Data Centers Report: Demand ‘exploding’

Demand for data centers is “exploding,” says Raj Gupta, PE, LEED AP, CEO of Environmental Systems Design and emeritus member of BD+C’s Editorial Board. According to Gartner Inc., in 2010, 2% of data centers contained 52% of total data center floor space and accounted for 63% of data center hardware spending.

In 2015, 2% of data centers will contain 60% of data center floor space and account for 71% of data center hardware spending.

“Traditional in-house enterprise data centers are under attack,” says Jon Hardcastle, Gartner’s research director. Virtualization technologies are helping companies to utilize their infrastructure more effectively, and data centers are getting more efficient. The move to consolidated third-party data centers is trimming the total number of midsize facilities, while large data centers are benefitting from the rise of cloud computing. +

TOP 25 DATA CENTER SECTOR ARCHITECTURE FIRMS

Rank	Company	2011 Data Center Revenue ($)
1	Corgan Associates	22,854,000
2	Gensler	20,100,000
3	HDR Architecture	16,000,000
4	LEO A DALY	14,753,871
5	PageSoutherlandPage	12,890,000
6	Integrated Design Group	11,436,000
7	Reynolds, Smith and Hills	4,200,000
8	RTKL Associates	3,840,295
9	CTA Architects Engineers	3,787,800
10	EwingCole	3,000,000
11	SMMA\|Symmes Maini & McKee Associates	2,123,426
12	HLW International	1,900,000
13	Fentress Architects	1,456,103
14	Kirksey Architecture	1,379,269
15	PGAL	1,096,000
16	Heery International	808,000
17	Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber	600,000
18	Harley Ellis Devereaux	600,000
19	IBI Group	563,474
20	H+L Architecture	537,059
21	Ware Malcomb	515,000
22	Solomon Cordwell Buenz	500,000
23	HOK	426,798
24	Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio	350,000
25	Gresham, Smith and Partners	234,347

TOP 25 DATA CENTER SECTOR ENGINEERING FIRMS

Rank	Company	2011 Data Center Revenue ($)
1	Fluor Corp.	212,484,600
2	Jacobs	119,930,000
3	Syska Hennessy Group	43,577,806
4	URS Corp.	34,475,000
5	Merrick & Co.	31,500,000
6	AKF Group	10,500,000
7	Atkins North America	10,035,923
8	Parsons Brinckerhoff	7,400,000
9	Eaton Energy Solutions	6,169,598
10	KPFF Consulting Engineers	5,000,000
11	H.F. Lenz Co.	4,741,000
12	Burns & McDonnell	4,500,000
13	Stantec	4,230,000
14	Glumac	4,196,563
15	Science Applications International Corp.	3,950,000
16	Zak Companies	3,043,228
17	Michael Baker Jr., Inc	2,970,000
18	R.G. Vanderweil Engineers	2,830,900
19	RMF Engineering	2,500,000
20	ESD\|Environmental Systems Design	2,450,000
21	H&A Architects & Engineers	2,300,000
22	RDK Engineers	2,245,000
23	Guernsey	2,041,552
24	Middough	1,750,000
25	M+W U.S.	1,654,867

TOP 25 DATA CENTER SECTOR CONSTRUCTION FIRMS

Rank	Company	2011 Data Center Revenue ($)
1	Holder Construction	1,293,000,000
2	DPR Construction	666,292,020
3	Turner Corporation, The	434,435,518
4	Whiting-Turner Contracting, The	393,539,085
5	Skanska USA	369,889,632
6	Mortenson Construction	304,900,000
7	Balfour Beatty US	277,879,080
8	Structure Tone	259,250,000
9	Jacobs	119,930,000
10	Gilbane Building	104,166,000
11	JE Dunn Construction	89,426,706
12	Weitz Co., The	71,442,860
13	James G. Davis Construction	60,000,000
14	Hensel Phelps Construction	50,360,000
15	Messer Construction	49,404,845
16	Hoffman Corp.	46,541,098
17	Manhattan Construction Group	44,196,000
18	Brasfield & Gorrie	34,612,782
19	URS Corp.	34,475,000
20	Sundt Construction	28,801,944
21	Kitchell	24,310,000
22	Ryan Companies US	23,664,942
23	Harkins Builders	21,000,000
24	McShane Companies, The	20,000,000
25	Yates Companies., The	20,000,000

Earlier this month, my colleague and I presented a session to a group of civil engineers and transportation agencies about the tech trends in the AEC space. Along with advice on how to prepare your plan for controlled collaboration, we also talked through some practical use cases. One such use case was especially interesting, as it outlined a challenge not unfamiliar to government agencies who are contemplating the leap from paper to digital processes: how to securely migrate workflows.

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