were ranked as less important, but still important,
factors.
* More than half of the respondents plan to use a partner to implement their expansion plans.
* Only 35 percent are planning to implement the expansion themselves.
* Nearly half ranked operational reliability as the most important criterion for choosing a partner
for data center operations.
Crosby concluded: "This study underscores that numerous factors are behind these datacenter initiatives, rather than a single issue. More than compliance requirements, power issues or new applications alone - there are at least a half a dozen different factors driving the demand for datacenter space. The cost of power may fluctuate and compliance regulations may evolve, but we feel the need for datacenter space is bigger than any single issue." .