The evolution of data centers has been quite rapid in Latin America, with planned investments in key countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Chile. The increase in digital consumption and the explosion in data demand have been the driving forces behind this unprecedented expansion.
According to a report by Arizton Research, between 2019 and 2025, the Latin American data center market will experience a compound annual growth rate of 5.69% in IT infrastructure alone (servers, storage, and networking).
The study also describes the increased adoption of DCIM (Data Center Infrastructure Management) solutions for comprehensive data center operations, and the implementation of edge data centers to support the growing demands of mobile devices, rapid information exchange, and IoT applications, as key opportunities and challenges for the sector's growth. According to Gartner, edge computing, along with on-premises, colocation, and cloud, is one of the key offerings that will shape infrastructure strategies through 2025.
So, how can companies leverage these innovative technological infrastructures that are gaining prominence in the market? Many believe the answer lies in edge computing.
A new report from Data Center Frontier highlights edge computing as a productive force for businesses. Its use is relevant both as a high-performance computing solution and as a more efficient way to store data, given the millions of devices working simultaneously in the region.
The same report projects that Edge Computing will enter a key transition phase in 2020-21.
With an emerging and increasingly demanding ecosystem, Edge Computing faces the challenges and opportunities of a world transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Large corporations in the region are experiencing a severe economic recession and have had to make a massive shift to working from home. This phenomenon created new opportunities for Edge Computing to accelerate its growth.
The combination of Edge Computing usage and new data center infrastructure in the region has arrived precisely when it was most needed: in the midst of a global pandemic.
The Linux Foundation's State of the Edge 2020 report projected that investment in Edge Computing would accelerate beyond 2024, but with the arrival of COVID-19, these predictions appear to have changed.
The tech world is somewhat divided on the short-term prospects for edge computing, not so much on whether "edge" will be useful, but rather on whether and when it will be profitable.
The pandemic made it clear that the combination of secure and fast data centers can handle massive amounts of information in the cloud and can be leveraged by tools like edge computing, dispelling doubts about its true potential.
Edge computing has allowed companies to obtain real-time data analytics solutions, reduce latency, avoid data traffic bottlenecks, and, above all, save time and money.
In an era of digital transformation, edge computing is establishing new rules for doing business. Its association with the hyperscalability of data centers in the region will allow for virtually unlimited application scaling, as well as disaggregated, higher-density infrastructures optimized for energy use.
Data centers, regardless of size, will require dynamic scalability, with infrastructure capable of supporting initial needs while simultaneously allowing for organized growth. This involves investing the necessary resources at each stage, as future expansions must be completed as quickly as possible and without causing service interruptions.
Furukawa is the leading structured cabling and data center company in Latin America* and offers a complete range of copper and fiber optic connectivity solutions, racks, cable routing systems, intelligent cabling, and value-added services such as engineering support for pre-design, extended warranties, training and certifications, and more, tailored to the specific needs of edge data centers.
Article provided by Furukawa
