Although you may spend most of your waking (and even sleeping) day using the facilities of a data centre, you probably don't give a lot of thought to which type of data centre you are using, or where it is. Much more than warehouses hosting expensive servers, they are the backbone of our work and social lives and are far from homogenous. 

Comparing a single-tenant data centre in Denmark to a colocation facility in Montreal hosting multiple AI start-ups is a bit like comparing steak frites to a scone - both are food, but they require very different ingredients and preparation. Depending on your appetite at a given time, you might prefer one to the other. But being told you should judge a scone by its steak-like qualities would be, well, odd. 

Amid the recent pricing of the first continental European data centre securitisation we've seen just how diverse the range of potential, and actual, investors in data centre securitisations can be. Historically there have been relatively clear boundaries between different asset types and how they fit into the securitisation methodologies. Most people can explain the difference between a CMBS and a RMBS. But data centres do not fit neatly within the boundaries of ABS, CMBS or esoterics. They combine features, risks and potential returns in ways which, if confined to a particular methodology or category, mean we risk failing to properly assess such assets for what they are. The steak/scone analogy should hopefully be apparent. 

It is time to think outside of the box and start looking at data centres, and how they are funded, differently. A motor vehicle is not a super-fast horse-drawn carriage. It is altogether a different means of transport. If we can analyse and reflect on data centres with that mindset, we will start to see the investor base grow. 

If you are interested in exploring this further then our full guide to data centre finance is available here. And if you are at the Global ABS conference in Barcelona, come and see us on the stand. We are always keen to have a chat - about data centres, steak, scones[1] or anything else. 

[1] We are also quite fond of a lively debate on jam vs cream first.