By Contributing Editor, Kathy Xu
Data Center POST recently had the opportunity to sit down and interview Avner and discuss the major trends he anticipates will impact the telecom industry in the near future, new developments at Serverfarm, and his company’s attendance at International Telecoms Week 2018, taking place May 6-9 in Chicago.
Avner Papouchado is Founder and CEO of Serverfarm, a global leader in data center real estate and operations. Avner, who is well regarded for his business acumen, has been the guiding force behind Serverfarm since its inception. With a proven track record of successful real estate investments and data center operations, he has also served as Red Sea Group’s North American CEO since 1993 and is an active member of the executive management team responsible for the company’s worldwide investment strategy.
Data Center POST, Kathy Xu (DCP-KX) Question: What broad trends do you see in telecoms in the next 12 months?
Serverfarm, Avner Papouchado (SF-AP) Answer: Across the industry, we will see streaming video and public demand for non-linear media consumption fuel Over-the-Top (OTT) service growth, which will place financial and infrastructure pressure on network operators.
Similar to OTT, the deployment of 5G is being fueled by consumer and business demand with 5G networks expected to roll out more widely by 2020. Many telcos have already developed 5G architecture with the very first wave of commercial offerings being launched.
“The deployment of 5G is being fueled by consumer and business demand with 5G networks expected to roll out more widely by 2020.”
Additionally, network operators and telcos will need to protect more than just the data being transferred over their systems. Software-Defined Networks make the infrastructure itself more vulnerable to attacks, so employing a holistic approach to security with network level encryption will become more important than ever.
DCP-KX Q: What are new developments and initiatives that are exciting for your company in 2018?
SF-AP A: Serverfarm has been continuing to develop out its breakthrough innovative data center management system, InCommand, that provides customers with in-depth control of their data center assets. We have also entered into the European market with the acquisition of our LON1 data center, which provides a strategic asset to our growing colocation portfolio. We will be growing our European team and continuing to focus on our North American portfolio as well.
DCP-KX Q: Why is ITW such an important industry event for you and your company?
SF-AP A: ITW, being a network-centric event, is important as location and delivery to the edge becomes more essential to provide customers with cost-effective, high performance compute and networking capabilities. This event is a meeting hub for the entire industry. It’s important for us to be here as we are able to stay up to date on current trends and developments as well as conduct strategic meetings with key members of the industry.
DCP-KX: Thank you for your time, Avner, and best wishes to you and your team at ITW.
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