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Tag: data centre trends

  • Panduit unveils AI-ready infrastructure to power Malaysia’s data centre boom

    Panduit unveils AI-ready infrastructure to power Malaysia’s data centre boom

    Malaysia’s data centre pipeline has surged to nearly 13 gigawatts (GW)—larger than Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore combined—and is projected to reach US$16.02 billion by 2031 at a 19.55% CAGR.

    Riding on these new developments, Panduit has introduced a suite of new infrastructure solutions designed to support Malaysia’s rapidly expanding data centre and enterprise sectors, as the country positions itself as a regional hub for AI and cloud computing. Three new offerings include the EL2P Intelligent Power Distribution Unit, Gen 7 SAN Director Connectivity, and the Fault Managed Power System (FMPS).

    As facilities grapple with rising rack power density, cooling limitations, and scalability demands, Panduit’s FMPS and EL2P address these pressures by providing intelligent power distribution for high-density environments, while Gen 7 SAN Director Connectivity delivers scalable, GPU-ready fibre architectures.

    “Malaysia’s success in the AI era will not be measured only by how much digital investment we attract, but by the strength of the ecosystem we build around it — the infrastructure we develop, the capabilities we cultivate, and the partnerships we forge,” said YBrs. Puan Zuaida Abdullah, deputy chief executive officer (Investment Development) at the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), who officiated the event.

    The timing aligns with explosive global AI adoption. According to Grand View Research, the generative AI market is forecast to grow from US$29.6 billion in 2026 to US$324.7 billion by 2033, at a CAGR of 40.8%, driven by demand for AI copilots, virtual assistants, and workflow modernisation across industries.

    “According to Grand View Research, global AI adoption is growing at CAGR of 40%, and AI is reshaping how organisations operate. Companies in Malaysia need to consider that AI is revolutionising efficiency across industries, such as automated warehouses and smart buildings,” said Simin Sirun, business director for ASEAN, India, and Korea at Panduit.

    Panduit also expanded its AI infrastructure readiness with a next-generation Very Small Form Factor (VSSF) fibre optic portfolio, featuring MMC connectivity and shuffle cables engineered to support advanced AI GPU architectures, including NVIDIA Vera Rubin. The VSSF range delivers higher fibre density and performance optimised for AI environments, helping meet the scalability requirements of next-generation computing.

    Panduit says three infrastructure domains underpin modern digital environments:

    In electrical infrastructure, best practices in grounding and bonding, H-Tap connections, and cable cleat systems were showcased as core elements of resilient electrical design for high-density AI data centres and industrial facilities.

    In enterprise network infrastructure, sessions explored extended-reach solutions beyond standard 100-metre limits, high-performance copper cabling, intelligent cabinet designs, and the newly launched FMPS, which forms the foundation of safety, reliability, and compliance in critical environments.

    For data centre network infrastructure, presentations examined how increasing fibre density and AI-driven workloads are reshaping design requirements.

    Topics included structured cable routing, advanced power distribution approaches like the EL2P to improve network consistency and operational efficiency, fibre management, pre-terminated connectivity such as Gen 7 SAN Director Connectivity, and scalable architectures enabling high-density, GPU-ready, AI-capable deployments.

    Panduit’s solutions are backed by its Johor Bahru manufacturing facility, which commenced operations in October 2023 and serves as a regional supply chain hub. Equipped with advanced robotics, automation, and energy-efficient design, the plant supports Malaysia’s New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP 2030) and has created over 200 jobs in engineering, technical, and production roles.

  • Hyperscale data centres surge in Asia

    Hyperscale data centres surge in Asia

    Hyperscale operators are rapidly expanding their data centre footprint. New Synergy Research Group data shows a significant shift. Hyperscale now accounts for 44% of global data centre capacity. This figure stood at just 1,189 facilities at the end of Q1 2025.

    Source: Synergy Research Group, June 2025

    A majority of hyperscale capacity (over 50%) resides in owned data centres. The remainder is in leased facilities. Colocation accounts for another 22% of capacity. On-premise data centres now only hold 34% of the total. Six years ago, on-premise held almost 56%.

    This trend will continue. By 2030, hyperscale will control 61% of capacity. On-premise will plummet to just 22%. Overall data centre capacity will increase rapidly. Hyperscale growth will be the primary driver, tripling in six years. Colocation will see capacity increases at near double-digit rates.

    On-premise capacity is seeing a slight boost from GenAI. GPU infrastructure is also helping. However, its overall share will decline by 2% annually.

    “Cloud and other key digital services have been the prime drivers,” said John Dinsdale, chief analyst at Synergy Research Group. “The dramatic rise of AI technology and applications is now providing an added impetus.”

    Dinsdale also noted regional differences. Hyperscale owned data centres are more common in the US. EMEA and APAC regions lag behind. However, all regions will see double-digit annual growth. Hyperscale owned capacity will grow at least 20% per year across all regions.

