Digital Realty Trust Study Reveals Surprising Trends Regarding the Depth and
Scope of Corporate Green Datacenter Initiatives; Study Also Identifies Key
Needs for Broader Adoption of Green Datacenter Practices
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Digital Realty Trust,
Inc. (NYSE: DLR), a leading owner and manager of corporate datacenters and
Internet gateways, is reporting new research data that evaluates the future of
green datacenter trends. The findings are from a recently completed survey of
senior decisionmakers at North America's leading corporations who are directly
responsible for strategy, planning and technology evaluation for datacenter
operations.
"Our goal for this survey was to determine whether the greening of the
datacenter is a passing fad or represents the emergence of a deeper trend in
technology that will permeate the industry for years to come. To our
knowledge, this is one of the first in-depth assessments of how deep-rooted
these green initiatives are, and the findings provide compelling evidence that
green initiatives will play a significant, long-term role in datacenter
planning and design," said Chris Crosby, Senior Vice President of Digital
Realty Trust. "At Digital Realty Trust, we are committed to developing
practical standards that improve operational and capital efficiency with green
techniques, design and operating philosophies -- an approach that is good for
the bottom line and for the environment. This survey is part of our effort to
raise awareness of these issues and provide actionable information that help
companies optimize their datacenter operations."
Key findings from the research study are provided below and will be
discussed in further detail in a forthcoming white paper and Webinar hosted by
Digital Realty Trust:
-- Despite the very recent emergence of green initiatives in the
datacenter industry, 55 percent of companies polled have already
established a detailed green datacenter strategy. This indicates that
green initiatives are viewed as a key long-term factor in datacenter
planning and operations.
-- More than 80 percent of companies polled confirmed that their green
datacenter strategies encompass not only computers and servers --
which have been the primary focus of most coverage of green IT trends
-- but also facility design and operations. This indicates that
companies are taking a comprehensive approach to green datacenter
initiatives that will maximize their energy efficiency gains.
-- More than 60 percent of companies polled project that having a green
datacenter strategy will become an important factor in their vendor
selections over the next 24 months. This indicates that IT vendors and
datacenter partners will need to adopt green strategies as rigorous as
the corporate customers they serve in order to remain competitive in
the marketplace. This is another indication that green datacenter
trends will broaden rather than diminish over time.
-- Nearly three quarters of companies polled (73 percent) said that there
is no clear industry standard for what meets the criteria of being a
truly "green datacenter." In the absence of a universal standard for
green datacenters, the fact that the majority of companies have
created their own individual, corporate green datacenter plan
indicates that companies are filling that standards void themselves
with self-defined green initiatives rather than waiting for
industry-wide standards to be fully defined.
"These data points indicate that green, energy-efficient datacenter trends
have been adopted more quickly and more deeply than previously believed. Even
for people who have been tracking green IT trends closely, many of these
metrics will be surprising," said Jim Smith, Vice President of Engineering for
Digital Realty Trust. "Another key finding of the survey is the strong
feedback from participants that the industry lacks codified operational
standards for green datacenters. This is clearly an area where more work needs
to be done, and will be a key factor in enabling companies to extend their
green initiatives and establish green standards for their technology vendors
and datacenter partners."
Smith added: "Although a single codified standard does not yet exist, we
believe that participation in The Green Grid and in LEED certification are key
best practices for implementing a green datacenter strategy. We actively
participate in The Green Grid and follow LEED protocols, and they provide
valuable operational guidelines for planning, designing and operating
corporate datacenters that are energy efficient."
Digital Realty Trust will host a Webinar on Monday, September 10, 2007 at
1:00 p.m. EDT/ 10:00 a.m. PDT that will analyze the results of this survey in
greater detail. Entitled, "Answering the Question: How Green is Green?," the
Webinar will be conducted by Jim Smith, who oversees Digital Realty Trust's
green initiatives in his role managing engineering for the company's 60+
datacenter facilities. Mr. Smith will provide further analysis of the results
of this survey, discuss the near-term and long-term impact of green trends on
datacenter decisions, and outline a number of best practices to increase the
energy efficiency of datacenters.
