KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 28): Data services provider AIMS Group says high cost of power will continue to be a big challenge for the data services industry, moving forward in 2017.

"High cost of power continues to be the pain point for the industry and unless we see the government taking a proactive move, this will remain our biggest challenge," said the group's chief executive officer Chiew Kok Hin.

Chiew said power makes up 40% of the group's operating costs, and as more data is consumed, power consumption increases.

"While we hope the government will look into recognising the industry as an important aspect of the government's aim to push for a digital economy, we are taking measures on our side as well. AIMS green technology investments will make power consumption more efficient," he added in a statement today.

However moving forward, AIMS believes that there will be more of a demand for data storage in 2017 as the government is moving towards making Kuala Lumpur a smarter city.

"Smarter cities mean more data collected, more powerful facial recognition CCTVs, and that means more computing power. So we will definitely be seeing more need for data storage," added Chiew.

Meanwhile, the group saw a strong 2016, registering double-digit revenue growth.

"For AIMS this has been one of our best years. We will continue to report double-digit revenue growth at the end of 2016, outnumbering the industry's expected growth," said Chiew.

AIMS has invested into building a greener data centre to provide its clients with cloud abilities and the group is looking to expanding its regional business to emerging markets.