Joshua Feinberg and Viggy Hegde discuss the shift from data center operation to design and build, noting that such transitions are infrequent in the industry.
Hegde highlights the evolution from traditional colocation to modern data centers focused on supporting IT infrastructure, driven by advancements like AI and high-density deployments.
They discuss the commoditization of managed service providers and hosting companies, contrasting with the growth and innovation in the data center sector.
Feinberg observes the constraints on grid capacity and the potential for legacy colocation operators to adapt to edge computing.
Both agree on the dynamic and exciting state of the data center industry.
This video is excerpted from the podcast Ep. #44 Viggy Hegde, Vice President of Marketing at Compu Dynamics | Data Center Go-to-Market Podcast.
Action Items
- Explore opportunities for legacy colocation operators to adapt to the changing data center landscape.
- Investigate the potential for legacy colocation operators to provide value in the edge capacity market.
Outline
Transition from Data Center Operations to Design and Build
- Discusses the shift from being an operator to a design and build company, comparing it to similar transitions in other industries like SaaS and infrastructure.
- Viggy Hegde highlights the market dynamics, noting that until around 2008-2010, the data center space was focused on colocation, space, power, and network cooling.
- Viggy Hegde explains that early data center providers offered high redundancy, but over time, customers began to view this as an unnecessary overhead.
- The conversation shifts to the impact of AI, with Viggy Hegde noting that data centers now focus on supporting IT infrastructure and high-density deployments, including GPUs and HPC.
Evolving Data Center Needs and Market Dynamics
- Viggy Hegde mentions that cloud providers now demand more space and are adapting new generations of GPUs for their services.
- The discussion touches on the rapid growth of the data center industry, with companies like Compu Dynamics experiencing exponential growth.
- Viggy Hegde emphasizes the positive impact of the industry's growth on employees, end users, and the community.
- Joshua Feinberg reflects on the commoditization of managed service providers and hosting companies as the market shifted from on-premise to SaaS and public cloud.
Challenges and Opportunities in the Modern Data Center Market
- Joshua Feinberg notes that legacy colocation operators struggle to adapt to the new GPU-centric, high-density market.
- The conversation highlights the constraints around grid capacity and how the market might resolve these issues.
- Joshua Feinberg predicts that some legacy colocation operators could become valuable for edge capacity.
- Viggy Hegde agrees with the assessment, acknowledging the dynamic market conditions and the need for adaptation.
Resources
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