Aggregate prefabricated modular (PFM) datacenter revenue reached $1bn in 2013 and is projected to nearly quadruple by 2018 -- a five-year CAGR of 30.1%. Based on preliminary data, the global market for PFM datacenter products surpassed $1.5bn in 2014, and vendors see a strong pipeline going into 2015. North America is the single largest region by sales, but EMEA, driven by some Western European markets plus deployments in emerging economies, is catching up, partly because a good number of ambitious and capable suppliers are concentrated in some Western European countries. In the next phase, we expect APAC to take off and claim a larger share in 2016 and beyond.

1. E X E C U T I V E O V E R V I E W
© 2015 451 RESEARCH, LLC AND/OR ITS AFFILIATES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Global Prefabricated Modular
Datacenter Forecast 2014-2018
ENTERING THE MAINSTREAM
KEY FINDINGS
ƒƒ Aggregate PFM datacenter revenue reached $1bn in 2013 and is projected to nearly quadruple by 2018 – a five-
year CAGR of 30.1%. Based on preliminary data, the global market for PFM datacenter products surpassed $1.5bn
in 2014, and vendors see a strong pipeline going into 2015.
ƒƒ Don’t mistake a small market for a niche: PFM datacenters are gaining adoption in all industries, with all applica-
tion types and in all sizes – including mission-critical enterprise and colocation facilities.
ƒƒ Growth is not evenly distributed:The majority of the growth is still driven by the delivery of a handful of large proj-
ects typically served by major vendors, rather than by a wider group of smaller projects and vendors. Although
many PFM suppliers reported booming interest from operators, marketing and engineering bandwidth as well
as long initial sales cycles will limit the speed with which independent vendors (that are not part of a bigger and
diverse organization) can expand.
ƒƒ Despite skepticism surrounding their practicality, containerized and custom enclosure-based datacenter form fac-
tors keep dominating the scene. However, their lead is eroding as installations of prefabricated building structures
are accelerating.
ƒƒ North America is the single largest region by sales, but EMEA, driven by some Western European markets plus
deployments in emerging economies, is catching up, partly because a good number of ambitious and capable
suppliers are concentrated in someWestern European countries. In the next phase, we expect APAC to take off and
claim a larger share in 2016 and beyond.
This report provides an analysis of the market size and growth potential of the prefabricated modular (PFM)
datacenter market. Our projections are based on a comprehensive bottom-up market-sizing analysis that
incorporates revenue estimates and forecasts for each of more than 50 competing vendors in this sector.
This report also identifies and examines key market trends impacting the PFM space.
JAN 2015

2. © 2015 451 RESEARCH, LLC AND/OR ITS AFFILIATES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
451 RESEARCHE X E C U T I V E O V E R V I E W
REPORT SNAPSHOT
TITLE Global Prefabricated Modular Datacenter Forecast
2014-2018
ANALYST Daniel Bizo, Analyst, Datacenter Technologies
RELEASE DATE January 2015
LENGTH 18 pages
ABOUT THIS REPORT
Aggregate prefabricated modular (PFM) datacenter revenue reached $1bn in 2013 and
is projected to nearly quadruple by 2018 – a five-year CAGR of 30.1%. Based on prelim-
inary data, the global market for PFM datacenter products surpassed $1.5bn in 2014,
and vendors see a strong pipeline going into 2015. North America is the single largest
region by sales, but EMEA, driven by some Western European markets plus deployments
in emerging economies, is catching up, partly because a good number of ambitious and
capable suppliers are concentrated in some Western European countries. In the next
phase, we expect APAC to take off and claim a larger share in 2016 and beyond.
This report provides an analysis of the market size and growth potential of the PFM data-
center market. Our projections are based on a comprehensive bottom-up market-sizing
analysis that incorporates revenue estimates and forecasts for each of more than 50
competing vendors in this sector. The report also identifies and examines key market
trends impacting the PFM space.

3. Global PFM Datacenter Forecast 2014-2018
© 2015 451 RESEARCH, LLC AND/OR ITS AFFILIATES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION 1: EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW 1
1.1 SUMMARY: A TECTONIC SHIFT IN DATACENTER TECHNOLOGY – AT LAST . . . . 1
Figure 1: Aggregate PFM Revenue Forecast (2013-2018) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 METHODOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
SECTION 2: SECTOR DEFINITION 4
SECTION 3: PFM DATACENTERS SPREAD ALL OVER 5
3.1 FORM FACTORS: ALL SHAPES AND SIZES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1.1 Containerized and Custom-Enclosure Datacenters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Figure 2: Containerized/Enclosure-Based PFM Datacenter Revenue Forecast
(2013-2016) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.1.2 Prefabricated Building Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Figure 3: Building Structure-Type PFM Datacenter Revenue Forecast (2013-2016) . . . 7
3.1.3 Micro-Modular Datacenters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.2 NO REGION WILL BE LEFT BEHIND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Figure 4: Geographical Breakdown of PFM Datacenter Sales, 2014 . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.3 IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO JOIN THE PARTY – OR LEAVE IT . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
SECTION 4: MARKET GROWTH DRIVERS & INHIBITORS 13
4.1 DRIVERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.2 INHIBITORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
SECTION 5: CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS 15
5.1 RECOMMENDATIONS TO VENDORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
SECTION 6: APPENDIX: VENDOR LANDSCAPE 17
Figure 5: PREFABRICATED MODULAR DATACENTER SUPPLIERS AND PRODUCTS . . . 17

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