International Center Day 2023 - Interview with Daniel Ropski

celebrating international data center day 2023

International Data Center Day 2023

Interview with Daniel Ropski, Director - Data Center PM

At Asia Infrastructure Solutions, we are proud to be part of this celebration and are committed to helping our customers project manage and deliver data centers that are secure, reliable, and cost-effective. In this interview, Daniel shares his thoughts on the rapid growth of data centers over the last few years and what the future holds.

March 22, 2023
Sherine Chng

The Data Center (DC) industry has come a long way since its early days, when DCs were often overlooked as mere server rooms crammed in the back of office buildings. Data Centers are crucial in supporting almost every aspect of modern life. In fact, if you wind back to the peak of the pandemic months, data center operators and facility managers were designated (rightfully so) as essential workers, alongside their peers in healthcare and other sectors.

Q1. Data Centres in a nutshell.

When you think of a Data Center – think about thousands of servers humming inside a climate-controlled room, powered by the grid coupled with distributed layers of back-up power should that grid fail. These servers are owned and operated by a variety of tech companies that support web and mobile app hosting, cloud computing, video streaming and so on.

Q2. What is driving the growth of the Data Center space?

Over the past 10 years, one of the main drivers of Data Center growth has been user growth, especially in emerging markets. For years, internet access came at snail’s pace, if you were lucky enough to have access. Then as tech expanded and new subsea cables connected more regions across the world, millions of people started to experience high speed connections for the first time. A combination of faster access, affordable data rates, and wider adoption has resulted in exploding demand for DCs.

Closely following user growth is the growth for all things Digital – whether that be automated vehicles, artificial intelligence (AI), growth of tech start-ups, digital content creators, etc. – advances in the digital economy have a direct correlation to our need for data centres. If tomorrow you decide you want to build a new website or mobile app, you will most likely host it on a server inside of a nearby data center.

Q3. What does the future look like for the Data Center industry?

The future looks very exciting for the next generation of talent who will be relied upon to solve some of the main challenges facing the industry. A major challenge facing the industry today is in addressing the question of sustainability and how to make DCs more environmentally friendly. Innovative and energy efficient designs are key, and companies are already hard at work exploring new ideas such as green hydrogen for power or using biofuel for back-up generators to reduce their carbon footprints.

As more and more companies look to expand their data center portfolio into Southeast Asia, do not hesitate to reach out to myself or one of my colleagues here at Asia Infrastructure Solutions. Whether it be defining your requirements, site selection, program-, cost- or project management, our team is ready to support you in delivering your future data center projects.

A major challenge facing the industry today is in addressing the question of sustainability and how to make DCs more environmentally friendly.

Daniel Ropski is a Data Center professional specialising in Project Management, Programme Management, and Technical Advisory for Data Center projects in the APAC region. He has a successful track record of delivering high-profile Data Center and new energy projects across Asia.

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