    According to a report by Mordor Intelligence, the Asia Pacific hyperscale data center market is expected to reach $319.08 billion by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of 24.49%.

    The increasing demand for data centres has drawn interest from investors, including growth capital, buyout firms, real estate, and infrastructure investors.

  • State of hyperscaler growth in 2025

    State of hyperscaler growth in 2025

    Recent data from Synergy Research Group reveals that hyperscale companies achieved a remarkable revenue growth of over 10% in 2024, reaching $2.65 trillion, driven primarily by digital services. This trend presents both opportunities and challenges for leaders in the region.

    1. Surge in digital services

    The growth in digital services, which increased by 13% in 2024, is particularly noteworthy. Key segments such as cloud computing, social networking, and Software as a Service (SaaS) saw substantial growth rates of 23%, 20%, and 18%, respectively. This shift underscores the importance of digital transformation initiatives for organisations aiming to remain competitive in the market.

    John Dinsdale

    John Dinsdale, chief analyst at Synergy Research Group, emphasises the necessity of capital investments in this context: “They operate in capital-intensive infrastructure markets, where huge ongoing investments are essential in order to be leading players”.

    For COOs and CIOs, this means prioritising investments in digital infrastructure to support growth in these high-demand areas.

    2. The role of AI and GPU services

    The report highlights that generative AI platform services and GPU as a Service (GPUaaS) have more than doubled in size in 2024. This rapid expansion indicates a growing reliance on AI technologies across various sectors, making it imperative for organisations to integrate AI capabilities into their operations. As AI continues to fuel growth in digital services, leaders must consider how to leverage these technologies to enhance efficiency and drive innovation.

    3. Capital expenditure trends

    Despite concerns regarding the rising capital expenditure (capex) among hyperscale companies, the rationale becomes clear when considering the scale of digital services being supported. In 2024, the capex to revenue ratio for these companies increased but remained below 12% on average. This suggests that while investments are rising, they are still manageable relative to revenue growth, allowing for sustained funding of necessary infrastructure.

    The insights from Synergy Research Group highlight the critical need to adapt to the accelerating growth of digital services and the increasing importance of AI technologies. By strategically investing in infrastructure and embracing digital transformation, organisations can position themselves to thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape.

  • AI to drive data centre buildout in APAC

    AI to drive data centre buildout in APAC

    CBRE’s annual Global Data Centre Investor Survey reveals that healthy activity in the data centre space in Asia-Pacific in 2023 with total transaction volume in asset sales capped at US$1.1 billion in 2023.

    Investor appetite in 2024

    Source: 2024 Global data centre investor intensions survey, CBRE 2024

    “Each region will face its own unique challenges and opportunities but everyone in this space will benefit from the ongoing institutionalisation of the data centre asset class and strong industry fundamentals,” said Tom Fillmore, executive director of data centres, capital markets Asia Pacific at CBRE. “Despite high interest rates and inflation, the market is expected to revive, especially in Japan and Korea where stabilised assets are likely to attract investors.”

    The growth of AI has driven the demand for larger and more sophisticated data centres. While investors intend to materially increase investment this year, limited supply and construction delays have led to high rental growth rates. More new entrants are expected in the Asia Pacific region due to this trend. 

    “Insatiable demand from major occupiers for data centre consumption, especially in the Cloud and AI sectors, has driven the growth of this asset class in the region,” said Dedi Iskandar, head of data centre solutions for Asia Pacific at CBRE. “Occupiers are now competing aggressively to increase their data centre footprint to accommodate the future needs of their business. APAC’s lag in infrastructure compared to Europe and the U.S., along with a large gap between capacity and demand, led to a significant rental increase which has made the region very appealing to data centre investors.”

    Data centre factoids:

    Increasing investment: 97% survey respondents say they will increase their investment in data centres in 2024. Forty-four per cent say they will allocate more than US$500 million for data centre investment, a significant increase from the 32% last year.

    Shift in investment focus due to market dynamics: 80% of investors say they are interested in the opportunistic new development in 2024. This includes a ground-up development, re-purposing of existing assets, or redevelopment.

    Interest in hyperscale build-to-suits: Thirty-one percent of respondents said hyperscale build-to-suits are the greatest investment opportunity over the next 12 to 24 months, the most common answer.

  • Greenops to require new processes, capabilities and tools

    Greenops to require new processes, capabilities and tools

    Gartner predicts that 50% of organisations will adopt sustainability-enabled monitoring by 2026, to manage energy consumption and carbon footprint metrics for their hybrid cloud environments.

    This is in response to pressure from investors, customers, regulators and governments, which is forcing organisations to adopt carbon neutrality and net zero goals by 2030.

