IT execs lease data centers instead of building them

The difficulty getting financing and reluctance by some IT executives to make big investments has forced companies to scrap plans to build their own data centers. As a result, the rental business is booming.

Companies which have large data center capacity available to lease are in great demand. Known as wholesale data center operators, they cater to large enterprise customers and high-tech firms. Michelle Bailey, analyst at market research firm IDC, told Computerworld that many companies needing new data center space are looking to third party operators.

Gartner Inc. also has reported an increase in enterprises looking for data center space, according to the Computerworld article. Gartner analyst Dave Cappuccio said some organizations are using hosted space as a stop-gap measure while others are using leased facilities to host entire data center operations.

Digital Realty Trust, one of the data center wholesalers, says that it has a 95 percent occupancy rate in its facilities, and that it has been expanding its operations to meet the demand. The story is the same for other companies like Digital Realty, and in some areas, demand is outpacing the supply.

For more on data center leasing:
- see this Computerworld article

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