Growing into new European markets with DATA4 Group CEO, Olivier Micheli

DATA4 Group CEO, Olivier Micheli shares how they develop and expand into new markets, even in light of recent trends. This is an episode of HawkTalk, datacenterHawk’s series of candid one on one conversations with executives and leaders in the data center industry. If you enjoyed this episode, you can check them all out on our blog. If you’d like to know when we release future episodes, you can subscribe here. DATA4 Group was founded in 2006 and has been a key player in the Paris and French data center markets ever since. After becoming a top data center provider in France, they decided to expand their circle to other European nations. Their CEO, Olivier Micheli, sits down with our lead European analyst to discuss the company and the markets that they’re in. Below are some of our takeaways from the discussion. Growth of the Paris data center market One of the main drivers for the growth in the Paris data center market has been the hyperscale users. Larger users to want to grow in Paris because is there is some catch up happening. Recently other major markets in Europe, namely London, Amsterdam, & Frankfurt, have seen dynamic growth and the hyperscale users see Paris as a market with the same amount of opportunity as those. Developing in Italy, Spain, and Luxembourg Data4 Group has their eyes on expanding to new markets, but they prefer to follow a strategic path and be strong in the markets they’re in before expanding to new areas. This is how they went about their expansion out of Paris. They stayed focused with a goal to become very strong in that market before moving to Italy, Spain, and Luxembourg. Now that they’re in those markets, they want to stay focused in those areas until they are able to build a strong foundation before moving to their next markets. Looking towards Frankfurt Micheli talks about DATA4 Group’s history and their strategy for getting into the markets they’re in now, but he also mentions their future and where the company wants to go moving forward. Frankfurt is one market that’s currently on their radar for its large stable economy and massive connectivity. But they want to follow the same expansion strategy they did the first time around focusing on becoming a top data center provider in their current markets before moving into new markets. It will be interesting to follow DATA4 Group as they continue to grow and we at datacenterHawk look forward to tracking with them and other providers in the European markets. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on the data center industry.