Modular data centers have experienced rocket growth in recent years and are expected to double their market volume year-on-year. According to research firm OMDIA, portable modular data center (PMDC) products will reach a volume of $4.3 billion in 2023.
Our Altron Modular (AM) division, led by Milivoj Uzelac Jr., is preparing for this development, and in the coming months will present innovative products in the area of modular data centers.
The data center market has been experiencing record long-term growth. What are the predictions and trends in the field of mobile data centers?
Digital economy is signified by the shift from paper to digital information in most industries. Today, this mainly concerns private companies, schools, municipalities and cities. Another highly digitalized area is medical facilities, and this trend also means greater demands on collocation providers.
There’s also a lot of activity in the area of Edge networks, with an increase of around 40% year-on-year in the USA. This is where proximity, low latency, lower data network load play a role. This also includes Industry 4.0. This trend is slowly coming to Europe and we expect the biggest boom around 2025.
How are you preparing for the boom in Edge networks and Industry 4.0 in Europe?
Imagine a smart city with advanced traffic management based on analysis from traffic cameras or an airport that needs to evaluate hundreds of camera images in real time and compare them with international databases. Such applications place enormous demands on the amount of computational operations and the volume of data sent. Therefore, it is necessary for the data center to be as close as possible to the source, so that the data can be safely evaluated with the shortest possible response time.
That’s why we designed EDGE DC, ready for these and similar scenarios. For example, EDGE DC is used by Evobus, the manufacturer of the Daimler buses. We installed EDGE DC for them in order to provide digital production control and IT equipment for the newly built production hall – before the hall itself is completed.
Another reason is the metaverse, a network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connections, where virtual reality requires high-capacity transmissions that are not technically possible to operate via DC hubs. Therefore, providers of hyper connectivity solutions, such as EXA Infra, are very interested in the extremely fast construction of EDGE data centers, which allow local data processing.
From your division’s perspective, it seems that you have clear long-term plans and goals.
That’s right, we are gradually working on the individual steps. In 2022, we will complete the creation of a sales, marketing and product team. We are also building the foundations of a partner network and pipeline to support a twofold increase in revenue in 2023.
Another goal is to attract investors, accelerate development in the form of investments in sales offices, development of software products for service, marketing and production capacities in other countries, primarily in Saudi Arabia and the USA.
Let’s take a closer look at the products themselves. Altron is currently developing a new model of prefabricated data centers. Can you tell us more about that?
We are currently developing a new model of third-generation Edge DC prefabricated data centers. The goal is to develop a brand new innovative Edge data center. The Edge data center concept itself is designed to reflect current customer needs across the customer segment while achieving a high level of technological innovation and data security.
One of the main reasons for the development of the new Edge DC is the new architecture, with which it will be possible to achieve even more effective product integration on the campus or campus. Another reason is to increase the speed of commissioning to obtain computing capacity in a matter of weeks and, of course, to reduce acquisition costs.
Mobile data centers are a quickly implementable alternative to a classic server room. What clients are you developing the new solution for?
We offer a basic prefabricated solution that we are able to tailor to the needs of clients in the field of IT infrastructure. We focus primarily on small and medium-sized data center solutions from 20 kW to 1 MW of ICT load, for which we can deliver effective solutions in a reasonable price-performance ratio.
Our products are used all across the market. They are a perfectly functioning solution in locations with limited options to build a dedicated building or with lengthy processes of obtaining a building permit. These features are appreciated by government institutions, security forces, but also by private companies, which use them in industrial areas or logistics parks. Last but not least, medical facilities face growing demands for digitization, for which our data centers are increasingly popular.
We use technology that best suits the application, geographic location, and local technology support. At this point, we are mainly a manufacturer, but at the same time we still want to maintain the approach of a service provider – dynamic, accurate and focused on the individual needs of each client.