Plant & machinery valuation for data centres & IT infrastructure.

Data centre and IT infrastructure assets represent a comparatively new but rapidly growing category in industrial and commercial asset valuation, driven by the UAE's expansion as a regional digital and cloud infrastructure hub. This asset class combines building-integrated critical infrastructure (power, cooling, fire suppression) with fast-cycling IT hardware — two categories with fundamentally different depreciation profiles that require distinct treatment.

• Extremely short technology cycles for IT hardware. Servers and networking face functional obsolescence within a few years, often well ahead of physical failure.
• Long-life, building-integrated critical infrastructure. Power distribution and precision cooling typically have a much longer useful life than the IT hardware they support.
• Redundancy and resilience specification as a value driver. The tiered redundancy standard achieved is a material factor in both replacement cost and functional value.
• Rapid efficiency improvement in cooling and power technology. Older infrastructure can face functional obsolescence tied to operating cost disadvantage even where physically sound.
• Specialised, engineered-to-order elements. Larger-scale power and cooling systems are engineered to specific load requirements, pointing toward DRC for these system-level assets.

Data centre and IT infrastructure valuation requires clearly separating short-cycle IT hardware from long-life, building-integrated infrastructure, and correctly weighting redundancy specification and energy efficiency as functional value factors — none of which map onto standard industrial equipment valuation assumptions. An inaccurate valuation carries meaningful financial consequence for lenders, insurers, and operators alike.

Our experience

Western VAS's Plant & Machinery Valuation approach applies asset-category-specific methodology, distinguishing fast-cycling technology assets from long-life, building-integrated infrastructure, consistent with our broader practice of separating physical, functional, and economic obsolescence rather than applying blanket depreciation assumptions. Our team's experience spans a wide range of specialised and rapidly evolving asset categories across the UAE and MENA region.