It is inspiring to see how far we’ve come in digital evolution. Today, topics such as blockchain and artificial intelligence have become the agenda of daily business debates. At the same time, mobile devices and new technological applications already significantly impact how we deal with our daily lives.

In recent years, we have seen the advancement of 5G, the introduction of edge computing systems and the implementation of advanced cloud architectures and Data Center management platforms.

And there is a good reason for this: it is in Data Centers where data “lives”. Today, these infrastructures act as true heart of the digital economy, providing a “home” for the data itself and the platforms and applications that have become so ubiquitous in the modern world.

In turn, connectivity is the guiding principle for these systems’ continued operation and content delivery.

Do you want to know more about the evolution of this scenario, the benefits and how your company can mature digitally? Read below:

A little history: Data Centers and digital evolution

If digital evolution is advancing at a rapid pace and promises to intensify in the coming years, it is interesting to remember that it has sometimes been different.

The first Data Centers were, in fact, computer rooms located inside the company’s offices (usually a closet). For large-capacity use, they were dedicated spaces specifically designed to house machines that emitted a large amount of heat.

In both cases, this equipment (usually large and underpowered) only did a little besides collecting internally and enabling information sharing and processing. In other words, they did not connect to any other computer or external network.

Therefore, it was a combination of improving computer technology, not only with the miniaturization and density of transistors but also the increasing ability to share resources between multiple users, with the growing desire to connect networks that generated the commercial Internet.

With this, a new type of dedicated Data Center facility has been developed, along with a variety of recent success stories. And so began the Colocation service, without which the Internet as it is would never have developed.

The panorama of digital evolution

According to a Fortune Business Insights report, global demand for more efficient technologies, combined with the economic benefits of modern, established connectivity applications, has contributed to the exponential increase in the scale and power of Data Centers.

The study impresses with the estimate that the global Data Center infrastructure market is expected to reach $142.31 billion by 2027, especially if compared to 2019, when the global market value was $94.56 billion.

In addition to this scenario, Global Market Insights estimates that this industry is foreseen to grow at a CAGR of 12% by 2028 with the increasing usage of online services across the globe.

Digital evolution in Latin America

The truth is that in regions like Latin America, Data Center infrastructures are already experiencing substantial growth to support their demands for digital evolution. This, in turn, has led businesses to opt for more modern solutions to manage growing data requirements.

Therefore, organizations of all sizes are migrating their data management and business operations structures to more versatile and scalable options, such as Colocation and the cloud, aimed primarily at reducing costs and improving operational performance.

Latin America has witnessed significant investments in Data Center structures, carried out by both telecommunications operators and regional and global providers specialized in Colocation, such as ODATA, which has been intensifying its growth in the region.

For example, it is worth mentioning that the Research and Markets forecasts that the Data Center energy market in Latin America by investment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.03% between 2022 and 2027.

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Digital maturity

The numbers are impressive, but how do we know if we have progressed enough on this digital evolution journey?

Digital maturity is a measure of a particular organization’s ability to create value through digital. Therefore, it is an essential harbinger of success for companies that are working to modernize their technological infrastructures so that they can fully meet the requirements of the operation in the current times.

A survey published by the Boston Consulting Group in 2021 identified that the most digitally mature organizations increased their sales by 18% more than their less mature peers (2 more than in 2019). In addition, they increased profitability by an average of 29% (16 more than in 2021).

The study also identified that these companies also performed better regarding market share. Therefore, more than twice as many digitally mature brands increased their stake in 2020 – by three percentage points or more on average – than low-maturity brands.

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Conclusion

Our world has become indeed “always on” and irreversibly interconnected between the data centre, the cloud and edge computing. And that’s why watching the trajectory of our digital evolution is exciting. What has happened recently is an eternity ago when assessing how far technology has taken us.

As we have seen, the requirements of a modern IT environment indicate the need for high levels of agility. This revolves around technology and the ability to adapt to market demands.

It also means the ability to seamlessly scale a Data Center architecture, which plays a crucial role in IT objectives and business drive. In this scenario, outsourcing to Colocation and cloud structures has established itself as a growing trend in almost all vertical and business segments.

In this scenario, companies with high levels of digital maturity achieve a considerable competitive advantage in several performance indicators, including revenue growth, time to market, profitability, product quality and customer satisfaction. On the other hand, companies with low levels of digital maturity need help to achieve these benefits.

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Do you want to know more about how to speed up the digital evolution process in your company?