Published: 15 Nov 2022
Author: FINTECH Circle

Data has transformed virtually every industry, with technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) giving businesses the tools to process data to better understand their organisations, supply chains and customers, as well as the wider sectors and markets they operate in.

As data usage grows, the IT and communications infrastructure that underpins it is also transforming, with better, faster connections and more options for data processing and storage. 

At the same time, growing concerns about climate change and high oil and gas prices have put a spotlight on the energy used to run high-intensity applications. 

Against this backdrop, the FINTECH Circle Institute analysed responses from senior executives in financial and technology companies about their growing use of data-intensive technologies and corresponding data storage demands, and the knock-on impact
on their costs and sustainability goals. 

“Over a third of survey respondents had seen an increase of 50-100% in data usage and storage needs in past three years.”

Some of the additional key findings include:

• Two-thirds of respondents said AI will be vital to their future growth, with machine learning (a subset of AI that enables the building of AI-driven applications) being the second most selected at 41%.

• Over a third of survey respondents had seen an increase of 50-100% in data usage and storage needs in past three years. More than a third of survey respondents predicted a growth of at least two times in the next three years, with half of that group expecting an increase of more than five times.

• Data sovereignty and compliance (stability and security) are the top concerns over growing data usage and storage, selected by more than half of respondents, with about 40% also citing increased costs.

• Security is the top requirement for data storage and processing, followed by reliability, ability to scale and then cost. 

• Over half of respondents said they are concerned about their company’s environmental impact. An even higher number agree that it is a moral imperative to limit their company’s environmental impact.

• Over half of survey respondents said their company has explored or plans to explore alternatives to their current data storage infrastructure – changing service providers, moving to a co-location facility overseas and/or seeking renewable energy to power data storage facilities.

About FINTECH Circle 

FINTECH Circle is a global platform of more than 216,000+ Fintech entrepreneurs, investors, finance professionals, academic & government representatives, and solution providers. The company launched Europe’s 1st Angel Investor Network providing seed capital to the best fintech startups in the UK.

FINTECH Circle also runs courses, webinars & innovation workshops for finance teams and C-level executives and publishes fintech thought-leadership titles.

About Bulk Data Centers

Bulk Data Centers delivers ultra-flexible, highly connected, and massively scalable data center and colocation solutions backed by personalized service.

Bulk operates sustainably, using renewable energy. Bulk Data Centers is part of Bulk Infrastructure Group AS as one of three business areas, where the other two areas are Industrial Real Estate and Fiber Networks. Bulk’s overall vision is to create sustainable infrastructure solutions. The company is headquartered in Oslo and has employees in Oslo, Kristiansand, Copenhagen and London.

https://bulkinfrastructure.com/

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