The Colocation Exchange News
Dear Tim
I am pleased to welcome you to our second newsletter of 2013. I trust the year has started well for you, hard to believe we are fast approaching the summer holiday season already!
In terms of our own activity in the UK and European colocation industry I hope this newsletter will give you an update as well as a feel for our thoughts and perspectives of how we see things evolving. Certainly I think we are at a fascinating stage; please do read the brief synopsis of the Colo-X Research we have recently produced which obviously goes into much greater depth on some of these ideas and trends, but suffice to say with around 90 colocation facilities available in the UK now, offering nearly 3m sq ft of net technical capacity, the industry continues to keep us excited and entertained with its continued evolution.
Over the first half of 2013 Colo-X has remained active as ever in the retail colocation market, closing deals ranging literally part racks, e.g. a few U or ¼ cabinets up to 20-30 cabinet sized deals in locations that include London Docklands, central London and the market around London, e.g. Reading to name one such example. Whilst our activities remain primarily focussed on the UK market, we are also in Frankfurt next week with a customer working on a larger sized transaction and have recently closed a multi-million dollar deal on the US East coast, so its not only the UK! Asia too remains on our radar screen, with colocation deals in Singapore and Hong Kong.
In terms of thoughts and ideas, one recommendation I'd like to make for all data centre users is that with all these new facilities and operators emerging, a regular review or audit of not only your own current deployment but crucially, where the market is today and what are your options, is really worth doing. Quite often we have such discussions with clients, usually prompted when an old term or contract comes up for renewal and there's a nasty shock! However,
July 2013
Contact Tim Anker
In this Issue:
WelcomeVolta Powers On
Colo deals and offers
Colo - X Research
more often than not we might
and reasonable by current standards; on the other hand, we might also ask a client to review what part of the kW estate has to stay where it is and what could possibly move to a cheaper location. The point is that there are
viable choices available in the market today, to suit all budgets and crucially, quality criteria as well.
if you'd like to discuss your situation, we can either do so over the phone or arrange a meeting.
Volta Powers On
Almost a year has passed since Volta Data Centres took possession of the former Reuters/BT Radianz facility on Clerkenwell's Great Sutton Street and the new 9.6 MW, 1600 rack colocation facility is about to go live, with the first customer, Fusion Media Networks, a cloud based service provider, now installing.
Background to Volta and Great Sutton Street
Its worth mentioning that Volta's Great Sutton Street site is one of the longest established data centre facilities in London and the UK; Reuters signed a long term lease on the building back in 1977 to turn it into their "technical facility" and since then it acted as bridgehead between the Reuters journalists on Fleet Street and Reuter's clients based nearby in the City.
history is of course a great advantage to Volta as seven carrier networks were already in the building; how unusual for what is in effect a brand new data centre to have seven networks on day one. With Level3 and the recently announced Custom Connect also confirmed the list has already grown to nine (the original seven are BT, C+W/Vodafone,
EuNetworks, Zayo and Geo).
surrounding the site bear testament to its longevity; names long since disappeared such as Tanet (the original "London Carrier Ring" and now part of Level3), 51Degrees (Interoute) o
and Mercury (now Vodafone of course) can be found telecom's archaeology!
The building changed hands in 2005 when Reuters sold their network business, Radianz, to BT and since this time it was part more often than not we might concur the new pricing is fair and reasonable by current standards; on the other hand, we might also ask a client to review what part of the kW estate has to stay where it is and what could possibly move to a The point is that there are now real and viable choices available in the market today, to suit all budgets and crucially, quality criteria as well. Do contact me
if you'd like to discuss your situation, we can either do so over the phone or arrange a meeting.
Almost a year has passed since Volta Data of the former Reuters/BT Radianz facility on Clerkenwell's Great Sutton Street and the MW, 1600 rack colocation facility to go live, with the first customer, Fusion Media Networks, a cloud based service provider, now installing.
und to Volta and Great Sutton
Its worth mentioning that Volta's Great Sutton Street site is one of the longest established data centre facilities in London and the UK; Reuters signed a long term lease on the building back in heir "technical facility" and since then it acted as bridgehead between the Reuters journalists on Fleet Street and Reuter's clients based nearby in the City. This long history is of course a great advantage to Volta as seven carrier in the building; how unusual for what is in effect a brand new data centre to have seven networks on day one. With Level3 and the recently announced Custom Connect also confirmed the list has already grown to nine (the original seven are BT, C+W/Vodafone, Verizon, COLT, EuNetworks, Zayo and Geo). Certainly some of the manholes surrounding the site bear testament to its longevity; names long since disappeared such as Tanet (the original "London Carrier Ring" and now part of Level3), 51Degrees (Interoute) or Thus and Mercury (now Vodafone of course) can be found - a bit of
The building changed hands in 2005 when Reuters sold their network business, Radianz, to BT and since this time it was part
Colocation Deals
and Offers
The latest list of interesting offers can be
found on the website
highlights are below. you are a vendor and wish to add to this list
please
Top quality Tier3 standard facilities across
Surrey with managed Internet or Layer2 access to all major
London data centres.
