Data Center Interconnect: New Revenue Opportunities
Data Center Interconnect: New Revenue Opportunities
Data Center Interconnect: New Revenue Opportunities
Data center operator segmentation clarifies sales prospects for CSPs, ON vendors, and OC suppliers
Reference Code: TE008-001387 Publication Date: 20 Jan 2014 Aut or: !an Red"at
SUMM R!
In a nuts"ell
Data centers are the new central offices of todays app-centric, content-rich, cloud-enabled age. Large-scale data centers have an attendant need for large-scale data center interconnect (DCI). ith tens of billions of dollars, euros, yen, and yuan invested in data centers, their central i!portance in application delivery will only grow. "he optical networ# ($%) co!!unity needs a deeper understanding of this growing networ# traffic driver as future $% growth beco!es !ore intertwined with data center growth. "rac#ing, classifying, and seg!enting data center types and understanding their preferred !ethod of interconnection, their underlying !otivation, and their position in the value chain is critical for players that hope to ta#e advantage of further DCI growth. "his report seg!ents the DCI opportunity based on data center operator (DC$) types, outlines the DCI food chain, and highlights DCI opportunities for co!!unications service providers (C&'s), $% vendors, and optical co!ponents ($C) vendors.
Ovum view
$vu! has seg!ented the DCI !ar#et into four categories of DC$s( C&'s such as )"*", China "eleco!, Colt, %"" Co!!unications, and +eri,on Internet content providers (IC's) such as )!a,on, -aidu, .oogle, and "encent carrier-neutral data center providers such as /0uini1, Inter1ion, and China %et Center enterprise-govern!ent-and-others such as )gency. al!art, 2' 3organ, and the 4& %ational &ecurity
/ach type of DC$ has a different business !odel and !otivation for owning and operating data centers, a different set of networ# assets, and a different approach to DCI.
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Data center interconnect can occur in three basic ways( a C&' can use its own networ#, bandwidth can be leased fro! another C&', or a dedicated networ# can be built upon procured dar# fiber. 3any data center operators use so!e co!bination of these three interconnect options. C&'s have an opportunity to sell high-bandwidth services into the DCI !ar#et. "hey can sell directly to other C&'s operating data centers, the IC's, the carrier neutrals, and enterprise-govern!ent-and-others. >or the $% vendors, the DCI !ar#et represents an incre!ental growth opportunity. "he C&'s, the vendors? largest pre-e1isting !ar#et, will continue to be a target !ar#et with added growth driven by DCI. "he new greenfield opportunity is all of the non-traditional DCI providers( the IC's, carrier neutrals, and enterprise-govern!ent-and-others. $rgani,ations that have procured dar# fiber for DCI and are turning up their own private networ#s re0uire optical networ# co!!on e0uip!ent, line cards, and networ# building #now-how. >or the $% syste! vendors, the data center interconnect opportunity consists of access, !etro, regional, national, and international networ# seg!ents. "he $C co!panies have opportunity to sell into the DCI food chain to the syste! vendors and have a truly global opportunity, unfettered by regional preferences for regional vendors. "he DCI !ar#et is in a dyna!ic state. &o!e DCI opportunities have been sewn up, but new opportunities continue to arise. DC$s are loo#ing to drive cost out, and !any would consider a switch to a !ore innovative or lower- cost solution. C&'s and vendors ali#e need to be !ore syste!atic in uncovering DCI prospects and 0uic#er to hone in on the 0uality opportunities.
#e$ messages
Data centers continue to be steadily co!!issioned. &o!e data center builds are well publici,ed, while others have a low public profile for security or co!petitive intelligence reasons. e e1pect large-scale data center growth in China consistent with the rapid networ# e1pansion we see in China. /nterprises are ta#ing advantage of i!proved data center site diversity and are also adopting cloud services, fueling additional DCI growth. DC consolidation creates new traffic patterns for further DCI and $% opportunities. 3any e!erging !ar#ets are not yet served or underserved. Data centers have been co!!issioned in areas that previously did not have a significant teleco! presence, resulting in new bandwidth traffic patterns.
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>or non-China vendors, trac# your custo!ers? initiatives in China to foresee e0uip!ent opportunities inside the region. >or C&'s, counter the dar# fiber threat with a value proposition of ubi0uity and enhanced networ# diversity. 'ay attention to DCI opportunities ste!!ing fro! DC location changes due to site diversity and data center consolidation initiatives. Loo# for DCI opportunities in e!erging !ar#ets. >or $C vendors, build your DCI food chain I@ to vet your custo!ers? views.
%&'( D )
CSP DCOs
"he C&'s? own co!!on carriage networ#s have a history in networ# design, building, and operation. 3any C&'s such as )"*", -", China "eleco!, China 4nico!, Colt, CenturyLin#-&avvis, ."&, %"" Co!!unications, "C&, "elefonica, "-&yste!s, and +eri,on-"erre!ar# own and operate data centers in addition to large-scale networ#s. >or DCI, the C&'s will use their own networ#s to the e1tent possible, but in so!e instances they will need third-party bandwidth to interconnect their data centers for diversity or for out-of-territory operation.
