This paper is based on key practical findings from enterprise research. Namely: what they are doing, and why they are doing it.

While enterprises continue to own and operate in-house datacenters, their use of colocation and other outsourcing services is growing fast. Demand for colocation and wholesale datacenters, with their readily available space and power, their professional operations teams and, increasingly, their rich connectivity and value-added offerings, has never been stronger. 451 Research forecasts that the operational square footage of the global colocation and wholesale sector will grow at a healthy 7% CAGR from 2017 to 2020. This top-level data is comforting for the global ecosystem of datacenter suppliers and operators, yet a closer analysis points to significant disruption ahead.