3.5kW, £950 pcm including 24x7 remote
hands and access.
Interxion London 1 Self contained 40 rack suite including 200kW, cold aisle containment,
Colocation Deals
and Offers
The latest list of interesting offers can be
found on the Colo-X website, but selected highlights are below. If
you are a vendor and wish to add to this list
please contact us: Surrey
Top quality Tier3 standard facilities across
Surrey with managed Internet or Layer2 access to all major
London data centres. 16Amps, 3.5kW, £950 pcm, including 24x7 remote
hands and access. Interxion London 1
Self contained 40 rack suite including 200kW, cold aisle containment,
of BT Radianz, the specialist financial services network arm of BT. Of course the problem BT had was inheriting a facility that was nearly 30 years old and in dire need of an upgrade - but how to do this and remain operational? A challenge BT felt unable to overcome, so they took advantage of a break clause in their lease to leave the building in June 2012. So it was in advance of this that Volta was formed specifically to take advantage of the opportunity to acquire a 90,000 sq ft building in central London with planning permission to be a data centre and with seven networks already in situ. Key to these plans of course was the ability to upgrade the incoming power supply - and Volta secured a new 9.6MW supply, delivered on a 33kV ring, increasing the site's power from its original 2.8MW capacity. (Interesting fact: Volta's 9.6MW supply is about the same as The Shard, a 1.2 million sq ft building compared with Volta's 90,000 sq ft)!
Who are Volta?
Whilst Volta is a new team and new operator the company has both substantial backing and a team with significant industry experience.
Key Volta personnel include Matthew Dent, Chief Executive, currently of Glebe Asset Management (one of the two Volta funders) but formerly Matthew was a board member at both Chelsfield Plc and Global Switch. Julian King, Commercial Director, was also Commercial Director at Global Switch. In terms of day to day operation Ashraff Khan, Great Sutton Street Site Manager is former Sungard and Dean Green, GSS Operations Manager, was previously at Telecity.
In terms of funding Volta has impressive backers and is funded with £60m of all equity investment at this stage, coming from Apollo Global Real Estate (the real estate arm of Apollo Global Management LLC) and Glebe London Limited Partnership, a UK based real estate fund. Details of the funding can be found on the Apollo website: http://bit.ly/15EOppG. Volta awarded a £35m fit-out contract to StructureTone last August: http://bit.ly/1360xEi.
What has the refit of Great Sutton Street delivered?
The first phase of the refit of Great Sutton Street involved the complete removal of the 35 year old data centre from the building which was literally stripped back to its concrete shell. Then from around Christmas time onwards a new state of art
racks and PDU's in situ. Available as whole or will split. Contact us for further details including
pricing.
Telehouse North
Whole or part racks available.
Telehouse East
2 x ¼ racks, dedicated and fully lockable, A+B power, 24x7 access and
support. £495pcm Telehouse West
¼ and ½ racks available, £495pcm for ¼, £990 for
½. 24x7 access and support.
Reading, Berkshire
data centre has been built from the bottom up. The key feature differentiating Volta Great Sutton Street is of course the new 9.6MW power feed as it is delivered at 33kV, connecting to two grid supply points at both Finsbury Market and Back Hill, the first leg of which was energised back in March this year. Volta will have to lose both of the incoming supplies to fall back onto the generators, whilst the 33kV network itself is much less prone to issues than the more dispersed 11kV network. However, whilst the quality of the incoming main supply is terrific, Volta had the unusual challenge of housing a pair of 30 tonne, 33kV transformers which are now located in the basement of the building but crucially, are completely dedicated to Volta, so ensuring no other user can affect them. And beyond these Volta also houses five further dedicated 11kV transformers, making a grand total of seven dedicated transformers, all housed in the basement of the building, all for Volta's sole use. The five 11kV transformers support three IT power strings, A, B and C and two mechanical load power strings, A+B.
Elsewhere in the building all the other usual feature's you'd expect from a Tier3 standard data centre are present, including an initial tranche of 3 x 2.5MVA AVK generator sets, 3 x 1.1MW Climaveneta chiller units on the new plant deck on the roof of the building, three Chloride Trinergy UPS systems (to support the A, B and C IT strings), as well as associated HV switchgear which is all Schneider throughout. Fire suppression is Argonite in the IT areas and a mist system in the non-IT areas. We thus have the foundations in place for a completely new, but very high quality colocation facility, yet opening in a site that has been around as a data centre for over thirty-six years.
