Sep 18, 2001 : Total Romtec Releases IDC Market Report

📅 September 18, 2001 - Despite recent gloomy predictions as to the future for Internet Data Centre providers, Total Romtec's (total-romtec.com) newreport on the IDC market shows that there are significant opportunities forsuppliers to profit from a $1 billion-plus market. However, the forecastsfor exponential growth perpetuated by many in the last 12 months must now bequestioned, as the market becomes more cautious and a need for informeddecision-making is recognized. It is therefore more important than ever forproviders to have strategies in place to precisely pinpoint the opportunityareas within each country and so be able to survive the inevitable falloutof suppliers.

"The Total Romtec European Internet Data Centre Report" forecasts theWestern European market for Internet Data Centre Services as growing fromUS$1,097m dollars in 2001 to US$1,796m dollars in 2004. Germany and the UK,both countries that are frequently sought out by global IDC providers aspreferred locations for IDC operations in Europe, will dominate the market,accounting for just under two thirds of the total market value by 2004.
The research also shows that, overall across Western Europe, it is Mediumsize organizations (250-499 employees), rather than corporates (500+employees), who are most likely to be targets for IDC providers, in terms ofa propensity to outsource such activities. As a general rule, small-sizedorganizations (those with less than 250 employees) are not viable targets.
Stephen Timms, associate director at Total Romtec comments "The InternetData Centre model is a concept that is here to stay. However, demand forsuch services will be far from universal, with different niche pocketswithin each country presenting the prime opportunities. For instance, ourresearch shows that within France, it is Medium size (250-499 employees)finance sector organizations that are the number one targets, whereas withinGermany it is Medium size manufacturing companies that rank as number one".
"Some consolidation of IDC suppliers is already taking place and, withmarket growth not being as high as many had expected, further fallout willundoubtedly take place," says Timms. "Sheer size and large scale fundingalone will not be enough to win through - it is those suppliers who are ableto target their sales and marketing efforts most effectively, by identifyingthe right organization sizes and industry sectors within each country, whowill ultimately triumph."
Timms continues, "IDC providers will also need to be creative in order tomaximize revenues from their customers through value-added services. Thecurrent uptake of value-added services (i.e., services that go beyond basicWeb connectivity) by IDC users is limited, with the majority of current IDCusers yet to sample the array of services that are on offer. For example,only 37% access a 24x7 helpline, whilst just 29% opt for advanced securityand 21% use content distribution services."
"The Total Romtec European Internet Data Centre Report," sponsored byCompaq, Computacenter, CSC and Nortel Networks, was published in August2001, and is based on primary research amongst approximately 500 current andpotential users of IDC solutions across Western Europe. The Report containsmarket sizing forecasts for the whole of Western Europe (by country andorganization size). These figures are substantiated and made actionablethrough a segmentation analysis that generates recommendations on the"hottest targets" within each geographic market, by company size andindustry sector. The Report also goes on to highlight the key IDCapplications, current market perceptions of the IDC offering and preferencesfor co-location, shared or dedicated hosting, as well as the factors drivingand preventing IDC service adoption. In addition, the Report providesdetailed profiles of key players in the IDC marketplace.