AMANA is tapping into the surging demand for data centres, as digital transformation and regional smart ambitions have translated into a greater focus on building critical IT infrastructure

• The GCC is expected to witness some of the strongest levels of growth in the global data centre market over the coming years.

: Regional demand for data centres is surging, driven by technological advances, increasing adoption of cloud-based services, and the GCC’s accelerated digital transformation. Data centres are a critical element of the infrastructure required to build digital economies in the GCC states as they pivot from oil-driven to data-driven economies. Given these trends and existing capacity gaps, the GCC is expected to witness some of the strongest levels of growth in the global data centre market over the coming years.

In 2021, AMANA, the regional leader in design-build construction, delivered the first co-located data centre in the UAE for a major telecom company, adopting innovative technologies and solutions. AMANA is currently executing five critical data centres in the GCC. Out of which, two were built, completed and delivered to du, a leading UAE telecom company. This state-of-the-art data centre, located in Dubai Silicon Oasis, was designed and engineered with a strong focus on optimising power efficiency and to meet the Uptime Institute (UTI) TIER III certification.

Today, AMANA is successfully delivering one-stop-shop solutions through quality project management, procurement of technical systems and units, as well as testing and commissioning, a critical part of the development of data centres, before handover. 

Joe Labaky, General Manager of UAE and Emerging Markets, AMANA Group, said: “Data is the new oil for the GCC region. Large-scale digitalisation initiatives are progressing across the region. In effect, data centres are now meta-infrastructures, interconnecting critical sectors relying on them such as energy, finance, transportation, national security, health systems and other lifeline services. The data centres we have handed over showcase AMANA’s capabilities in bringing new and innovative technical solutions on-board. AMANA’s successful delivery to clients is significant as data centres serve as hyper-connected, secure and mission critical in-country digital hubs.”

Data centres are a specialised construction typology, requiring precision in design and extremely robust infrastructure to mitigate the risk of machine malfunctions due to power loss or breakage. As technology increases in complexity with new cooling techniques and denser server racks, data centres will need to be built and maintained differently.

AMANA champions intelligent solutions such as BIM (Building Information Modelling), a key component throughout the design and execution stage of data centre projects. Utilising BIM throughout the project lifecycle enables AMANA to build with clients. Digital 3D models are shared and updated during construction, enabling collaboration and feedback, and resolve any clash analysis.

The increased adoption of colocation and cloud-based services by enterprises are driving the construction of hyperscale data centres that require unique components, including critical IT equipment that function as the heart of the centre, most of which is long lead and custom manufactured. These units are long lead and custom manufactured and despite uncontainable events such as COVID-19, AMANA is still able to ensure the timely delivery, installation and testing for data centre projects. 

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