    “Organisations have strong carbon reduction goals to achieve and expect their infrastructure and operations (I&O) teams to launch sustainability initiatives that align their current IT carbon footprint with corporate goals,” said Padraig Byrne, VP analyst at Gartner and Conference Chair of the Gartner IT Infrastructure, Operations & Cloud Strategies Conference in Sydney (20-21 May 2024).

    Gartner says the reporting of activities, energy usage, water efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in cloud and data centres will become new areas of IT management, resulting in new IT operating models (GreenOps) that will require new processes, capabilities and tools.

    “I&O leaders and managed service providers will demand monitoring, analytical and generative AI services from software and cloud vendors to manage and optimize CO2e emissions and power consumption for reporting and IT management purposes,” said Byrne.

    To satisfy this demand, monitoring vendors will evolve their portfolio of products and will enable new capabilities to track CO2e and power consumption across different IT layers – data centre, hardware, middleware and applications. According to Gartner, this will provide analytical capabilities and insights to optimize every type of workload.

    Current adoption challenges

    There are several adoption challenges for sustainability-enabled monitoring. Organisations that currently manage sustainability metrics use historical data and little to no real-time information, which can impact some real-time business decisions.

    “Most relevant metrics aligned to net zero carbon are based on CO2e emissions and power consumption,” said Byrne. “However, IT organisations can’t currently gather this information directly. Some request it from their IT providers, but the quality and granularity of information at the data centre and cloud account level aren’t accurate enough to rely on for good management decisions.”

    Gartner analysts said there are a few processes and monitoring/observability tools specialized in the tracking of CO2e and power metrics at different IT levels (hardware, middleware, application, data centre, cloud, etc). However, this makes it difficult for I&O leaders to determine whether their environmental sustainability initiatives will succeed.

    Current monitoring tools that address some of the sustainability metrics are mainly focused on on-premises environments, which makes it challenging to address these goals in current hybrid IT environments.

    Journey to net zero

    To overcome these challenges, Gartner recommends organisations adopt GreenOps or sustainability practices to start building the operating model that will help achieve carbon-neutral goals. Sustainability telemetry must also be collected and managed from their cloud providers, just as health performance and consumption cost telemetry are managed.

    “This may not need to be acted on as urgently now, but treating those signals with equal importance positions organisations to benefit from real-time GHG emissions and power consumption optimization when the capability becomes available,” said Byrne.

    Gartner recommends that I&O leaders explore and evaluate monitoring providers across a new set of metrics related to power consumption, power efficiency and CO2e emissions for IT infrastructures and verify their capabilities are valid for hybrid IT environments.

  • Five 2024 data centre predictions from the Uptime Institute

    Five 2024 data centre predictions from the Uptime Institute

    The critical digital infrastructure sector continues to enjoy robust growth, noted the Uptime Institute in its report, Five Data Centre Predictions for 2024. The advisory organisation says rapidly evolving technologies will further drive and sustain this trend in 2024 and beyond — but will also create new challenges for operators.

    The report highlights challenges including greater scrutiny over sustainability commitments; the adoption of power hungry AI; the need for (and limitations of) direct liquid cooling; the evolution of data centre management software; and the emergence of data centre campuses that redefine the meaning of hyperscale.

    Predictions for 2024

    1. Operators — prepare for a sustainability reckoning

    New reporting laws and toughening requirements will enforce stricter data centre carbon reporting in many countries. These will challenge organisations’ publicly announced sustainability goals and force operators to prove their targets are both realistic and evidence-based. For many, this will be painful and expensive.

    2. Demand for AI will have a limited impact on most operators

    The fervour around AI has the data centre industry bracing itself for a significant increase in demand, and a need for more power and cooling. While the overall impact on data centres may ultimately be profound, the most demanding services will be delivered only by a few.

    For most operators, the impact will be indirect: the immediate challenge is how best to deliver a richer mix of densities and resiliency tiers from the same facility.

    3. Data centre software gets smarter, leverages data — at last

    Operators have been slow to take advantage of developments in software, connectivity and sensor technologies that can help optimize and automate the running of critical infrastructure.

    This is beginning to change, with more operators embracing new tools and the intelligent use of data (including machine learning). However the market is still evolving, and there will be risks from complexity, poor implementation, and tool selection.

    4. Direct liquid cooling will not solve efficiency challenges

    Operators have great expectations of direct liquid cooling in terms of improving efficiency and sustainability. However, these benefits will be out of reach for many organisations.

    A slow rollout of the technology, characterized by mixed environments, constrained optimization, and the continuing requirement for existing systems to run in parallel will limit its contribution to infrastructure efficiency — even if it is necessary.

    5. Hyperscale campuses begin to redraw the data centre map

    The build-out of new hyperscale colocation campuses, connected by wide-bandwidth fibre, will relieve pressure on traditional data centre hotspots — and, in the long term, lower colocation prices. As a solution to rocketing demand for compute and storage, the hyperscale campus will emerge slowly — with the availability of fibre and power being critical factors.

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