Shipment of containerised data centres is expected to increase 40% in 2013, compared to 2012, according to a report from IMS Research.
According to IMS, a containerised data centre is a pre-fabricated, fully enclosed, mobile, structure that accommodates data centre infrastructure.
IMS identified three distinct product types that include all-in-one, IT, and facility containers.
The research firm said that shipments of IT containers will account for the greatest share in 2012.
According to the report, the greatest number of containerised data centres will ship to North America this year as some of the earliest adopters of containerised applications are headquartered in the US which include Google, Microsoft, eBay and Amazon.
Over the next five years, shipments to China are projected to grow at nearly double the rate due to the rapid growth in data centres in the region and the need for faster deployment times.
IMS Research senior analyst Liz Cruz said that the benefits of containerised data centres are significant: mobility, speed of deployment, off-site manufacturing, outsourcing of design, and potential tax savings.
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"Unfortunately, the current higher price of containerised solutions, as compared to like-for-like traditional builds, outweigh these benefits in many customer decisions," Cruz said.
"However, IMS Research believes that standardization of products, and the resulting economies of scale, will allow for prices to drop and the market to really take off."
