Some personal news.
After seven years in SaaS and ContentTech, I decided to re-join the data centre (DC) and energy sector, where I previously worked at Schneider Electric.
A few comments for the ones who are not familiar with the DC industry.
The DC market is experiencing tremendous growth. The rapid expansion is driven by the surge in data and (guess what?) the rise of AI over the past years. While AI could be challenging for SaaS, it offers massive opportunities for DCs. Some stats that amazed me:
- ChatGPT search requires 25 more time energy than the same search on Google
- The DC market is expected to grow at 18% CAGR in global Capex over the next five years. With AI acting as the primary catalyst.
- 90% percent of the world’s data has been created in the last two years…
From a marketing perspective, the DC sector slightly differs from SaaS and MarTech. Here are a couple of major points
1. Demand Fulfilment vs. Demand Generation. The demand for the data centres category is already high due to the exponential growth of data and the need for robust IT infrastructure. Thus, the marketing efforts are more about capturing existing demand rather than creating new category demand. SaaS marketers instead often need to create demand for new software categories or solutions. This involves educating the market about the benefits and use cases of their products.
2. Long term vs. Short term. With demand already established, DC marketers can prioritise building a strong brand presence and reputation for reliability, security, and sustainability. This long-term focus contrasts with SaaS and MarTech, where demand often needs to be generated because of its competitive nature, with a significant focus on short-term sales and lead gen to meet aggressive sales targets (and we all know what happens when you do short-term with no long-term)
Now, onto my next chapter.
I’m excited to share that I’ll be leading marketing, branding, and narrative efforts at AVK, the largest and fastest-growing supplier of energy solutions for data centres and the financial sector in the UK and Europe.
A heartfelt thank you go to Ben Pritchard, Dean Bradshaw, Paul Hammett, and the entire AVK-SEG LTD team for this amazing opportunity.