Recently, data center operator Digital Realty Trust (digitalrealtytrust.com) announced that it is reporting new research data focused on the leading data center trends in the European market, following a similar report on the US data center market that was released earlier this year. The new study is based on a recent poll of senior decision makers who are either directly responsible for data centers or influence significant decisions related to data center operations at large European companies.

The research was conducted for Digital Realty Trust by the respected research firm Campos Research & Analysis, the same firm that conducted the earlier study of US data center-related initiatives. The surveyed companies span a range of industries, including financial services, manufacturing, professional services, packaged consumer goods, telecommunications, consumer services and information technology.

Among the key findings from the research study, more than 80 percent of respondents have plans to expand their data centers, 18 percent plan to expand their data centers within the next 12 months, 67 percent plan to expand their data centers within the next 24 months and 79 percent of those planning data center expansions say they plan to expand in two or more locations. Respondents also identified their most preferred cities for the location of their data center expansions, ranking London as their first choice, followed by Paris, Dublin, Amsterdam and New York.

"Similar to our survey of the US market earlier this year, this study of European data center initiatives paints a robust picture of the data center market: broad-based demand for data center space from a wide variety of industries, with strong growth prospects based on the project timelines looking out two years and beyond," explained Michael F. Foust, CEO of Digital Realty Trust. "The findings revealed that demand was even stronger than our own estimates. It is remarkable to see that in both Europe and the US more than 80 percent of companies are planning data center expansions."