By: Andrew Fray
While technology has evolved relentlessly over the last 20 years, the advances that sit on the horizon are set to far outstrip this recent surge. As the pace of development accelerates, consequently increasing the complexity of technology, businesses will become ever more reliant on a robust, reliable infrastructure.
Twenty years ago, we were just about seeing dial-up internet enter UK homes, while fixed broadband has only been a luxury we’ve enjoyed over the past decade. But in those ten years the level of technology change has picked up speed exponentially. This started with the spike in mobile broadband and the rise of GPS through to the boom in cloud computing, the growth of the Internet of Things and the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence tools like Siri, and Alexa in our everyday lives.
Technology innovation set to accelerate
The pace of innovation over the next couple of decades is likely to well surpass these recent advances. The IoT is only going to expand as the number of devices in circulation continuously rises. Furthermore, AI and AR are likely to be used far more intelligently as businesses implement techniques to better understand customer behaviour and enhance product development, while blockchain adoption is predicted to increase as organisations continue to innovate business models and processes.
Wider afield, the potential of innovations like delivery drones and driverless cars, which have been speculated about for many years, are a realistic possibility in the very near future. More advanced technologies such as communications satellites are more forward-looking but have the potential to revolutionise our daily lives by providing a viable alternative to fibre broadband. For example, the likes of Starlink and Samsung are leading the way in this with around 16,000 communications satellite launches planned between them by 2025.
However, like a car without an engine, this level of digital innovation will be rendered useless without the right supporting infrastructure to encourage change. Driverless cars, and any AI or IoT-powered object for that matter, will burn up vast amounts of processing power and create massive amounts of data that will necessitate a robust backbone.
Data centres encourage innovation
Data centres are the lifeblood of this emerging technology revolution. No matter how exciting or innovative an AI or IoT application is, if it offers a poor user experience then it will have little chance of success.
The key to guaranteeing that technology trends flourish will be housing servers and growing levels of data within data centres at the heart of the world’s biggest cities and business markets. This offers close proximity to both consumers and other businesses, guaranteeing the fastest, most secure access to data, the highest levels of connectivity and bandwidth and minimal levels of latency.
While high real-estate prices make it hugely expensive for businesses to build their own data centres in these locations, colocation offers a more attractive alternative that can reduce infrastructure costs, increase availability and reduce latency. Carrier and cloud neutral facilities provide highly connected, secure, scalable infrastructure with minimal overheads and maximum convenience.
We’re seeing businesses increasingly choose to colocate in central London to reap the benefits of direct access to Europe and beyond.
With eight major CDNs present, as well as more than 90 connectivity providers, our London data centre campus ensures the perfect home for enterprises’ data. All this is backed by a resilient and secure environment with strict SLAs for performance and availability – ensuring the best possible user experiences for customers.
With the right data centre strategy, businesses can bring tomorrow’s technologies ever closer to reality. Find out how Interxion’s expanding London data centre campus can support your technology goals with unrivalled connectivity in the heart of the capital.
