By choosing to leave the EU , the ramifications so far have been swift and severe .
COLUMN
know how
Opportunity knocks
Greg McCulloch of Aegis Data outlines why market uncertainty following ‘ Brexit ’ brings about new opportunities for data centre providers .
The immediate impact of the UK ’ s decision to leave the EU hasn ’ t caused much disruption to the data centre industry and is unlikely to for some time . I believe providers can capitalise on the Brexit decision and seize the opportunities in amongst the current uncertainty .
By choosing to leave the EU , the ramifications so far have been swift and severe . With the economic and political fall out , much of the dust on Brexit is yet to settle . The uncertainty that the vote has caused will be played out over the coming years as the UK negotiates its divorce from the EU , but there are also numerous possibilities to be taken advantage of .
So far very little has changed for us as a business and is unlikely to for some time . Clients haven ’ t been rushing for the door as many still value the services that Aegis Data can provide .
By choosing to leave the EU , the ramifications so far have been swift and severe .
London is still going to be a central hub for financial and tech investments , if not directly to and from the EU then for other countries . Online companies require sturdy , secure and reliable data centre providers to ensure they are kept up and running .
With the drop in the pound , many UK businesses are taking necessary financial steps to ensure they mitigate some of the fall out . This low rate however brings benefits from overseas companies looking to develop a UK based hub . Amazon Web Services has already confirmed it will proceed with the opening of its UK data centre highlighting the UK ’ s continued importance despite the Brexit vote .
Many in the industry are concerned that by splitting from the EU , the UK will no longer be bound by tight security regulations . The new General Data Protection Regulation ( GDPR ) due to come into force in 2018 would still bind UK based business to many
of its regulations . By holding data on EU citizens , the UK will have to follow certain regulations laid out by the GDPR to ensure their information is kept safe . This includes the appointment of a Data Protection Officer to oversee and manage this security .
Whilst there will be a certain amount of flight from UK based data centres to European alternatives , especially for larger data centre providers , the small to medium sized alternatives can weather the storm by providing services to UK companies coming back from the EU and other global companies settling in the UK .
With the new faces in the government yet to settle in and its hesitance to trigger Article 50 to begin the two year Brexit negotiations , much is still uncertain about the future status of the UK . Whilst there is trepidation amongst global markets and enterprises , there is also huge potential to be discovered .
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