SAN FRANCISCO — Digital Realty published version 1.5 of its Data Gravity Index DGx, expanding the scope of the study from the 21 initial metros in version 1.0 to encompass 53 global metros and assessing the intensity and gravitational force of enterprise data growth on 23 distinct global industries. 

“As businesses undergo the rapid pace of digital transformation, understanding the impact of data gravity intensity will be a fundamental requirement for both enterprises and service providers to unlock data-driven opportunities,” said Tony Bishop, senior vice president of platform, growth, and marketing at Digital Realty.  “Data gravity is an impediment to enterprise growth that will affect businesses across industries around the world.  The release of our Data Gravity Index DGx 1.5 exploring the impact of data gravity across more metros and key industries is designed to help enterprises develop a data-centric architecture as they combat digital transformation challenges.” 

Data Gravity’s Growing Impact

The industries expected to experience the greatest data gravity intensity include the banking and financial services, manufacturing, and insurance industries, all of which are expected to undergo rapid growth in digital acceleration, digital-enabled interactions, and data exchange volumes globally.  Key findings across Forbes Global 2000 enterprises include: 

  • Data gravity intensity for banking and financial services firms will be exacerbated by regional growth in key banking and financial hubs. 
  • Large manufacturers are expanding their data and analytics capabilities, driven by the growth of in-home consumption. 
  • The insurance industry is expected to see data gravity intensify as digital-enabled interactions continue to increase in importance while key metros experience rapid growth in the volume of enterprise data exchange. 

Regional Forecasts

According to the expanded report, Jakarta, Indonesia, is expected to generate the fastest growth in data gravity intensity, followed by Singapore, Rome, Hong Kong, Melbourne, and Atlanta.  In addition, metros that are home to Forbes Global 2000 banking and financial services firms, such as London, New York, Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Beijing, and others, are expected to realize significant growth in the volume of enterprise data exchange, given their position as financial centers. 

“Data gravity continues to accelerate unabated, and so does the urgency of addressing it,” said Dave McCrory, vice president of growth and head of insights and analytics at Digital Realty.  “We are expanding the findings of our Data Gravity Index to include an analysis of 23 industries and 32 additional metros to provide insights to help business leaders make better strategic decisions about where to locate their data.” 

Industry Perspective 

“With AWS Outposts, our customers benefit from a consistent experience across both on-premises and cloud environments. The Data Gravity Index shows why proximity to data sets matters, and with AWS Outposts, customers can bring Amazon Web Services (AWS) services, APIs, and tools anywhere they need them – whether for data residency, performance with ultra-low latency, local data processing, or modernization. Similarly, PlatformDIGITAL provides our shared customers with a consistent global deployment experience wherever they choose to deploy AWS Outposts. Using  Digital Realty Data Hub and AWS Outposts allows customers to integrate public and private data sources at the center of their data exchanges with a truly consistent hybrid experience.”
– Joshua Burgin, General Manager, AWS Outposts, Amazon Web Services Inc.

“The Data Gravity Index reinforces that the location of AI computing should be a strategic consideration for IT and data science teams. Digital Realty’s Data Hub featuring NVIDIA DGX A100 systems on PlatformDIGITAL enables enterprises to engage in high-volume iteration and experimentation while building the most effective AI applications, without the slowdowns and escalating costs added by data gravity.”
– Tony Paikeday, Senior Director of AI Systems, NVIDIA

“Yellowbrick Data enables enterprises to analyze data in real time — both in the cloud and on-premises — to extract the insights needed to power today’s digital businesses.  The latest findings of the Data Gravity Index illustrate why it’s imperative that enterprises design for data gravity, so it does not inhibit digital business growth.  In collaboration with Digital Realty, we are helping enterprises leverage next-gen hybrid IT and data localization to unlock differentiated value, enhance business capabilities, and overcome data gravity barriers.” 
– Mark Cusack, CTO, Yellowbrick Data

“We currently have over 185 edge data centers around the world but are projected to grow to 400 to 500 edge data centers by 2023.  Leveraging the findings from the Data Gravity Index will help guide us as we expand globally and create long-term value for our customers.  Our work with Digital Realty lets us interconnect digital workflows from edge to core to cloud, at centers of data exchange on PlatformDIGITAL.” 
– Joe Zhu, Founder and CEO, Zenlayer