Most of the customers in the Boston data center market are local to the Massachusetts Bay area and the industry supports key sectors of the robust local tech economy. Known as the “other” tech valley, Boston is home more than 350 fintech startups and a growing biotech industry. Twelve Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the Boston, as are a large number of other enterprise companies across a variety of industries.
The region is one of the most prominent data center markets in the northeast for many reasons, despite a higher cost of power than is found in most major markets. The cost of power makes hyperscale a harder sell in Boston, but data center operators still find success in the market.
Boston Market Attributes
Data center users find the Boston market attractive because of the following four attributes:
- Proximity to Large, Northeastern Cities: The region serves as a disaster recovery location for data center users with locations in the New York and northern New Jersey markets.
- Diverse Economy: Manufacturing, IT, financial, educational, and healthcare are just a few of the major industries in Boston.
- Growing Interest in Edge Markets: The city is an ideal candidate to be an edge market, and multiple data center operators are expanding their focus in that direction.
- Innovative Tech Hub: Boston’s educational institutions, such as MIT and Harvard, as well as the region’s focus on biotech, are driving a growing tech presence.
This report, in conjunction with Digital Realty, continues Data Center Frontier’s market coverage of growing data center hubs. Explore further for a comprehensive overview of the Boston data center market.