New research shows big data is back on the agenda of many enterprises, and could indicate an imminent surge in data centre building.

Analyst firm, Quocirca, surveyed 949 data centre managers across Europe and the Middle East on behalf of database company Oracle. The research found that the majority of organisations questioned believe they are increasingly running out of space for data.

Experts believe the growing demand for data centres is the big data boom – the data boom itself driven by "increased interaction between consumers and brands via mobile devices, a surge in machine-to-machine (M2M) communications and organisations creating ever greater levels of information within their own processes."

Outsourcing to external databases is becoming more frequent, with some research indicating as much as 70 per cent of servers in Europe and the Middle East now virtualised. Oracle said outsourcing may only be a short-term solution to the data 'explosion', however.

"Businesses are reacting to this situation with a short term increase in outsourced data centre and cloud service use, while planning longer term to build their own in-house data centre facilities."

Sustainability and responsiveness to energy costs is also playing a part in data centre outsourcing. The Quocirca research found two thirds of data centre managers were acutely aware of the costs of building and running their own data centres.

"As the value of information grows, it is becoming increasingly likely that organisations will be forced to put a value on the balance sheet," Clive Longbottom, an analyst at Quocirca said. "Therefore, the capability to collate the data in a central, accessible, secure and reliable location becomes key."

Written by Louise Boyd
 

Big data boosts data centre building