According to Apple Insider, Apple is building out data centres in new locations [Reno, Nevada] at an accelerating pace while building out existing ones to support cloud-computing services such as iCloud and iTunes. Data centres have also become focal points for environmental impact in terms of energy consumption and carbon footprint. Technologies that drive energy-efficiency encompass not only traditional IT hardware infrastructure but also technologies from
semiconductors to cooling systems.
The logic behind the Apple’s 3rd Data Centre is data centre growth will accelerate alongside the rampant increase of the generation and consumption of data (especially unstructured data) which is accompanying smartphone and tablet penetration. These consumption devices, in combination with the advent of the Internet of Things as data-generating devices will be significant drivers of both the volume and intensity of unstructured data.
Also the build-out highlights the growing importance of cloud-based services for Apple’s longer term strategy but also heralds how these trends are impacting the entire global environment. Once a technology or service reaches an inflection point in terms of ubiquity, consumers want to use it anytime, anywhere and across any device.
Apple currently serves its iCloud, a cloud-based storage system that automatically and wirelessly sends the customer’s music, photos, apps, calendars, and documents to all devices of the customer, and other online services, from massive computing facilities. iCloud and related iTunes services such as Match, as well as Apple’s other cloud-centric services including Siri and Maps have a huge appetite for data centre capacity.
If Apple can provide ease-of-use and data security through its cloud-based services to consumers, it may shape the channel market offerings of cloud-based services.