Mr. Smith is a veteran of the data communications industry and is a widely
respected expert in green/energy-efficient datacenter issues. Mr. Smith
oversees Digital Realty Trust's engineering operations and its green
datacenter initiatives. Prior to joining Digital Realty Trust, Mr. Smith was
the Chief Technology Officer of Colo.com. He was also a datacenter consultant
providing technical and feasibility assessments for corporate clients
evaluating datacenter acquisitions in North America and Europe.
For more information about the Webinar and to register as a participant,
visit http://www.digitalrealtytrust.com/webinar_registration.asp. Digital
Realty Trust also plans to publish a white paper that analyzes the survey
findings in detail. Information about obtaining a copy of that paper will be
available at http://www.digitalrealtytrust.com.
About the Methodology
Metrics reported in this study are based on Web-based surveys of IT
decisionmakers at large corporations in North America with revenues of at
least $1 billion and/or a size of at least 5000+ employees. All survey
participants are involved in the process of managing corporate datacenters,
implementing new datacenters or expanding existing datacenters, and all
participants are senior level management within their companies. More than 80
percent of survey participants are directly responsible for the final
recommendations or the final decision regarding all datacenter initiatives,
indicating that survey responses come from the most authoritative datacenter
decisionmakers within many of North America's leading corporations. The survey
was conducted in August 2007 and the sample size was more than 100
participants at companies that met the research criteria.
About Digital Realty Trust, Inc.
Digital Realty Trust, Inc. owns, acquires, repositions and manages
technology-related real estate. The Company is focused on providing Turn-Key
Datacenter(TM) and Powered Base Building(TM) datacenter solutions for domestic
and international tenants across a variety of industry verticals ranging from
information technology and internet enterprises, to manufacturing and
financial services. Digital Realty Trust's 65 properties, excluding one
property held as an investment in an unconsolidated joint venture, contain
applications and operations critical to the day-to-day operations of
technology industry tenants and corporate enterprise datacenter tenants.
Comprising approximately 11.8 million rentable square feet, including 1.7
million square feet of space held for redevelopment, Digital Realty Trust's
portfolio is located in 26 markets throughout North America and Europe. For
additional information, please visit Digital Realty Trust's website at
http://www.digitalrealtytrust.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on
current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ
materially. Such forward looking statements include statements related to
future environmental ("green") developments in the data center industry. These
risks and uncertainties include adverse economic or real estate developments
in the Company's markets or the technology industry; general economic
conditions; defaults on or non-renewal of leases by tenants; increased
interest rates and operating costs; inability to manage domestic and
international growth effectively; failure to obtain necessary outside
financing; decreased rental rates or increased vacancy rates; difficulties in
identifying properties to acquire and completing acquisitions at acceptable
return levels; failure to successfully operate acquired properties and
operations; failure of acquired properties to perform as expected; failure to
successfully redevelop properties acquired for such purposes or unexpected
costs related thereto; failure to maintain the Company's status as a REIT;
environmental uncertainties and risks related to natural disasters; financial
market fluctuations; changes in foreign currency exchange rates; risks of
operating in foreign markets; and changes in real estate and zoning laws and
increases in real property tax rates. For a further list and description of
such risks and uncertainties, see the reports and other filings by the Company
with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including the
Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006. The
Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise.
For Additional Information:
A. William Stein Pamela A. Matthews
Chief Financial Officer and Investor/Analyst Information
Chief Investment Officer Digital Realty Trust, Inc.
Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (415) 738-6500
(415) 738-6500
Chris Crosby
Sales & Technical Operations
Digital Realty Trust, Inc.
(214) 231-1350
SOURCE Digital Realty Trust, Inc.
09/06/2007
CONTACT: A. William Stein, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Investment
Officer, +1-415-738-6500, or Pamela A. Matthews, Investor and Analyst
Information, +1-415-738-6500, or Chris Crosby, Sales & Technical Operations,
+1-214-231-1350, all of Digital Realty Trust, Inc.
Web site: http://www.digitalrealtytrust.com
(DLR)