Hitting the brakes on the NC Googleplex: "Google has built one data center building where it employs about 50 people – fewer than the 100 it expected to hire initially. And construction has stalled on a second building now that workers have finished its shell."
"Sources tell Triangle Business Journal that the company has informed all construction workers, from engineers to laborers, that there won’t be any more work on the site for a while." (Thnx to alert reader TC for the pointer.)
AT&T's big job-cut announcement yesterday included a capex slowdown.
UPDATE: Slowdown also hits Google in Oklahoma; "Clouds, it seems, are not recession-proof."
Google has been spending way ahead of its capacity utilization needs, no? So it may be slowing from light-speed to just incredibly fast--it seems that is a reflection of its wish to preserve cash more than a perceived slowdown in its business.
It still seems like cloud-based services will be helped more than hindered by a slow-down; companies still need to function, and they're going to look for more inexpensive ways to do so.
Even if SaaS is more expensive in the long run, people are looking at very short-term savings, which is where SaaS truly shines, no?
Posted by: Michael Hickins | Dec 08, 2008 at 11:33 AM