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Carrier-neutral DCOs
Carrier-neutral data center operators such as China %et Center, Digital 5ealty "rust, /0uini1, Inter1ion, "elecity, and "elehouse represent a third and yet different seg!ent for the high-bandwidth DCI !ar#et. "he carrier neutrals funda!entally provide secure space, power and the ability to interconnect to their C&', Internet e1change provider, cloud service provider, content provider, and enterprise custo!ers. "he carrier neutrals are not inherently in the business of supplying )% bandwidth, but bandwidth co!es into their data centers at terabit scale to interconnect via their custo!er base. &o!e of the carrier neutrals? custo!ers will bring their own fiber into the carrier neutrals whereas others will rely on leased bandwidth. In either case, the bandwidth-buying entity is the data center tenant as opposed to the DC$. -ut the carrier neutrals are an i!portant group to trac# as they represent an aggregation point of bandwidth. "hey have been very active data center builders, with !uch of the newest capacity being constructed in lower-cost suburban areas, cataly,ing new traffic patterns and representing new leased bandwidth opportunities.
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"ypically, enterprise-govern!ent-and-others will use leased bandwidth fro! C&'s for DCI. "here will be so!e utili,ation of dar# fiber networ#s, but typically at a !ore !odest scale.
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Internet content providers "he large-scale Internet content providers have built up global networ#s co!prised of lit services and dar# fiber bandwidth. "hey will continue to add density and reach to their networ#s. $ptical vendors have had success in selling DCI directly to IC's, and cost-scale pressures will continue to !otivate deploy!ents. "he vendor opportunity is to continue to wor# with this !ar#et seg!ent and aid in ways to help further IC's? ai!s. )n e1tra step a vendor could ta#e would be uncovering additional available dar# fiber that could be utili,ed to interconnect e1isting data centers or future data centers. "he !ar#et-leading IC's have been the !ost aggressive at networ# building. +endors should also trac# the ne1t echelon of IC's for new DCI opportunities based on future data center builds. Carrier-neutral data center operators "he carrier neutrals? pri!ary function is to facilitate interconnection. In that conte1t, the tenants of the carrier-neutral data centers would be sales prospects for $% vendors. -ut there is a further nuance in the carrier neutrals? case. "he carrier-neutral operators wal# a fine line in their approach to )% bandwidth supply. ) funda!ental tenet of their value proposition is their neutralityF if a carrier-neutral operator beca!e a large-scale carrier, it would no longer be neutral E other carriers would begin to view it as a direct co!petitor. $n the other hand, $% vendors !ay find an opportunity to serve carrier-neutral operators in large !etro areas, where li!ited real estate and building space have forced a nu!ber of the! to evolve into !ulti-site operations E they still need to be able to interconnect their custo!er base across those sites. "he carrier neutrals can interconnect their sites together via dar# fiber. ) custo!er can enter one site and effectively have access to all of the carrier neutral?s !etro sites. It is not a C&' operation in the large-scale sense, but it uses optical networ# e0uip!ent to interconnect data centers. Digital 5ealty "rust in partnership with /psilon co!!issioned a London-area data center interconnect networ#. "he networ# nodes are the data centers the!selves. "he vendor opportunity is to aid further e1pansion efforts by the carrier neutrals. )dditionally, after the !ar#et leaders, there is a very long tail of !ar#et players offering co-location and interconnect. $f this group, so!e will co!!ission optical networ#s for !ulti-site interconnect. *nterprise-government-and-ot"ers Large-scale, tech-savvy enterprises have used dar# fiber and optical e0uip!ent for !any years. %A&/ has been a long-standing and vocal proponent of dar# fiber. Content distribution networ#s have the need for very-high-capacity networ# connectivity. In so!e cases in so!e !etros, their e0uip!ent has outgrown the space available in one building, necessitating a !ulti-site networ#. )#a!ai built a large-scale !etro networ# in London interconnecting their !ultiple data center sites. "he challenge for vendors targeting the enterprise-govern!ent-and-others seg!ent is uncovering the high- and low-profile opportunities and vetting the! to identify the high-value opportunities.
