By Nick Razey, co-founder and CEO, Next Generation Data

For those working in the fast moving world of cloud computing it is easy to take the view that the choice of data centre is irrelevant; that although it is an essential piece of the jigsaw, one data centre is just the same as another when compared to the complexities of differing IaaS and SaaS platforms.

On this basis it is assumed that all the value in the IT chain will migrate to the cloud providers leaving data centres to earn meagre commodity margins.

The data centre however is a very long way from being a commodity. A commodity typically has three characteristics; the product is the same, the quality is the same and the price is the same. And because the products are interchangeable they are usually bought and sold via efficient spot markets which exactly match supply and demand …