Report: U.S. Is Safest Location for a Data Center

If you’re looking for a place to put a data center, the U.S. is the safest option. So says a new report that ranked thirty countries on various factors related to business risk.

InfoWorld’s Agam Shah reported, “Last year the U.S. was the least [risky] place in the world to open a data center, according to a study released this week. The rankings, which were released by Cushman & Wakefield, Hurleypalmerflatt and Source8, were made after measuring risks related to physical, economic, and social issues in the countries. The U.S. was followed by the U.K., Sweden, and Germany, while Indonesia, India, and Brazil were at the bottom of the list.”

Penny Jones with DataCenterDynamics observed, “The UK retained its position at second place for its level of connectivity and ease of doing business but Cushman & Wakefield EMEA data center Advisory Group partner Keith Inglis said that like Germany, the UK should prepare for more competition from the Nordic countries, which have been heavily promoting their data center suitability.”

Paul Taylor with the Financial Times added, “The report notes that it is the Nordics, powered predominantly by hydroelectricity and with comparatively low energy unit costs, that are becoming an increasingly attractive global data centre location. Consequently, the region dominates this year’s global top 10: Sweden is ranked as the third-safest place worldwide, rising from eighth last year, while Iceland (seventh), Norway (eighth) and Finland (ninth) all feature in prominent positions.”

Manufacturing Business Technology noted, “In the report, factors such as energy and labor costs, internet connectivity, ease of doing business and the likelihood of natural disasters or political instability are all taken into consideration and individually weighted to reflect different risk levels.”