Marketing a data center to a major digital player is not a standard negotiation; it’s a collaborative effort requiring trust, rigor and transparency. Digital leaders have very specific requirements and selection criteria, which influence the design and development plan for each of them. Key points include

1. Sizing and scalability:
   Digital leaders need infrastructures on a global scale, capable of absorbing immense volumes of data. It is essential to demonstrate not only a high level of current capacity, but also the ability to evolve significantly. So the sales team needs to structure the project around a clear roadmap, detailing possible expansion scenarios (room extensions, additional electrical power, technical redundancies, etc.).
2. Technical performance and resilience:
   Availability (uptime) must approach “five 9s” (99.999%), requiring design based on extreme redundancy of equipment, power sources and cooling systems. Large digital users also demand ultra-low latency times, often linked to strategic location. Each operator has its own specific design and construction features. It’s key that the project developer is agile and flexible to be able to meet all their needs.
3. Energy, efficiency and sustainability:
   Complying with environmental regulations and reducing carbon footprints is a top priority for digital leaders. The latter are demanding that their data center partners meet ambitious energy efficiency and decarbonization targets. Structuring mixed low-carbon operations is a strong differentiating factor for these operators. The presence of a district heating network or the presence of public facilities able to absorb the data center’s waste heat are very important criteria.
4. Strategic location and broadband connectivity:
   GAFAMs are looking for sites that are ideally located, both close to major metropolises or areas of high demand, and interconnected with major peering points. Proximity to submarine cables, direct connections to major transit providers and access to dark fibers, as well as a dense IP transport ecosystem, are assets for meeting latency and bandwidth availability requirements. The democratization of AI uses and the emergence of data centers dedicated to training models seem to open up the possibility of considering new locations further away from the main metropolises, while retaining strong constraints linked to connectivity and the availability of teams for on-site interventions.

Thus, marketing a data center to a digital leader implies meeting requirements that are far higher than the average for other real estate asset classes. the sales team must structure the project upstream to maximize scalability, reliability, security, sustainability and the site’s capacity for innovation.