OPINION
in one fell swoop once the Brexit negotiations have been
completed. But it’s fair to say that the UK might become less
attractive if the economy is negatively affected by Brexit,
and it’s possible that other European countries might put
themselves forward as alternative data storage locations.
The substantial power requirements of data centres mean
that the UK’s high-power costs and reliance on fossil fuels
might have a negative impact on our attractiveness in
relation to other locations unless action is taken to mitigate
this risk.
The flow of data from the UK to the rest of Europe
While the UK remains part of the EU, data can be
transferred freely between the UK and any EU country.
However, there is currently no clear understanding of what
the UK’s departure from the EU will mean in terms of data
flows. And while GDPR was adopted by the UK in 2018,
certain exemptions were made before it was integrated
into UK law, and this may be a stumbling block in terms of
coming to an arrangement that permits the same levels of
free transfer of data from the EU to the UK.
Resilient in the face of challenges
As we head into the Brexit unknown, it’s likely that
companies will be thinking more than ever about disaster
recovery. It’s difficult not to think back to Y2K when we all
feared that life as we knew it would end as Big Ben chimed
midnight on 31 December 1999. What will happen on 29
March? Will all communication with mainland Europe end
abruptly leaving us to float away into the Atlantic? The
answer, most probably, is no. In reality, everything will
most likely carry on pretty much as it does now, for the
foreseeable future at least.
There’s nothing to suggest that the colocation sector
is at any greater risk than any other from the potential
upheaval caused by Brexit. The vast majority of UK
businesses will continue trading as normal and new
ones will join the ranks. Their data storage requirements
will continue to grow, and they will outgrow their
existing infrastructure. The uptake of cloud services will
continue to increase, as will interest in hybrid solutions
to accommodate cloud services alongside the physical
storage and maintenance of IT equipment and servers.
In short, growing organisations will continue to require
appropriate expansion strategies, and colocation will offer
them precisely what they need:
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•
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Efficiency: no need to maintain expensive on-
site storage, access to cost-effective power and
connectivity
Reliability: constant and reliable power, cooling,
connectivity guaranteeing permanent up-time
Security: protection against theft, fire in secure
locations with surveillance systems
Scalability: the flexibility to scale up or down while
only paying for the power used
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