A study has ranked Indonesia, India and Brazil as the riskiest countries to open a data center.
The research from Cushman & Wakefield, Hurleypalmerflatt and Source8 measured risks related to physical, economic and social issues in various countries around the world.
Factors taken into account included weighted ranking of energy, bandwidth, ease of doing business, political stability, tax laws, labor laws, sustainability, risk of natural disasters, energy security, GDP per capita, inflation and water resource.
According to the study, the United States is the least risky country to open a data center, followed by the UK, Sweden and Germany. The study ranked 30 countries. The availability of hydropower and cool weather in Sweden resulted in the country rising five spots from last year's rankings.
The study revealed that issues such as poor connectivity, government rules and supply-chain problems remain barriers to establishing data centers in Asia, despite the region's growing economies.
For example, strict regulations have increased barriers to opening data centers in China, although such obstacles might be altered in the future.
The study also revealed that demand for data centers meeting global operational efficiency standards in China has risen in accordance with growing presence of foreign companies in the country. The study noted this could present opportunities for data centers to be opened in Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shenzhen, apart from the current hotspots in Shanghai and Beijing.
Qatar, which ranked 10th globally, was rated as the lowest-risk country in Asia to open a data center. Malaysia was also ranked favorably due to low energy costs, low inflation and ease of doing business, although concerns remained around poor connectivity and political instability.