The convergence of technology and business is accelerating demand for digital infrastructure—including data centers—on a scale never seen before.
For one thing, the appetite for instant network access, computing resources and big data has spread to almost all areas of the economy, with a corresponding demand for configurable servers, storage, applications, and services.
Adding to this demand are advancements in artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and 5G broadband, which are set to cause an upsurge in data traffic as our lives become more interconnected through smart devices and real-time access to products, services, and information.
The scale of data center development today has become increasingly competitive and complex. But by taking a mature capital project management approach, enterprises, developers, and investors may find opportunities—and gain a competitive gain in the data center market.
Data centers today are expected to come to market 2-3 times faster, along with improved efficiency, innovation, and security.
“The way things have been done in the past—the fast and loose approach—isn’t going to cut it with the larger more complex [capital project] programs and the increased competition in the [data center] market as well.”
As data center capital projects grow exponentially in size and complexity, so, too, must capital project management techniques evolve—esp. to drive speed, efficiency, and innovation.
"Data centers are fundamental to meeting the exponential growth needs of next generation workloads in the global economy."
Examples of how project excellence capabilities may help stakeholders successfully construct a large-scale data or deliver multiple data centers include:
Challenges:
Project excellence solutions:
Competitive edge:
Having robust project governance and controls mitigate the risk of losing quality in favor of speed to completion.
Challenges:
Project excellence solutions:
Competitive edge:
Being able to demonstrate mature project management capabilities tends to increase customer and lender confidence.
Challenges:
Project excellence solution:
Competitive edge:
The right expertise, benchmarking standards, and reporting ensures delivery of large and complex projects with predictable and moderate downsides—even in new or diverse markets.
Principal, Capital Projects & Infrastructure (Technology, Media and Telecommunications), PwC US