Omdia's report, Prefabricated Modular Data Centres, published in early 2020 and based on 2018 and 2019 data, valued PFM shipments at over $1.2 billion in 2018, with deployment growth estimated at 65% in 2019. The group of analysts attributed this remarkable growth to several factors, including scalability, the advantages of off-site manufacturing and integration, and speed of deployment.
Lucas Beran, principal analyst for cloud and data center research at Omdia and author of the report, identified speed of deployment as the primary catalyst for many owners and operators. “The rapid growth of data and the insatiable demand for computing power are driving the rapid expansion of data centers. Since a traditional data center takes 18 to 24 months to deploy, a faster solution is often needed,” he said. “On average, providers of prefabricated modular data centers can deliver a solution in four to six months.”.
“We’ve seen a significant increase in demand for PFM data centers as owners and operators realize the benefits of scalability, cost efficiency, and rapid deployment. Our customers also value the design flexibility and customizations we offer,” said Viktor Petik, Vice President of Integrated Modular Solutions at Vertiv. “To make our offering more resilient and readily available, we recently achieved PFM TIER-Ready certification in the EMEA region through an agreement with the Uptime Institute, scaled up operations in North America, and are working on plans to expand our PFM facilities in Croatia to increase capacity and strengthen our capabilities in this key market segment.”.
The Omdia report defined several different types of PFM data centers with diverse use cases, including IT- and facility-specific designs and so-called "all-in-one" modules (with integrated IT, power, and cooling infrastructure), which are typically used in educational, industrial, and healthcare applications, as well as in remote and challenging environments. According to Omdia, the demand for edge computing is driving the adoption of all-in-one modules for edge locations that require the data center to be located close to end users. The "plug and play" approach has the advantage of not only reducing commissioning and deployment time to just a few days instead of weeks or months, but also minimizing potential quality issues, since the components are pre-integrated and pre-tested off-site.
As described in the report, Vertiv's PFM designs encompass a wide range of offerings to meet specific customer needs, such as Vertiv™ SmartMod™ , a range of standalone, easy-to-configure, and ready-to-use PFM products that enable rapid deployment of new data center space. SmartMod designs have been recognized with the Uptime Institute's TIER-Ready designation for their resilient performance in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (the EMEA region), which also allows Vertiv to offer Uptime Institute Built Facility Certification (TCCF) services with TIER-Ready modular units, thus delivering the benefits of full-level certification directly to Vertiv customers. Vertiv also offers customized PFM solutions, including design, project management, and systems integration.
