Companies are increasingly opting for a hybrid infrastructure, with real-time data displaying a strong proportional increase, and technologies such as AI or machine learning, smart mobility and IoT are increasingly becoming part of our daily reality. This was what emerged from a market survey carried out by The House of Marketing for LCL. Wilfried Landsheer, Sales Manager at LCL, explains the main general market trends.

"The trend towards more hybrid infrastructures is partly due to the fact that customers want to be able to switch quickly with data volumes and the associated infrastructure within a short period of time. They are looking for flexible storage capacity for the explosive growth of data, e.g. in the context of IoT or AI solutions."

Companies are increasingly opting for a hybrid infrastructure, with real-time data displaying a strong proportional increase, and technologies such as AI or machine learning, smart mobility and IoT are increasingly becoming part of our daily reality. This was what emerged from a market survey carried out by The House of Marketing for LCL. Wilfried Landsheer, Sales Manager at LCL, explains the main general market trends.

LCL has commissioned a market survey to also obtain an external view of datacenter market trends. In concrete terms, LCL provides inspiration for new solutions to the challenges and plans of companies in different sectors and market segments.

We know that data storage will experience explosive growth in the future. IDC Global Datasphere states that there will be 175 zettabytes of data worldwide by 2025. That corresponds to growth of 61%. Are you also seeing this at LCL?

LCL provides a state-of-the-art datacenter, including security in all areas and duplication of utilities. Think of it as a well-equipped and connected safe in which you can house your ICT infrastructure. Our customers manage their ICT infrastructure and data themselves. So we have no idea how much storage capacity they have, and what they do with it. Storage devices are also becoming increasingly more compact, so their volume isn’t everything.

We are noticing in our interactions with our customers that an increasing number of companies are opting for a hybrid approach. They prefer to relay their data via the ground and the air. So via on-premise – in your own or external datacenter – and the cloud.

The motivation for companies to switch to hybrid solutions lies in the scalability of their IT infrastructure. They are looking for flexible storage capacity for the explosive growth of data, e.g. in the context of IoT or AI solutions. Consider, for example, the analysis of consumer behaviour in the retail sector: what do people consume? When? In combination with which other products? What is the impact of promotions? Etc. A public cloud is best suited for such an analysis of a large volume of data. This is mainly because it is ready-to-use, flexible and scalable.

What's the story behind the expected increase in real-time data?

The importance of real-time data is increasing year on year. IDC Global Datasphere predicts that 30% of all data worldwide will be real-time data by 2025. There are several applications for which real-time data is crucial: video streaming, as well as IoT solutions, smart mobility and smart cities.

Video streaming has gained in popularity since the advent of Netflix. A plethora of streaming services have come onto the market that offer people the opportunity to watch TV any time and anywhere. In addition to video streaming, view-on-demand and TV-on-demand also use real time data, for example.

IoT solutions are also gaining in popularity, for example remote control of your household appliances. This is also real-time data, because it has to be processed immediately. 

In the future, smart mobility and smart cities are other areas of application for which real-time data will be crucial. In order for the concept of self-driving cars to work, it is important for the data to remain as close to the end user as possible so that it can be exchanged between the various users rapidly. Smart cities are, for example, about safer traffic or sites that need easy access to relevant data. Drones can collect data, which can then be deployed rapidly via various applications.

Edge datacenters offer a solution for all applications based on real-time data. And LCL can play a role in this. LCL enjoys a unique position in Belgium, with a total of four datacenters at different locations. The datacenter in Antwerp covers the provinces of Limburg and Antwerp; the datacenter in Diegem covers the regions of Flemish Brabant and Brussels; with the datacenter in Huizingen covering part of Wallonia; and the datacenter in Aalst serving the provinces of East and West Flanders.

Customers prefer an Opex cost model over a Capex model

The market survey also shows that organisations want to move increasingly towards AAS models, such as IAAS, SAAS, PAAS, or others. In practical terms, this means a move from Capex – an investment model with an initial capital investment – to Opex. With the latter, a fixed monthly amount is paid for the use of certain AAS services, which is included in the operational costs. Opex is foreseeable over five to ten years.

This trend goes hand in hand with the development towards hybrid infrastructures: partly on-premise or in an external datacenter; partly in the cloud (especially the public cloud). IT requirements are difficult to predict. And are associated with major investments. Invest vast sums of money in something that should be scalable and is difficult to predict? Recruit people to manage your IT, i.e. for activities that are not your core business? No wonder that's not the popular choice. (Public) cloud is "pay as you grow". You can then invest your capital in your own business. This often also has a direct impact on your bottom line.

In a hybrid infrastructure and with AAS services, fast and secure connectivity is very important, in addition to scalability. Flexible connectivity to the various public cloud platforms is also crucial. After all, 5G is a precondition for many of these market trends. So we are keeping our fingers crossed that we will soon have 5G networks ...