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Dar1 fi/er providers "he dar# fiber providers the!selves should be considered an $% vendor opportunity. "he line between alternative C&' and dar# fiber provider can blur. )lternative C&'s start with a lit bandwidth proposition to the !ar#et, but they can sell dar# fiber in certain circu!stances. C&'s !ay !a#e dar# fiber available for a li!ited ti!e period to 0uic#ly recoup a portion of initial fiber build construction costs. Dar# fiber providers can begin by selling dar# fiber e1clusively but then graduate to lit services in ti!e based upon custo!er re0uests. It is no coincidence that two of the globes !ost vigorous data center !ar#ets, London and %ew Aor#E%ew 2ersey, are also ho!e to the !ost dyna!ic dar# fiber !ar#ets. 'ure-play dar# fiber providers only e1ist in very select group of !ar#ets. Data center operators with large-scale interconnect needs prefer the dar# fiber !odel where it does e1ist due to its co!pelling low-cost structure. If the dar# fiber !ar#et is active, the data center !ar#et will leverage that low-cost input. Dar# fiber providers have been building so!e of the !ost innovative networ#s of late. "he classic incu!bent C&' networ# has been built in layers over the years starting with the needs of the voice networ#. Large-scale suburban data centers did not e1ist at that ti!e. Dar# fiber providers with prior #nowledge of the !aCor data center sites have designed their fiber networ#s to interconnect as directly as possible. ) purpose-built design can provide benefits such as shortest pathElowest latency, fewer splices-connectors for reduced points of failure, and i!proved signal perfor!ance. 'roviders of dar# fiber !ay sell fiber only to their custo!er base, but they can also be a channel for the $% vendors. "heir custo!ers will be a !i1 of enterprises and other C&'s. "hus, for the $% e0uip!ent vendors, a portion of the dar# fiber providers? custo!er list would be potential e0uip!ent custo!ers as well. If they transitioned to selling lit services, they would beco!e direct $% e0uip!ent purchasers.
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stay attuned to their custo!ers? needs and future directions. "he $% vendors also have an opportunity to sell to the organi,ations that have procured dar# fiber and have the a!bition to own and operate networ#s( the IC's, carrier neutrals, and enterprise-govern!ent-and-other DC$s. "he larger-scale IC's and carrier neutrals are well-#nown entities, but s!aller-scale players !ay arise to e!ulate the !ar#et leaders, e1panding the opportunity. "here will be a sub-seg!ent within the enterprise-govern!ent-others seg!ent that does represent a serious $% opportunity.
3estern CSPs and vendors can pla$ in t"e C"ina data center food c"ain
"he world witnessed the rapid creation of the enor!ous China co!!unications !ar#et over the past five years, and data centers are an increasingly i!portant asset. Chinas do!estic operators and vendors are of course in the drivers seat for data center building within China. China "eleco! has been building data centers at ho!e and abroad, and Duawei has built over ;66 data centers.
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-ut western C&'s and vendors can find opportunity in this high-growth !ar#et as well. >or e1a!ple, non-do!estic providers and enterprises have been building data centers within China. Dong Jong is the !ost open to western DC$s, with a very advanced data center !ar#et and a !ultitude of western DC$s in action. %"" Co!!unications has data centers in -eiCing, &hanghai, u1i, .uang,hou, and Dong Jong. 'ac%et has data centers in -eiCing, &hanghai, &hen,hen, Chong0ing, and "ianCin. I-3 has DCs in u1i, Langfang, and &hen,hen. 3icrosoft has deployed cloud services utili,ing ;8+ia%ets data center base, and )!a,on is entering the Chinese !ar#et as well. Data centers re0uire do!estic and international connectivity. "he western C&'s can co!pete for the international DCI e!anating fro! China. "he western syste! vendors? best opportunity is to follow their custo!er base into their new data center initiatives. "he co!ponents vendors !ay have the freest hand in the China !ar#et as they are #ey suppliers to both the Chinese and western $% vendors. Doing business in China is not easy for non-native co!panies, typically re0uiring a partnership with a do!estic vendor, but to forgo China is to forgo a significant growth opportunity.
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PP*NDI4
Met"odolog$
"he analysis in this report is derived fro! pri!ary research in the for! of discussions with service providers, data center operators, and e0uip!ent vendors. &econdary research included trac#ing press releases, public announce!ents, conference presentations, and other publications.
,urt"er reading
2014 Trends to Watch: Data Center Networking Hardware, "/669-666HL; (%ove!ber ;689) 2014 Trends to Watch: Enterprise Data Centers, I"68L-669;78 (%ove!ber ;689) ON Forecast eport: 2012!1", "/667-6689I6 ($ctober ;689)
2014 Trends to Watch: Data Center Techno#og$, I"68:-66<8:H (&epte!ber ;689) Data Center %endor &andscape: Network 'onitoring (witches, "/669-666H:9 (&epte!ber ;689) C#o)d (er*ices +)siness Trends ()r*e$ 201,: E)ropean es)#ts, /I6;;-66666< ()ugust ;689) K-ig Data is a #ey part of Intels data center vision,K I"68<-66;::< ()ugust ;689) Data Centers: De-$ing .ra*it$, "/667-668;<6 (&epte!ber ;68;)
ut"or
Ian 5edpath, 'rincipal )nalyst, %etwor# Infrastructure ian.redpathMovu!.co!
Data Center Interconnect( %ew 5evenue $pportunities ("/667-66897:) ;6 2an ;68< = $vu!. 4nauthori,ed reproduction prohibited 'age 86
Ovum Consulting
e hope that this analysis will help you !a#e infor!ed and i!aginative business decisions. If you have further re0uire!ents, $vu!s consulting tea! !ay be able to help you. >or !ore infor!ation about $vu!s consulting capabilities, please contact us directly at consultingMovu!.co!.
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