MANILA, Philippines -- The business dynamics of today’s data centers are favorable to the IT outsourcing market, according to industry analyst XMG.

“XMG research forecasts the data center sector to be one of the bright spots in the outsourcing industry,” wrote XMG Global’s founder and chief analyst Lauro Vives, in an email interview.

Vives said there has been an “unprecedented” activity in data center consolidations as a result of industry mergers and “e-globalization,” or simply the spread of backend computing into many locations.

The latter trend has “proven efficiencies,” he added.

Meanwhile, the emergence of software-as-a-service (also referred to as SaaS) as a software delivery platform creates opportunities for IT outsourcing, said Rene Huergas, president of local data center operator IP-Converge.

As a delivery model, SaaS allows end-users access to software over the Internet.

Huergas points out that this trend creates an opportunity for data centers such as IP-Converge to leverage on its network infrastructure across market boundaries.

“As a SaaS provider, we can host the application and data centrally in our facilities, delivering access to end users,” he said.

In following this model, IP-Converge has partnered with a number of software providers like Salesforce.com (CRM) and more niche players like Creedence Analytics (accounting).

The company has also invested in network infrastructure in Hong Kong and Singapore as part of its strategy of becoming a managed services provider for both local and foreign markets.

This scenario isn’t totally new, however. In the past few years, data centers have sprung up foreseeing a market in the so-called application service provider or ASP model.

“The technology in data center services today is very much different from 10 years ago when it was built to provide Internet connection and 24/7 operation only,” said Huergas, who used to be with Ayalaport, one of the first data centers to offer third-party services.

The design and construction of today's local data centers as well as operational requirements, he added, can equal that of the US- based facilities.

“This is in compliance with accreditation requirements to meet highest level of availability and scalability in the event of a business disruption,” he said.



(Inquirer.Net)