Tech Advancements In The It Industry

José María Guilleuma, Data Center Director, Colliers

José María Guilleuma, Data Center Director, Colliers

What are some of the major challenges and trends that have been impacting the IT Industry lately?

In the Data Center space, energy efficiency and carbon footprint jointly with talent scarcity are impacting the IT industry. The data center industry is a heavy consumer of electricity and access to renewal energy (through virtual PPAs and direct wiring) is key to secure green energy in the facilities. In addition, the whole sector is selfconscious of this issue, and it is a topic that is going to be tackled as an industry and not as individual players. This year the data center sector has engaged and committed through the iMasons Climate Accord (ICA) to reduce carbon in digital infrastructure materials, products, and power.

But as important as energy efficiency actions, talent scarcity has become a real bottleneck in this era of digital expansion. The industry is facing real problems to attract very specific profiles to deliver the quantity of projects that are being developed today.

What keeps you up at night when it comes to some of the major predicaments in the IT industry?

It is clear that the data center space is an investment opportunity, and this is catching the attention of multiple infra funds and new entrants attracted by very high returns in a countercyclical sector with very resilient cash flows.

But this amount of capital investment requires niche expertise and knowledge jointly with the ability of capturing the potential demand. A lot of players are betting on attracting hyperscalers to their facilities, but the truth is that there are few clients with this profile (AWS, Azure, GCS, Meta, etc.) and the big bet should be placed on cloud adoption in general. The willingness to adopt cloud is a trend that varies significantly and securing this demand would be key to keep the momentum regardless of what hyperscalers do

Can you tell us about the latest project that you have been working on and what are some of the technological and process elements that you leveraged to make the project successful?

The latest project that we have published is the development of a data center project in Huesca. The main elements that will make the project a success are the green approach and the bet on innovative initiatives. The client DNA is photovoltaic energy, and this is going to support the project from the very beginning. Additionally, the project is conceived in the long term and the facility is being designed to be fully compliant with future technologies that could be available during the lifetime of the asset (such as energy storage (batteries) or hydrogen) that are not mature yet.

Which are some of the technological trends which excite you for the future of the IT industry?

Without any doubt, edge computing. The reason is that future edge-data centers will support multiple services that today we can only imagine. Thanks to the evolution of the digital infrastructure, these new services will become a reality rather sooner than later— automated cars, telemedicine, metaverse, etc. opening a new world of possibilities.

How can budding and evolving companies reach you for suggestions to streamline their business?

Companies that need our support on any issue where we can contribute, it would be through our usual channels such as our corporate mail colliers. spain@colliers.com, or through our social networks like LinkedIn, where we have a strong presence.