There are many problems related to the Singapore data center challenges, starting from the availability of space for building data centers to energy sources. In this article, we outline the top problems for data centers in Singapore and the solutions.
Singapore's Top Data Center Challenges
Recently, developments have also threatened to reverse the progress made by the industry up to now. One challenge is the limited availability of land for future development. With most of the available space in central business districts already accounted for, data center operators will likely be forced to look further away from these areas and set up shops in other parts of Singapore. This could increase costs and distance them from their flagship customers.
Another challenge is unreliable power supply. Singapore has no power station, and the island's national electricity grid is linked with Malaysia and Indonesia. The connection with other countries means that Singapore's power system can be affected if the linked systems have faults or maintenance.
The "already crowded" data center industry in Singapore is now facing many issues that the industry needs to work on, including:
Space is increasingly limited, considering that Singapore is a small country but already has the most data centers in Asia.
High electricity costs.
Shortage of skilled workers.
Hassle of managing air conditioning.
The bureaucratic red tape makes it difficult to obtain permissions.
Disaster recovery problems.
Singapore's data center facilities are overcrowded
In Singapore, the data center is getting very crowded due to more cloud computing providers entering the market. This could be because Singapore is a highly connected hub in the Asia Pacific and hence a convenient data center location to serve other Asian countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, etc. The rising Internet penetration rate and growing adoption of cloud computing services have increased demand for more data centers to meet this increasing demand.
Data centers are often placed inside buildings that have been re-purposed to serve as such. Unfortunately, this practice may lead to inadequate cooling systems and antiquated power infrastructure.
In addition, companies operating out of these facilities also have to worry about the security risks posed by sharing the same space with other companies or government agencies with conflicting interests and objectives. To avoid these issues and ensure a better customer experience, many companies choose to host their offshore data centers instead. The move allows them to mitigate risk while delivering a highly secure environment for their applications and services.
Data Center Expansion to Indonesia
The Ministry of Education's (MOE) 4th masterplan (covering 2020-2030) had identified Indonesia as a potential site for locating a future data center hub due to its strategic location near significant fiber routes in Singapore, the proximity of international submarine cable landing stations and potential development into an offshore business district in future.
The Singapore government has announced plans to build the island nation's first data center, which will be located in Indonesia. The announcement comes after a recent survey found that Singapore needs more data centers in its region, with demand for data centers outstripping supply.
Indonesia is an up-and-coming market for business growth. It is growing fast and becoming one of the significant destinations for companies to target as their next potential market. Internet users in Indonesia occupy the 4th position in the world. So, placing a data center in Indonesia for business is a strategic choice.
Read more about: Green Data Center in Indonesia has Tremendous Prospect
Conclusion
Singapore is already overcrowded for data center development, and it will become increasingly unfeasible in the future. Both the government and data center entrepreneurs in Singapore have realized this. The lack of space for building data center facilities, the absence of energy resources, the lengthy construction of renewable energy power plants, and so on have become the main challenges in the data center industry in Singapore.
Meanwhile, their neighboring country - Indonesia - is experiencing an energy surplus. Electricity costs in Indonesia are 70% cheaper, and labor costs are also 70% more affordable. In the past, ICT infrastructure in Indonesia needed to be improved, but from 2021 until 2023, ICT infrastructure in Indonesia has developed rapidly.
In Indonesia, especially in Jakarta, there are data center companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. The ease of investing and doing business in Indonesia has attracted the attention of investors in the data center industry, especially for investing in green data centers in Indonesia.
Therefore, the most reasonable solution to overcome the challenges of the data center industry in Singapore is to expand to Indonesia.
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