Data centers have seen explosive growth year-over-year, and it looks like there’s no end in sight to the insatiable need for data as we continue to live in an increasingly tech-driven world. From work-from-home and the rise in telemedicine to FaceTime connections, explosive growth in financial trading, internet conferencing, virtual schooling, online gaming, and IOT—the list goes on and on. We utilize technology from the moment we wake up every morning, relying more and more on the critical infrastructure that enables our increasingly technology-dependent lives.

Despite its strong performance relative to traditional real estate sectors in the face of COVID-related disruptions, the data center industry has not been exempt from many of the challenges brought on by the global pandemic. Specifically, the data center industry has experienced significant strain on its global supply chain, spurred by global labor shortages, manufacturing constraints, and general transportation disruptions. In an industry where timing and speed-to-market are especially critical for essential operations, maintaining a robust supply chain is essential for data center operators and users alike to meet and satisfy user demand.

Like most of its traditional real estate counterparts, data centers rely heavily on many of the commodities that have experienced significant supply chain headwinds in recent months: steel, lumber, aluminum, copper, chips, and more, to build and operate. However, unlike office or industrial facilities, data centers rely on these commodities to manufacture the critical infrastructure components that enable global connectivity. For a data center user or operator, a slight disruption in the upstream supply chain could have a significant financial impact. Click to read more at www.dmagazine.com.