6th September 2007

Digital Realty Trust, , an owner and manager of corporate datacenters and Internet gateways, is reporting new research data that evaluates the future of green datacenter trends. The findings are from a recently completed survey of senior decisionmakers at North America's leading corporations who are directly responsible for strategy, planning and technology evaluation for datacenter operations.

"Our goal for this survey was to determine whether the greening of the datacenter is a passing fad or represents the emergence of a deeper trend in technology that will permeate the industry for years to come. To our knowledge, this is one of the first in-depth assessments of how deep-rooted these green initiatives are, and the findings provide compelling evidence that green initiatives will play a significant, long-term role in datacenter planning and design," said Chris Crosby, Senior Vice President of Digital Realty Trust. "At Digital Realty Trust, we are committed to developing practical standards that improve operational and capital efficiency with green techniques, design and operating philosophies -- an approach that is good for the bottom line and for the environment. This survey is part of our effort to raise awareness of these issues and provide actionable information that help companies optimize their datacenter operations."

Key findings from the research study are provided below and will be discussed in further detail in a forthcoming white paper and Webinar hosted by Digital Realty Trust:

- Despite the very recent emergence of green initiatives in the datacenter industry, 55 percent of companies polled have already established a detailed green datacenter strategy. This indicates that green initiatives are viewed as a key long-term factor in datacenter planning and operations.

- More than 80 percent of companies polled confirmed that their green datacenter strategies encompass not only computers and servers - which have been the primary focus of most coverage of green IT trends - but also facility design and operations. This indicates that companies are taking a comprehensive approach to green datacenter initiatives that will maximize their energy efficiency gains.

- More than 60 percent of companies polled project that having a green datacenter strategy will become an important factor in their vendor selections over the next 24 months. This indicates that IT vendors and datacenter partners will need to adopt green strategies as rigorous as the corporate customers they serve in order to remain competitive in the marketplace. This is another indication that green datacenter trends will broaden rather than diminish over time.

- Nearly three quarters of companies polled (73 percent) said that there is no clear industry standard for what meets the criteria of being a truly "green datacenter." In the absence of a universal standard for green datacenters, the fact that the majority of companies have created their own individual, corporate green datacenter plan indicates that companies are filling that standards void themselves with self-defined green initiatives rather than waiting for industry-wide standards to be fully defined.

"These data points indicate that green, energy-efficient datacenter trends have been adopted more quickly and more deeply than previously believed. Even for people who have been tracking green IT trends closely, many of these metrics will be surprising," said Jim Smith, Vice President of Engineering for Digital Realty Trust. "Another key finding of the survey is the strong feedback from participants that the industry lacks codified operational standards for green datacenters. This is clearly an area where more work needs to be done, and will be a key factor in enabling companies to extend their green initiatives and establish green standards for their technology vendors and datacenter partners."

Smith added: "Although a single codified standard does not yet exist, we believe that participation in The Green Grid and in LEED certification are key best practices for implementing a green datacenter strategy. We actively participate in The Green Grid and follow LEED protocols, and they provide valuable operational guidelines for planning, designing and operating corporate datacenters that are energy efficient."