First Phase is now going live
In terms of technical space Volta Great Sutton Street can offer 45,000 sq ft of net tech across four floors, or a total of 6.4MW across 1600 footprints (4kW on average therefore) is one possible deployment. However, with many clients looking at dedicated caged spaces the actual rack count may turn out less than this theoretical number. The first floor to be activated is the fourth floor, which can offer 300 footprints and 1.2MW of IT load. Further floors will be provisioned as occupancy grows.
Who will Volta Great Sutton Street appeal to?
Volta's model as a high quality, premium colocation provider is to sell racks and caged space directly to end users. Crucially
Brand new facility, 50,000 sq ft of net tech. 16Amps(3.5kW), £750pcm, inc 10Mbs.
Etix Paris, Equinix PA4
Racks and caged areas at €200 per kVA per
month including power, eg 4kVA colocation footprint for
Volta also fully appreciates the importance of a deep and vibrant ecosystem as a key factor to allow this unique site to reach its full potential. Nine carriers are already onsite but this list will quickly grow and I suspect it will reach 15-20 within the next few months, thus offering customers a competitive environment for both wholesale circuits to other London data centres, local access tails to nearby businesses and managed Internet or transit connections.
When I take customers onto the roof of Volta (which is a great view by the way) it is easy to point out who the most likely customers are going to be: firms placed nearby in the City, mostly financial services of course but many other supporting businesses, the fast growing TechCity or Silicon Roundabout market - with Old Street literally 100 yards from Great Sutton Street and finally, the creative and media industry located in both Clerkenwell itself as well as Soho and the West End nearby. Volta Great Sutton Street really offers a high quality facility right in the middle of these three key communities.
As sole retained agent for Volta Great Sutton Street Colo-X will be pleased to discuss any interest you may have and a site visit can easily be arranged, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Colo-X Research Report: UK Colocation Industry
2013, Structural Changes and Trends
I don't have many opportunities to write detailed reports about the industry but from time to time I am able to put pen to paper and this year has been one of these occasions. One of the great advantages of having been around this industry for so long (now in my 15th year!) is not only the length and breadth of my contacts and partners but also the ability to put today's situation into perspective with the past. Furthermore of course, whilst closing a few deals every month, I am constantly in touch with the latest price trends and now have a dataset that goes back to my first deals in 1999.
I have recently produced a formal report entitled: The UK Colocation Market: Structural Changes and Trends, May 2013. The report is 47 pages long and around 11,000 words.
The report will be of interest to anyone wanting to know what we see happening in the colocation market in both
To have your offers included here please
contact us on 01483 892 048
Meet us:
Events
20th & 21st November 2013
I will be speaking for the first time at the Datacentre Dynamics
Converged Event at London's Excel.
More details of the event and programme
can be found here:
central London, the market around the M25 and finally away from London and the south
UK, bearing in mind our perspective is what I describe as "bottom up" as opposed to "top down".
time for this sort of research as it does produce some interesting statistics; for instance, whilst the average price per kW in central London has increased by more than 120% over the past 8 years (since 2005), in the regions the increase is only a fraction of this.
interesting changes now taking place in the UK market, as I have oft written about on the
particular the shift in emphasis we are seeing from the wholesale operators, who of course have access to huge volumes of capacity or on the other hand the consolidation amongst the regional operators.
emphasises that I do think we are seeing some really interesting changes taking place at the moment.
If the report is of interest please don't hesitate to for pricing and a full list of the contents and tables. available by both soft copy and printed format.
central London, the market around the M25 and finally away from London and the south-east right across the rest of the UK, bearing in mind our perspective is what I describe as "bottom up" as opposed to "top down". I wish I had more time for this sort of research as it does produce some interesting statistics; for instance, whilst the average price per kW in central London has increased by more than 120% over the past 8 years (since 2005), in the regions the increase on of this. There are also some really interesting changes now taking place in the UK market, as I have oft written about on the www.colo-x.com website. In particular the shift in emphasis we are seeing from the wholesale operators, who of course have access to huge volumes of capacity or on the other hand the consolidation gst the regional operators. The title of the report emphasises that I do think we are seeing some really interesting changes taking place at the moment.
If the report is of interest please don't hesitate to contact me for pricing and a full list of the contents and tables. It is available by both soft copy and printed format.
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Tim Anker The Colocation Exchange
+44 (0)1483 892 048
Twitter account is the best way for us to
post quick market updates, news and also
colo bids and offers. Please do sign up to follow our latest items.